Word of Encouragement (9/23/2021)
The prayer we are reflecting on is Peter’s short doxology at the end of his epistle: “To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Pet. 3:18). Yesterday, we talked about God’s glory. Today, let’s continue our reflection on God’s glory.
This doxology teaches us that God’s glory is eternal—“both now and to the day of eternity.” The expression, “the day of eternity,” is rare. But it seems like it’s an equivalent of “forever.” (Maybe what is in view is the seventh day of God’s creation. It has been observed that only the seventh day lacks the refrain, “And there was evening and there was morning, the Xth day.” After His work of creation, God entered His eternal rest, which the seventh day represents. The seventh day was the day of eternity, as it were.)
Only God’s glory is eternal. No one else’s, nothing else’s glory lasts forever. “The grass withers, the flower fades...” (Isa. 40:7). Everything is but a flower and a blade of grass in comparison to God’s eternal glory. Kings will come and go. The beauty of youth passes away too quickly. Even the sun and the stars will not shine forever. They all shine with a borrowed ray from God’s effulgent glory. For God is the essence and fullness of glory. God is glorious in Himself for all eternity. Everything else must be given glory by God. No one can boast before God. Even the sinless and glorified angels in heaven must cover their feet and cover their eyes before the all-glorious God.
Peter ascribes glory to God “both now and to the day of eternity.” In this doxology, he is also praying that God’s eternal glory may be manifested in history, both in the present and throughout the future unto all eternity. Peter has just addressed the “scoffers,” making a mockery of the promise of Christ’s return: “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” (2 Pet. 3:4). Some Christians must have been affected by this because they expected Christ to return soon and it was not happening. So, Peter assures them by reminding them that the wicked people did the same thing at the time of Noah and they were all surprised when the flood came and destroyed the world (vv. 5-6). He also reminds them that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (v. 8).
Why does the Lord seem to be tarrying His return? Peter says, “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” (v. 9). This is important to remember even now, isn’t it? God is preserving the world despite its sinfulness and rebellion against God so that the gospel can go forth to the ends of the earth, calling all to repentance, until all of His elect are saved, to the very least and last of them. But He assures them, “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” (v. 10).
Peter knows how God’s glory will be revealed for all to see at the Second Coming of Christ. But he is praying that God’s glory be shown in the present as well. Of course, if the cosmic, universal manifestation of His glory is reserved for the day of Christ’s return, His glory cannot be shown in the same way in the present. For now, the glory of God is shown in His patient forbearance with the world, in the extension of His grace to sinners for salvation, in the repentance of sinners through their faith in Jesus Christ, and in their joyful service to the Lord.
Do you know what that means? We are the channels through which God’s glory is shown in the world! Whether the sinful world recognizes it or not, God shows His glory in our conversion, in our worship of Him, in our stewardship of His blessings, and in our service to our neighbors through our vocations and labor of love! The very fact that you are a Christian, whom God saved and adopted as His child through His glorious grace, brings glory to God. And today, there will be many opportunities for you to show God’s glory as you live in a manner worthy of being called a child of God! “To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”