ニューイングランドの母校からアドヴェント 12月23日（火）

Day 24
John Jefferson Davis
II Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief: The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

This month we are remembering the first coming of Jesus Christ. But the apostle Peter draws our attention to the radical changes that will overtake the world as we know it when Christ returns for his second Advent. Peter’s imagery of fiery destruction indeed paints a picture of the “end of the world” as we know it, and the coming judgment is cause for believers to “live holy and godly lives” (II Pet. 3:11) as we await Christ’s coming.

Given our modern scientific understandings of the laws of phys-ics, many today may find it difficult to imagine the “end of the world” scenario that Peter envisages. But Peter is not alone among the New Testament writers who declare that this world is neither an eternal world, nor the world in its final form. The Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians that the “world in its present form is passing away” (I Cor. 7:31) and that consequently, they should hold the things of this world lightly. He reminds us that we should “… fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (II Cor. 4:18). And Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35).

This month, as we scurry around doing our Christmas shopping, we would do well to remember Peter’s words, and by our works of faith and obedience lay up treasures in heaven where they—and we—will abide forever.