MONDAY 16th
2 Peter 3:5-7
‘For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.’
The words they ‘deliberately overlook’ are very telling words. In the context of these verses the scoffers mentioned previously willingly overlooked a number of things, a) the fact that the creation of the world happened or came about by the word of God, b) that it was also by the word of God that the world was deluged by the flood in Noah’s day, c) that it also by the word of God that the heavens and the earth are being stored up, being kept until the day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly. The key words are ‘by the word of God’.
God only has to speak and things happen! It speaks to us of his authority, and God holds authority over everything that he has created and this includes the realm of time, and although God is eternal and dwells in eternality, he governs time and it will be within his timescale that he will bring to pass all that he has determined that will yet be in the future, but, sadly mankind in general is still deliberately overlooking matters concerning God, for example, our spirituality, and of eternity. Mankind in general behaves as if God does not exist and as if eternity is a notion or just wishful thinking for those who want something to believe in. But it is a seriously dangerous error to deliberately overlook, for God’s word is a sure word, what he has decreed will be, what he has forewarned us about will one day become a present reality, and it will be either that of eternity in God’s presence or that of being cut off forever.
Let us be sure again that God has determined that there is to be a day of Judgement which will lead to the destruction of the ungodly. ‘But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.’ (verse7)
May we never be placed into the category of those who ‘deliberately overlook’, but may we always be those who heed the word of God, who live according to the word of God and look forward in anticipation to the fulfilling of the word of God.