Looking for a Righteous Land
by Gene Easley
"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless" (2 Peter 3:14).
The church today seems to have little concern about how Christians live. Being without spot and blameless has little place in today’s theology or Christian practice. But on the day when we stand before Christ, nothing will be more important that having a clean heart. Having our sins washed away by the blood of Jesus and our hearts right with God will be the thing that matters.
Peter calls us to a life of diligence in our manner of living. And keeping eternity in view helps us set our priorities and establish our conduct. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Everything that we presently own will someday be burned with fire. It all will be destroyed. The house we invested so much in, the new car that took so much of our monthly income, the valuables that required special insurance for fear they would be stolen--where will these things be? They all will be burned with a fervent heat.
Peter said that we, "Look for such things." We "look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter3:13). The knowledge of these "things to come" should have a dramatic effect upon our present lives. It should change and shape our conduct. The things we say, the attitude of our heart, the places we go, the things our eyes behold and our ears hear are all to be affected by our knowledge of these "things to come."
In 2 Peter 3:7,11-12, Peter speaks of a coming judgment by fire upon the present heavens and earth. As already mentioned, everything we possess will be dissolved in that fire. Everything we own is temporal. The only thing we possess that is eternal is our soul and the treasures that we have laid up in heaven. That means that in the judgment God has already set the priorities. Knowing this should affect our value system. It should cause us to awake every morning with a desire to please God and to lay up treasures in heaven.
2 Peter 3:8-10 speaks of the certainty of these events. It may seem a long way off to us at times, and all of the situations of life that we encounter may tend to blur our view of the coming end to all this. But the truth is; that day will come! Some will be prepared for it, and others will be taken by surprise.
How should the way we live be affected by this knowledge? Paul’s comments concerning the effects of the grace of God in our lives says it best, "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:12). We will live for this present world, or we will live for the one to come. All of the events that are presently transpiring around us point to the fact the last days are upon us. If there has ever been a time when we should be looking up, it is now. There will be no sin in Heaven. There will be no corruption there. Righteousness will dwell in that land. May God help us keep our eyes open and our hearts and lives in right relation with Christ that we might see that eternal city!
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