Christian Hope (2 Peter 3:1-13)

I. Introductory Discussion

Three discussion questions:

A. What problems in the world cause you the most grief and anguish?

B. What do you see as the solution to these problems?

C. What is the hope of the Christian (more generally)?

II. Three Broken Relationships

A. Humanity’s relationship with God is broken.

B. Human persons’ relationships with each other are broken. (Cf. community group study on 06-25-09.)

C. Humanity’s relationship with the earth, its realm of sovereignty, is broken. [Watch excerpt from Sylvia Earle’s TEDTalk, 10:36-12:06 min.]

D. Working conclusion: God created everything good: you, me, the earth, the entire cosmos. It was all created good. And it has all been broken by sin and death and decay.

III. Exposition of vv. 1-9

A. In Peter’s day, scoffers were scoffing at Christian hope (vv. 3-4). This still happens today.

B. Peter argues against them by pointing to three big acts of God in human history: creation itself, the flood of Noah’s day, and the end of history as we know it (vv. 5-7).

C. So why are there still problems in the world that cause us grief and anguish, two thousand years after the King of Kings and Lord of Lords walked upon this earth? Simply put, because the Lord’s patience means salvation (vv. 8-9).

IV. Reaction to vv. 10-13

A. What is your first reaction to these verses?

B. Read Isaiah 24:4-6; Rom 8:18-23; Acts 3:18-21; Matt 19:28-30; Col 1:19-20; Isaiah 65:17-25, 66:22-24; & Rev 21:1-5, 22-27, 22:1-6. What light do these shed on the hope of the Christian?

C. Read Matt 5:12; Luke 16:22; John 14:2-4; & 2 Cor 5:1. Compare and contrast these to the previous set of verses. Which seem more clear? Which seem more ambiguous? What light do these verses shed on the hope of the Christian?

V. Exposition of vv. 10-13

A. Interpretation

1. “[W]e should note that the translation of v. 10 in some versions (e.g., KJV; ASV; NASB), which has ‘the earth and everything in it’ being ‘burned up,’ is almost certainly incorrect. The text is notoriously difficult, but almost all modern versions and commentators assume that the reading ‘will be found’ is original. What it means is more difficult to determine, but perhaps the idea of being ‘laid bare’ before God for judgment is the best option” (Moo, JETS, 7).

2. “[T]he language of burning and melting that is found in vv. 7, 10, and 12 must be read against the background of the OT, where the language is often a metaphorical way of speaking of judgment. And even if some reference to physical fire is present, the fire need not bring total destruction” (Ibid.).

3. “[T]he Greek word for ‘destroy’ in vv. 10, 11, and 12 is a verb that denotes, as Louw-Nida put it, ‘to destroy or reduce something to ruin by tearing down or breaking to pieces’ . . . ‘Destruction’ does not necessarily mean total physical annihilation, but a dissolution or radical change in nature. The widespread metaphorical sense of the venerable English verb ‘undo’ might accurately convey something of the sense. When a character in a C. S. Lewis novel exclaims that he is ‘undone,’ he does not mean that he has ceased to exist but that the very nature of his being has been destroyed . . . The parallel with what God did when he ‘destroyed’ the first world in the Flood of Noah suggests that God will ‘destroy’ this world not by annihilating it but by radically transforming it into a place fit for resurrected saints to live in forever” (Ibid.).

B. The big picture (i.e. 2 Peter in the context of the whole NT and all of Scripture)

1. The teaching of Romans 8 about the liberation of the cosmos

2. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body (which demands a significant continuity of some kind between this world and the next)

C. Eschatological living (v. 11)

VI. Conclusion

Big idea: God created everything good: you, me, the earth, the entire cosmos. It was all created good. And it has all been broken by sin and death and decay. And God wants to redeem all of it.

(Download mp3)

For further reading, see “Nature in the New Creation: New Testament Eschatology and the Environment” by Doug Moo in Journal of the Evangelistic Theological Society. I highly recommend this article. It is well worth your time.