The Last Days

As followers of Jesus, I think we would all agree that we would be okay with the Lord coming back to get us and take us off this rock. This has been true since the day Jesus ascended into heaven and the angel told the Apostles that there would be a day that Jesus would come back down to earth the same way He just left. Since that day, Jesus' followers have been longing for that day.

We study the word, looking for hints at His return. We do this in hope and with great expectation, and every generation indeed believes that it will happen in their day. This is as it should be, because we realize that this place is not our real home, but we are just pilgrims in an unholy land. Peter writes to Christian Jews who are being persecuted and harassed because of their faith in Jesus. It is in this letter that Peter brings a word of challenge and encouragement. In chapter two of his second epistle, Peter tells his listeners a little of what the last days look like. He begins the chapter with the fact that there will be false prophets that will rise inside the church and secretly bring in destructive heresies. This happened in their day, and we all know that it continues even today. Peter goes on to write about how people will behave in the last days; they will be greedy and immoral. They will promise freedom while they are enslaved.

We go into chapter three, and Peter goes on to talk about how there will be those who mock the return of Christ, asking mockingly, “Where is the promise of His coming?” But here is what we need to remember in v. 8-9 of chapter 3, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

As we wait, sometimes impatiently, we need to remember that Jesus is not taking His time just for the sake of making us wait, but that He truly desires that no one should perish. Jesus’ greatest desire is for all to come to know Him and experience eternal life. So, as we look to that eastern sky, wondering when, let us be reminded that there are more out there that need to hear about Jesus, who need to experience being saved from sin and hell.

I’m with you, I just want to go home, but until then, you and I have a job to do, and that is to lead as many people as we can to Christ. We should look at that eastern sky, but as we do that, let us get others to look up with expectation and hope as well. Jesus is coming, and we do not know when. But until then, let us be about the Father’s business.