2 Peter 3:12c — New Clothes

That day [the day of God] will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

Summary: Peter repeats his description of the “day of the Lord.” This time he calls it “the day of God.” Either way, he is very clear on the outcome: The physical world is toast. 

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the end of the earth! Here, Peter repeats what he said in verse 10. Why? As a general principle, when God’s Word repeats something, it means God wants us to pay attention.

As we look at Peter’s words today, we look through the lens of modern physics. We understand the basic concept of atoms and molecules. We know about things like gravity and mass, force and resistance. We understand the basics of physics in a way that is very different from Peter’s day.

In the first century AD, the concept of physics was brand new. The Greeks based their understanding of the world’s construction on Aristotelian physics. Three hundred years before Christ, Aristotle concluded that there were four basic elements that everything else was constructed of: earth, water, air, and fire.

From Aristotle’s simplistic view of how things work, it makes sense to say that “destruction” will be by “fire.” Fire, in very simple terms, makes things disappear.

In the “day of God,” there is an end to our reliance on physical things.

When someone dies, we see their body stop breathing. From our point of view, the spirit leaves, and the body begins to decay. From the spirit’s point of view, they leave behind the physical all together.

It is a bit like a prisoner being set free. When we live in the body, we are constrained by the body. When we are free of the body, we are free to move in new ways (1 Corinthians 15:6-8) unless, of course, one has been cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20: 15).

When “the day of God” arrives, all the people who remain are set free of our physical bonds at once. The house we call “earth” is burned up to make room for a new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Why is this important to know?

When we are first born into this life, the world is all we know. At some point, hopefully, we come to understand that there is a spiritual component to life. Then, we discover that life is not an accident but a creation. Finally, we get to meet the Creator. At that point, our understanding of reality begins to change.

Reality is not what we thought it was. The heavens and the earth will “melt in the heat.” Is this the ultimate end of “global warming”? No. This is the beginning of a new world. The end of the physical world is the removal of old clothes so that creation can be washed and dressed in new clothes appropriate for being in the presence of God (Exodus 40: 12-13).

Application: Spend three minutes imagining what it might be like to be in the presence of God. 

Food for Thought: At the end of the day (the day of God), what will be left?