2 Peter 3:13a — Choices

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth…

Summary: Peter, inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, tells us what to expect for the future of the earth. 

Two thousand years ago, the former fisherman known as The Rock (John 1: 42), made several predictions. He did not make them on his own. Instead, he passed them on. They were given to him by God. These predictions included:

1. In the last days there will be scoffers who ridicule the Word of God. (2 Peter 3: 3-4)
2. The universe as we know it will end in a fireball. (2 Peter 3: 10, 12)
3. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. (2 Peter 3: 13)

So far, one of these predictions has come true. There are indeed many people who scoff at the Word of God. So what should we make of the other two predictions? Can we prove them with logic? Is there a rational argument for believing every little thing the Bible says?

Faith does not work that way.

As much as I would like to be able to convince people to believe in God and the Bible using nothing more than logic and reason, it ain’t gonna happen. Faith is a matter of the heart.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 13:1)

To have faith, we first need hope. Before we can have hope, we have to be willing to hope. A willingness to hope requires a willingness to consider alternate outcomes.

Consider what causes hopelessness.

Hopelessness is grounded in the belief that the current situation is going to end in disaster. Notice, belief is required for hopelessness just as much as it is required for hope. The difference is that we choose to believe something horrible is going to happen.

Whatever your situation is at the moment, there are an infinite number of possible outcomes. Of those possible outcomes, there are an infinite number of good outcomes and an infinite number of bad ones.

Guess which ones Satan wants people to focus on.

Jesus called Satan the “father of lies” (John 8:44). He seems to trace all lies back to Satan. From a spiritual perspective, this makes sense. If it were not for Satan, we would have no reason to lie.

The art of deception is for Satan to direct our attention to any one of the bad outcomes. Then he entices us to believe that what is only a possible outcome is actually a probable outcome. Soon, what is probable becomes a certainty. When that happens, we close our minds to any other possibilities. At that point, we are trapped.

God’s Word, on the other hand, offers us hope. More than just a possibility, God’s Word, the Bible, is a record of God’s communication with mankind over two thousand years. At the end of that time, God established a new covenant with mankind through his Son, Jesus Christ.

While despair is based on a false conviction (we are not able to see into the future), the Bible is based on a two thousand year track record of being right. The predictions in the Bible are not just random possible outcomes. Instead, they are the promise of the God who has been shepherding his creation along since the beginning of time.

If our hearts have been touched by Jesus, we can believe. If we can believe, we have hope. If we trust God’s Word, our hope is in what Peter tells us will happen.

Application: The better you understand Scripture, the more clearly your hope comes into focus. 

Food for Thought: What will not be in the new heaven and earth that is plentiful in the current one.