As the new year begins and the old year passes into history, the scoffers described by Peter come to mind; these mockers live in sin, denying the end the world and the final judgment, “And saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Peter said these mockers would come in the “last days”—that is, the last age of time (2 Peter 3:3). The Christian age in which we live is the age known in the Bible as the “last days” (Acts 2:16-17). This age will terminate at the end of the world; there will be a final day known as the “last day.” The promise that Jesus would come again and judge the world in the last day was clearly taught by first-century Christians (Jn. 12:48; Acts 17:31). The mockers denied this, and pointed out that the fathers, early Christians who taught such, have died.

Their claim that the world has continued the same as it always has since its creation is not true. Peter brings up a fact the mockers willfully ignored: the flood that destroyed the world in Noah’s day, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Pet. 3:5-6). They combated a clear biblical fact that disproved their theory by willfully ignoring it. How often do people do this today? They make false claims about the Bible, yet they know there is evidence in the Bible that goes against what they are saying; however, instead of acknowledging this evidence to the contrary, they act as if it doesn’t exist.

As we prepare to enter the year 2020, let us remember Jesus’ promise to come again. Just as He ascended into heaven, He will come back again in the clouds (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16). The passing of a thousand years does nothing to diminish the veracity of the Lord’s promise; a thousand years is as a day to Him (2 Pet. 3:8). Let us not be deceived into thinking that the passing of time means the Lord will not come again in judgment. He is gracious providing time allowing men to come to Him in repentance (2 Pet. 3:9), but He has appointed a day of judgment which is coming to all (Acts 17:31). The physical world will then come to an end with the heavens passing away and the earth being burned up (2 Pet. 3:10). The context indicates 2 Peter 3 is not metaphorical but rather concerns the physical creation (v.4) that was overflowed with physical water in the flood of Noah’s day (v.6). The same physical world is going to be burned up in the last day, “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7).

People are tempted to love this world and its amusements rather than looking to the eternal home in heaven (1 Jn. 2:15). The passing of the years should not dull our anticipation that the Lord will fulfill His promise to return in final judgment, rather it should heighten our awareness and motivate us to live in such a way as to be ready, for our salvation grows nearer. The inspired apostle Peter poses this question: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Pet. 3:11-12).

-Mark Day