Why Do People Mock the Return of Jesus? | 2 Peter 3:3–4

Welcome to The Daily.

HEADS UP:

We are going to fly through 2 Peter 3 this week, and then Jude, which is a one-chapter letter in the same Journal. But our next study is Esther. I have titled this one, FOR SUCH A TIME: Courage When God Seems Silent. Grab the Esther Journal now. If you are a Project23 donor giving $35/month or more, do not purchase one; we have already sent this to you in the mail.

Our text today is 2 Peter 3:3-4:

Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." — 2 Peter 3:3-4

Peter warns that scoffers will come questioning their belief in the promised return of Jesus.

You have to admit their argument sounds reasonable if you are not a believer: "Where is Jesus? Generations have come and gone, life continues as it has for decades, and nothing seems to have changed."

But Peter looks beyond their words and exposes their hearts. The scoffers are not merely asking questions. They are "following their own sinful desires." They don't want a King because a returning King means one thing—accountability.

If Jesus is coming back, then all of history is moving toward an eventual judgment. That means our choices matter, and one day a King will call us to account.

So, what do scoffers do? They mock the promise of his return.

Scripture makes plenty of room for honest questions. But Peter warns that sometimes an intellectual objection, or ill-motivated questions, are protecting our moral preference. There are those who reject what God says because accepting it would require them to change how they live.

For example, I can say that I believe Jesus is returning while making decisions that suggest I expect this life to continue forever. Therefore, I can delay obedience, hold tightly to temporary things, and assume there will always be more time. Peter's warning forces me to consider whether Christ's return is merely a theology I embrace or a reality shaping the totality of my life.

I think there are plenty of believers who actually believe Jesus is coming back, but live as though he is not. Therefore, they are postponing repentance. They are delaying forgiveness. They are investing in things that will not last.

The apparent normality of life does not cancel the promise of Christ's return. The sun may rise, work may continue, and another ordinary day may begin. But these ordinary days are still moving toward an extraordinary conclusion. The return of Jesus Christ.

The issue is not whether unbelievers find this eventual reality unbelievable. The issue is whether your life shows that you really believe it.

Christ's return should never produce panic in us. It should produce active readiness. It should help us hold temporary things loosely, and take sin seriously, and love people urgently, and obey Jesus immediately. So today, live as if the King is coming back and don't privately mock his imminent return.

DO THIS:

Identify one area in which you have been living as though Jesus will never return. Take one immediate step of obedience today: confess the sin, make the call, forgive the person, end the compromise, or begin the work God has been telling you to do.

ASK THIS:

1. Why does the return of Jesus threaten a life built around personal autonomy?
2. Is there an area where your actions contradict your stated belief that Christ is returning?
3. What act of obedience have you been postponing because you assume there will always be more time?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, help me live today with joyful readiness, taking your return seriously and obeying you without delay. Amen

PLAY THIS:

Even So Come