“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day
The “one thing” that God wants us to know is something about the essence of God. Peter wants us to know something about how God figures time. If someone says, “The Bible promised Jesus’ return two thousand years ago, and He has not come, God does not fulfill His promises.” However, as far as God is concerned, it has only been two days! One day with the Lord is as a thousand years.
Ps 90:3, “For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.”
We see time in one dimension, and God sees time in another dimension. Man looks at things from a finite perspective. God looks at things from an infinite perspective.
God’s computation of time is totally different than our calculation of time. He operates on principles of infinity. God is a timeless and spaceless Being. There is no such thing as time in God’s Being. God does not have a past, present, or future. He is not sequential. Everything with Him is eternally present.
PRINCIPLE:
Delay does not daunt God’s plan.
APPLICATION:
We cannot judge God like we judge men. God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts. His ways are not like our ways. God does not look at the passage of time as we do. God does not experience time as such. Our time concepts are not the framework in which God works out His purposes. So we cannot judge God by human standards. God does not work in our time framework.
Lapse of time does not impede the promises of God. God has a different view of time than we do. God resides in eternity. We like to reduce God to our dimension. This distorts a true picture of Him. We have lost our sense of our awe of God in this generation of Christians. We think of God as one of us. However, there is an incredible distance between God and us.
We want to reach nirvana now, some present place of completion. That will not take place in time. We have to wait for the eternal state for that. We think that some human standard of success will bring us that place of nirvana. “I am already twenty-five years of age, and I have not made my first million yet.”
God is never in a hurry and never makes haste. God’s program will move to fruition despite any circumstance or situation. There will come a day when the last soul will come to Christ, and the body of Christ will be complete, then He will come. Only God knows this time. If anyone tries to pinpoint this date, they are off base. Even angels do not know the time of His coming.
We should never become impatient with God’s timetable. God has everything in place. Impatience tends to judge. Impatience rarely gets the facts or waits for the facts. When we find impatient people, we find people who will hang us and hold the trial afterward.
God’s promises are as good as if they were made today (Is 41:10). Time is no barrier to the promises or plan of God. Time belongs to God.
The effect of an any moment return of Christ keeps us on the tiptoe of expectancy for His return.
1 Jn 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
This means that we should keep short accounts with the Lord. Have you confessed the sin in your life? Clear off each day so that you begin every day with a clean slate. Live each moment with nothing between you and the Savior. Is there any unfinished business you have with anyone? Heal that relationship. Deal with that situation. Live on the tiptoe of expecting the Lord to return at any moment.
The lapse of time is often the nemesis of time-oriented beings. Time goes by, and you still have not snagged a husband. We are about to retire, and we still have made our first million. You are twenty-eight, and no one recognizes you as success! “I am on a date with this jerk, and this evening feels like it is going on forever!” We are creatures of time, but God is not.
God will fulfill His promises. When we get into a jam, we want out immediately. God may keep you in the process of suffering for His own purposes. God has His own timetable. We cannot pressure God into changing that timetable.
No one knows when Jesus will return. He will return for He said, “I will come again” (Jn 14:3). Many irresponsible people set dates of Christ’s coming today. This brings disrepute to the Bible. Down across the corridors of church history, many groups have set dates only to lose credibility in the end. These groups become the laughing-stock of the community. Their ridiculous predictions cast aspersions on the trustworthiness of Scripture. God has purposely concealed the time of Christ’s coming.
