When will Jesus come again? What will be the signs of His coming? These are the questions Jesus’ disciples asked Him (Mark 13:4), and subsequent generations have continued to share their interest. Year after year, books have been written, breathlessly recounting the author’s certainty that, all prior predictions to the contrary, the signs are all now pointing to Christ’s imminent return. And of course, most of those books can now be found in the bargain bin, as all of their predictions have turned out to be just as mistaken as the prophecies that came before them.

But that doesn’t mean we should fall into the error of verses 3 and 4, poo-pooing the very notion of Judgment Day, and living however we want to. Just because Jesus hasn’t yet returned doesn’t mean He isn’t coming.

In fact, Peter reminds us that God has already judged the world once, destroying man and all his works with a great flood in the days of Noah (vv. 5-6). Every time it rains, we should thus be reminded that God is serious about cleansing the world of sin, just as every time we see a rainbow we should be thankful that He continues to withhold His judgment – at least for now.

But how long will we have to wait? In verse 9, Peter reminds us that God doesn’t experience time the same way that we do. He created time, and so He stands outside it – in a very real sense, all time is present to God. From His perspective, Judgment Day is the next significant historical event, so all of us who live after the Resurrection of Christ are in fact living in the last days, even though those days have now stretched out to about 2000 years – or a couple of days, according to His reckoning (v. 8).

So, what do we need to know about the coming of Christ? Frankly, the specific signs and the particular date should be the last things on our mind. There’s just no way to predict something that will happen as swiftly and, from the sinful world’s perspective, as unexpectedly as the coming of a thief in the night (v. 10). Instead, we should be focused on the certainty of Christ’s coming and the devastation that He will bring on all wickedness at that time (vv. 7, 10). And that means we should urge one another to repent (v. 9) so that we won’t perish in the coming fire (v. 12).

So, the important question for us is this: whenever Christ decides to return and bring an end to all the sin in the world, will we be ready?

II Peter 3:1-18 (ESV)

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,
2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,
16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.