2 Peter 3

[Amanah]

Will the earth be destroyed by fire?

1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

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 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

I'm disturbed by the state of our world in many ways and I just can't see it continuing indefinitely.

Our world is so spiritually bankrupt and immoral, we are living in the day when Christians are seen as intolerant, biblical values are seen as hate speech. The things Christians consider evil are seen as values to be protected.

We are living in a world where it is very difficult to discern reality. Who is the enemy? What is fake news and what can we believe?

We are also living in a world since the industrial revolution in which a small percent of the world has consumed a vast amount of the worlds resources, living in a manner that is unsustainable. How can we go on living this way?

Our water, air, and food is contaminated. I don't see our world lasting forever.

Back to Christianity. How far are we from the book of acts church? Jesus said for us to take up our cross and follow.

It seems to me that if someone actually embodied Philippians 2, they would seem alien and radical to us, what should be normal, isn't.

Philippians 2:1-8 1Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross!

People are far more interested in consumerism, eating and drinking and being entertained, then in doing the hard work of fixing our world.