If you have kids, you have more than likely had to be a disciplinarian, telling your child to go to “time out.” The interesting thing about a place of discipline or punishment is that it was never intended for one particular person. It was intended to be a place to provide necessary discipline. The hope is always that no child will ever have to go there. In the same way, as we talk about hell, we need to understand that God’s desire is that no one has to endure the agony of hell.
We read all throughout Scripture that it is certainly not God’s desire that anyone spend eternal life separated from Him in torment and agony. One of these places is 1 Peter 3. In this chapter, Peter reminds readers that Jesus is returning one day. During this time, many were expecting Jesus to return in their lifetime. Some may have been wondering why He had not returned yet. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter must have known these things when he penned the book of 1 Peter. As he taught about Jesus’ return in 1 Peter 3, he wrote these precious words, “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years are like a day” (verse 8). In other words, Peter told readers that God has a different timeline than our own. He continued his letter explaining why Jesus had not returned yet, and his answer is stunning. Here is what he said: “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (verse 9). Jesus is not late in His return. In His patience, He is giving everyone an opportunity to turn to Him and place their faith in Him. He wants no one to spend eternity apart from Him.
It’s true; God wants each one of us to spend eternal life with Him, not life apart from Him. It is also true that our actions have consequences that will lead us in one of two directions: life with Him forever in heaven, or life apart from Him in eternal punishment and torment. May we choose to follow Him with everything and encourage others to do the same.
One thing that we must understand is that actions have consequences. The question is, will we recognize the sins that we have committed and confess them and turn away from them? Take time right now to do just that. Pray. Have a conversation with God. Ask Him to reveal any areas of sin in your life. Then, tell Him you are sorry and ask Him to help you walk away from that sin.
The Day of the Lord Is Coming
This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
