For God so loved His creation that He gave up His sinless Body in place of our sin filled one. His desire is that not one of us perish but for all of us to spend eternity with Him. Knowing we are unworthy and unable to save ourselves, He provided the way… it is up to us to accept it!
God sits as the refiner and purifier of those who believe until we are conformed into the image of Jesus through the power of Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 3:3-9
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 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 creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
The false teachers and their followers acted like they had a form of godliness, but they were lacking the transformative power of Jesus in their lives; their decision to repeatedly choose and condone sin showed that they did not understand Jesus. The scoffers are claiming that Jesus’ return will not come to pass because, in their limited perspective, things have essentially been the same since creation. Peter counters the argument of the scoffers by claiming that the world came into being by God’s word and God has continued to speak since that time. Peter uses the example of God sending the flood (in response to humanity’s great wickedness) to show that contrary to the scoffers’ beliefs, things have indeed changed since creation. If God once created and destroyed the world by His word, then His promised judgment will surely come to pass.
As with the judgment of the flood, the focus of the future judgment is not creation itself; it is human sin. Also like the flood, in the future judgment the ungodly will be destroyed while those deemed godly will be spared. The scoffers will not be tolerated forever; they will experience judgment. People, as finite beings, cannot expect to understand God’s timing, so they should not expect Christ to return according to their timetable. God delays the second coming so that more people can be redeemed. The day Christ returns, His entire kingdom will be inaugurated and evil will be destroyed. Faithlife Bible.
God wishes for all people to come to faith and be saved. Jesus has not returned yet because God desires that none be lost (or perish). Every day before Jesus returns is a day of grace and represents the possibility of more people turning to Him and receiving eternal life. God desires that none perish; however, this will ultimately be a necessary consequence of the world becoming good and holy again, as God will not force His will upon those who resist it. Throughout the centuries, scoffers have denied the Second Coming whenever hedonism and the basis for denying the supernatural reappearance of Jesus is that nothing of that nature has occurred in the past. The scoffing teachers would choose to overlook events such as creation and the Flood. The people of Noah’s time did not believe in Noah’s warning because they had never experienced a flood. They forgot, as the false teachers later would, that God created the entire universe by His word, something that they also had not experienced. Just as creation was by His word, the world is being sustained by His word. Likewise, the world’s judgment and destruction would be by His word. God is in control, no matter what happens to this world. God will surely accomplish His purposes and promises, even though it may appear that He is slow in doing so. His timing is always perfect. The delay of God’s judgment is not due to slackness, but to the Lord’s longsuffering attitude toward His people not willing that any should perish. Peter is describing the sovereign God’s desire that all people would turn to Him and turn away from unprofitable lives. NKJ Bible.
Romans 2:4 | Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
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