The Day of the Lord
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
The “day of the Lord” or the “day of God” is a theme that we see in a number of places throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. What Peter is describing here sounds terrifying, at first. Even the heavens will be destroyed, and the very elements will melt. The Greek word translated “elements” here means something that is the foundation upon which other things are built.
Peter tells us, though, that we should be anxiously awaiting this.
It’s like a child getting a bad report card or test at school, and they have to have a parent sign it. The whole bus ride home is complete misery, then the slow walk up to the house. They know that they are going to be in trouble, so they don’t want to face the consequences.
Suppose that same child had all “A”s, and the teacher wrote a note home telling the parents how wonderful the child is. Now, that same child would be running up to the house and yelling for their parents, just so they can celebrate the accomplishment together.
Peter says that since we know that this whole universe is about to be judged, we should make sure we are doing what God has called us to do.
In the book of Revelation, John tells us his vision of God’s judgment, as well as the New Jerusalem. He then ends this book, and the whole Bible, with this.
Come, Lord Jesus
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Jesus said that He was coming quickly. John replies, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” He was anxiously waiting for Jesus. He wanted to be reunited with Jesus forever.
Right or Left
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
There were only two groups – those on His right and those on His left. There is no middle group – no middle ground. Thankfully, God is the judge. He is the only One that we can always trust to be loving and merciful, yet fair and just.
We can clearly see from scripture that there will be a Judgment Day. Notice, also, that this eternal fire was not prepared for people. It was prepared “for the devil and his angels.”
Judgment of the Devil
10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
God is very clear about what will happen to the devil. Many times, people are reluctant to talk about hell and judgment. If they are real, and the Bible says that they are, we need to talk about them. Talking about them will help us stay far away from this eternal torment.
Unfortunately, there are people who will be thrown into that lake of fire.
Judgment of People
8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
We see here some examples of the deeds of people who will be in the lake of fire and brimstone (sulfur). There are many deeds that we all do that deserve eternal death. The bottom line for these people is that they chose to follow the devil and his deeds, instead of Jesus and His righteousness.
It takes courage to live a godly, Christian life. We have to take a stand for what is right and be willing to oppose what is wrong.
If we study the Bible, right and wrong are very clear — no shades of gray.
Book of Life
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation talks about books where all of our deeds are written down. We have all made mistakes; we have all sinned. None of us deserves heaven, but God made a way for us. All we have to do is get our names into this book of life. How can we do this?
Eternal Life
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Jesus did not come to judge the world; He came to save it. Our part is to believe in Him, which means putting all of our faith, hope, and trust in Him. If we do this, and strive to live a godly life, loving and worshiping our Lord daily, He has a different promise for us.
River of Life
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
If we give our lives to Jesus, our names will be in His book of life, and these are some of the things that we will receive.
- A river of the water of life
- The source was the throne of God and of the Lamb (Jesus)
- The tree of life
- Healing of the nations – no more fighting
One day, we will see every nation, tribe, and tongue in heaven, worshiping together.
Name of Jesus
3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;
they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
The curse of sin is gone, because of Jesus. We will be with Jesus, serving Him always, instead of the devil. We will “see His face, and His name will be on [our] foreheads.”
Name of Jesus
5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
We won’t need the sun, because the One Who created the sun will be our light. We will serve and reign with Jesus. This is what He promised us, if we simply live for Him. Are we ready to give up the temporary, sinful things of this world, so that we can have eternity with Him?
Let’s start today!
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