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Thursday, October 23, 2014

P1 Seeing Eternity beyond this life - 2 Peter

2 Peter 1:3 "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."

Introduction and review
Yesterday's post attempted to connect the dots between absolute moral standards, The Existence of The Divine Moral Lawgiver and the Eternal realities of Heaven and Hell. 2 Peter has been the launching point of our discussion over the last two posts. We ended yesterday with the following logic:

1. Moral standards includes definitions of right and wrong, justice and injustice and their associated consequences 

2. Universal Moral Standards point to The Eternal Moral Law Giver Who Defines Right and Wrong both in this life and eternity

3. Universal Moral Standards also point to The Eternal Moral Law Giver Who is the Standard of Justice and Injustice both in this life and eternity

4. Hence the associated consequences play out in both this life and eternity. 

That last statement of course points to why it is we see the scriptures teaching about the eternal destinies of Heaven and Hell. To deny the eternal realities of heaven and hell requires us then to also deny the realities of moral absolutes and thus requires us to either diminish our view of God or to deny the Biblical revelation of God altogether. 

Today I want us to begin delving further into the actual argument of Peter in his 2nd letter. This little letter of Peter's is quite significant in understanding how we see eternity beyond this life. Peter clearly draws the connecting points between how we relate to the God of eternity in this life and our eternal destination in the next life. We will sketch out Peter's main points today and then look at them in more detail tomorrow.

1. Physical and spiritual life are rooted in God.  2 Peter 1:3-9 

2. Eternity in Heaven follows from your relationship with God. 2 Peter 1:10-12

3. Eternity in Hell results from your final rejection of God. 2 Peter 2:1-2,10,15; 3:16

4. Eternity with you is the desire of God. 2 Peter 3:9, 10-12

More tomorrow.....