WHAT KIND OF
PEOPLE SHOULD WE BE?
In 2021,
the Chicago Maroon, the independent student newspaper of the University of
Chicago, published a story titled "Is This the End of the World?" in
which authors Milutin Gjaja and Luara Gersony trace the origin of the Doomsday
Clock—a warning symbol of global catastrophe. On the Doomsday Clock, midnight
symbolizes the ultimate doom, the end of humanity. The first cover of the
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 1947 showed the Clock's hands at seven
minutes to midnight. Over the years, those hands have sometimes moved
closer to midnight and sometimes farther away, based on experts' assessment.
The Clock
moved to two minutes before midnight in 1953 after the development of the hydrogen bomb
and swung to seventeen minutes before midnight at the end of the Cold War in
1991. Gjaja and Gersony listed numerous threats to humanity: a global pandemic,
wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, and even swarms of locusts "of
Biblical proportions" that decimated crops in East Africa. These disasters
seemed to explode at the beginning of the 2020s.[1]
In 2023,
due to the dangers of war in Ukraine, "The Clock now stands at 90 seconds
to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.[2] Does that mean in 90 seconds, the beautiful world
we now call our home will be destroyed by a worldwide catastrophe? The
scientists and the economists are observing with awe what the Biblical prophets
have long predicted unfolding right in front of our eyes. The end of the world
is much closer than we think.
Last week,
we looked at what the Judgment Day would bring about for the inhabitants of the
Earth. Today, we will explore the Apostle Peter's certain convictions and
challenges. We can be confident that this world we live in will one day come to
an end. This world is not our ultimate home. In light of that, "What
Kind Of People Should We Be? II Peter 3:10-14.
Michael
Yousuff, in his book Is The End Near? notes, "In view of these truths,
there is no greater test of the genuineness of our faith than our preparedness
for His return. That preparedness should be fully displayed in how we live our
lives daily." We must have our spiritual luggage packed and ready to depart
from this planet. We must be busy serving God, so whether we leave this life
today or decades hence makes no difference."[3]
The Apostle Peter lays out a two-way path for the believers to follow as they
wait for Jesus Christ's second coming.
I. A Pathway of Holiness
Vs. 11,
"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought
you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day
of God and speed its coming." This scripture is laden with end-time
theology. We will experience the inevitable destruction of the world. The
imminent and glorious return of Jesus Christ. A two-way of living for believers
everywhere as they look forward to the second coming of Christ.
The book's
title, "The Hole In Our Holiness," caught my attention. The hole in
our holiness, Kevin Deyoung explains, is that "we don't really care much
about it. Passionate exhortation to pursue gospel-driven holiness is barely
heard in most of our churches. It is not that we don't talk about sin or
encourage decent behavior. Too many sermons are basically self-help on becoming
a better you. That's moralism, and it's not helpful." He further noted
this:
J.C Ryle,
a nineteenth-century Bishop of Liverpool, was right: "We must be holy
because this one grand end and purpose for which Christ came into the world…Jesus
is a complete Saviour. He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer's
sin.
He
does—more he breaks its power." This explains why so many believers
struggle in their faith: We focus on bettering ourselves, forgetting that God
chose us in Christ so that we should be holy and blameless.
In I Peter
1:13-16, Peter writes, "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully
sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is
revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil
desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is
holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am
holy." Let's look at God's holiness first. What does that mean? God is
holy.
He is pure
and perfect in all of his ways, and there is no trace of sin in Him. Holiness
is what separates our God, Jehovah, from all other false gods. God's holiness pervades His entire
being and shapes all His attributes. What does it mean for us to be holy? The Hebrew and Greek words for holy means selected, separated,
sacred, pure, and consecrated.
When
God told Israel to be holy in Leviticus 11 and 19, he instructed them to be
distinct or separate from other pagan nations around them and live by His
commandments to govern their lives. Israel is God's chosen nation, and God has set it apart from
all other groups of people. When they live by God's standards, the world would
know they belonged to Him.
Peter
repeated those words from Leviticus specifically to believers. As believers, we
need to be "set apart" from the world unto the Lord. We must live by
God's standards, not the world's. God isn't calling us to be perfect but to be
different from the world. Peter reminded the believers, Peter
2: 9-10, that we are a holy nation. It is a fact.
We
are set apart from the world unto God and His purposes. We belong to God. How
will we live as people belonging to God in the light of Christ's return? I
Peter 2:11, "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to
abstain from sinful desires. Live such good lives so that people may see your
good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Living holy lives means
that we are not to blend into the culture. Instead, we are to influence it by
living according to God's standards of righteousness, love, and kindness. Do
people see us as we belong to Christ?
II. A Pathway of Godliness.
As with
holiness, godliness is not a suggestion but a command for Christians. David
Jeremiah notes, "Godliness is a fruitful, obedient Christian life."[4] Holiness is our purification efforts to please
God. Godliness expresses that sanctified life in doing good works that bring
glory to God and bless people. Godliness proves that we are saved and belong to
God.
Godly people
exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23: "love,
joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control." Godly people reach out to the poor, the orphans, and the
widows because it pleases God. Though Peter commands all believers to live
godly, it is even more pertinent to Christian leaders. Out of fifteen references
to godliness in the NT, twelve are in the three short letters of Paul to
Timothy and Titus. If we are going to lead effectively, we must learn to walk
with God.
No one by
birth inherits godliness. It is something acquired by effort and much training.
Peter urged believers to make every effort to add godliness to their faith. (II
Peter 1:5-7). Timothy impressed his congregants with the importance of training
in godliness. "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives'
tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
For physical training is of some value, but godliness
has value for all things, holding promise for both the present
life and the life to come." I Timothy 4:7-8. Personal worship of God
and excelling in good works will enable us to live holy and godly lives. Peter
urges all believers to live such holy and godly lives because we belong to a
Holy God, and one day, we will live with Him in Heaven, where no unholy thing
will ever enter. We believers don't view the end-time prophecies with fear but
with hope. How are you preparing yourselves to meet Jesus?
[1] Michael Youssef, Is the End Near?
Page2-3
[2]
https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2023-doomsday-clock-statement/
[3] Michael Youssef, Is the End Near?
Pages 17-18
[4] https://davidjeremiah.blog/what-is godliness/#:~:text=That%20means%20communing%20with%20Him,is%20the%20marriage%20of%20affections.
