We Believe In Jesus: The RedeemerSample

Delay of God’s Kingdom: 2 Peter 3:11-12

As we read in Genesis 2:8, when God created the world, the Garden of Eden was the only part that was a paradise. The rest of the world was undeveloped and wild. According to Genesis 1:28, it was humanity’s job to subdue the earth, that is, to cultivate it and establish human societies throughout it, so that the entire world would resemble God’s special garden. We were also supposed to rule over it as God’s servant kings, ensuring that his glorious heavenly rule was properly extended throughout his earthly creation. When this work was done, it was God’s plan to inhabit the world as his special earthly kingdom.

But humanity’s fall into sin delayed the proper cultivation of the world and our rule over it. And therefore it also delayed the coming of God’s kingdom. Our attempts to cultivate and rule were tainted by sin, and so the world we made wasn’t fit for God to inhabit. Without a doubt, human beings have successfully filled the earth. But the societies we’ve built are far from the perfect world we were commanded to make. Wars, crime, strife, hatred and false religion are rampant, and even in the church we often find people who lack faith and commitment to God. And as a result of all this sin in the world, God’s kingdom still hasn’t come in all its fullness. 

Peter addressed this problem in 2 Peter 3:11 and 12 when he wrote:

You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

In one sense, God can bring his kingdom to earth whenever he pleases, since he has to power to purge the world of sin whenever he wants. But God’s plan is to do this through the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. And in this passage, Peter taught that by fighting against the corruption in the world, we can actually begin to move creation toward its original goal, and “speed” the day that God comes to dwell on the earth.