The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Peter 3:15-16,
"Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."
Peter here observes that the delay Jesus Christ has made before returning to earth and bringing this present age to a close provides for more people to enter into his family. God is building his kingdom! This is what this age is all about.
There will be no procreation in the next age, that only happens here. The successive generations of mankind have provided opportunity for the growth of the kingdom of heaven. Once the Lord has decided he has all the souls he desires for his kingdom, the end of the age will come. This is why Peter says, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation..." One day a baby is coming that will be the very last baby to ever be born... and that day is headed our way at some point!
What catches my eye this morning is Peter's comment about Paul's writings. Paul wrote thirteen letters that compromise a large part of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. These writings Peter calls Scripture. The term is a theologically technical one referring to the sacred library of writings that have been acknowledged as specifically inspired by God. He says that "ignorant and unstable people" distort Paul's writings as they do "the other Scriptures." Many people today outright reject what the Scriptures have to say. I offer you the notion that our culture as "evolved" on the practice of homosexuality as an example. People do so to their own peril. "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as an example.
The Scriptures, because they are inspired by God, are inerrant and authoritative. They are intentional by God to reveal himself to mankind and to express what he wants mankind to know and understand. As God is our Creator and the judge of all mankind when this age comes to a close, this means the inspired writings of Paul, as well as Peter and all the other books in our Bibles are vitally important. Our understanding them and responding to them in reverent fear will determine how each and every one of us will spend eternity.
Just thinking about that should cause everyone to dust off their Bibles and become intimately acquainted about what they have to say - about anything and everything.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
"Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."
Peter here observes that the delay Jesus Christ has made before returning to earth and bringing this present age to a close provides for more people to enter into his family. God is building his kingdom! This is what this age is all about.
There will be no procreation in the next age, that only happens here. The successive generations of mankind have provided opportunity for the growth of the kingdom of heaven. Once the Lord has decided he has all the souls he desires for his kingdom, the end of the age will come. This is why Peter says, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation..." One day a baby is coming that will be the very last baby to ever be born... and that day is headed our way at some point!
What catches my eye this morning is Peter's comment about Paul's writings. Paul wrote thirteen letters that compromise a large part of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. These writings Peter calls Scripture. The term is a theologically technical one referring to the sacred library of writings that have been acknowledged as specifically inspired by God. He says that "ignorant and unstable people" distort Paul's writings as they do "the other Scriptures." Many people today outright reject what the Scriptures have to say. I offer you the notion that our culture as "evolved" on the practice of homosexuality as an example. People do so to their own peril. "Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as an example.
The Scriptures, because they are inspired by God, are inerrant and authoritative. They are intentional by God to reveal himself to mankind and to express what he wants mankind to know and understand. As God is our Creator and the judge of all mankind when this age comes to a close, this means the inspired writings of Paul, as well as Peter and all the other books in our Bibles are vitally important. Our understanding them and responding to them in reverent fear will determine how each and every one of us will spend eternity.
Just thinking about that should cause everyone to dust off their Bibles and become intimately acquainted about what they have to say - about anything and everything.
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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