The Coming Dawn Of The Eternal Day - 2 Peter 1:16-18 Series

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2 Peter 1:16 We did not follow sophisticated myths when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

Introduction: The Tow Rope of Life

The direction of your life is determined by your relationship with ... the future. You always choose what you choose because of what you believe will happen in the future. You drove here tonight because you believed that once you got here, this Bible study would take place. If I decide to eat a brownie, it’s because of what I believe will happen seconds after I put it in my mouth. If you put money in your 401K, it’s because you believe that money will multiply. Whether it’s 1 second in the future or 70 years in the future, your beliefs about the future determine all your decisions in life.

Your assumptions about what will happen function like a rope tow at a ski area, where you just stand up on your skis, grab the rope, and it pulls you up the hill. Your beliefs about the future pull you wherever you’re going in life. It was your beliefs about what your future would be like that pulled you into your current job, your marriage, divorce—beliefs about what’s in the future are why people choose to become Christians, or why they reject Christianity. Beliefs about the future drive all our decisions. And that’s by God’s design. It’s how he wants us to live our lives. Peter makes that point at the end of his book.

2 Peter 3:11 Since [this is going to happen] what kind of people ought you to be?

You ought to be a certain kind of person because of the future event that Peter was discussing.

Some future events affect your decision-making more than others depending on how important it is to you and how sure you are that it will happen. Some of your beliefs about what will happen in the future affect your decision-making more than they should. Others affect you less than they should. But all of them affect your behavior in proportion to how important they are and how certain they are.

Peter’s Focus: The Second Coming

The Most Important/Certain Future Event

The book of 2 Peter is all about the most certain and most important of all future events—the most important event God ever revealed. This is an event that should drive your decision-making every minute of every day. But for most people in the world, it doesn’t influence any decision they ever make. What is it? The Second Coming of Christ and Judgment Day, which is one of the main features of the Second Coming. If you believe there will be a Judgment Day, and you’re sure of it, and it matters a lot to you, that rope tow will pull you right into a godly, holy life ... unless ... you forget about it. That’s what Peter’s worried about here in ch.1.

Peter’s Motivation: Make Sure You Don’t Forget

2 Peter 1:15 And I will make every effort to see that after my exodus you will always be able to remember these things.

What things? The Second Coming. We know that’s what he’s talking about because the very next word is “for” which means “Let me explain.” Then he goes on to talk about the proof of the Second Coming.

2 Peter 1:15 And I will make every effort to see that after my exodus you will always be able to remember these things, 16 for We did not follow ... myths when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

Peter says, “I’m worked up about making sure you don’t forget because when we told you about Christ’s Second Coming, we weren’t going by myths. It was verified, substantiated, rock-solid fact.”

Peter devoted his life to making sure we will never forget about the Second Coming and Judgment Day. And you can see that in the rest of the book—he talks about it constantly.

2 Peter 2:3 ... Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,... 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood ... 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly ... 9 then the Lord knows how ... to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.