CREATION HOPE
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THE RISEN JESUS IS THE FIRST- BORN OF THE NEW CREATION . AND WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM – FULLY AND BODILY HUMAN IN A RESTORED CREATION .
a cosmic conflagration . This view is based on 2 Peter 3:10-12 .
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief . The heavens will disappear with a roar ; the elements will be destroyed by fire , and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare ( 2 Peter 3:10 ).
Surely , they argue , the picture of the Day of the Lord given here portrays final destruction , not redemption and renewal .
However , we need to see the context and argument of the whole chapter .
Peter is arguing against those who scoff at the idea of a coming future judgement , complacently believing that everything will go on just as it always has forever ( vs . 3-4 ). What they forget , however , says Peter , is that such an attitude was around before the Flood , but God did intervene and act in judgement . So God will assuredly and finally do in the future what he prefigured in the past . What he did then by water , he will in the end do by fire .
Now the key thing to observe here is that the language of destruction of the world is used of both events . Look at the parallel points in verses 6-7 .
By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed . By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire , being kept for the day of judgement and the destruction of the ungodly . ( 2 Peter 3:6-7 ; my italics ).
What was destroyed in the Flood ? Not the whole planet or creation itself , but the ungodly human society on the earth at that time – ‘ the destruction of the ungodly ’, as Peter says . So the apocalyptic language of fire in the second part of the chapter , then , should be understood in its biblical sense of purging , cleansing judgement , as the language of water is used in the first part of the chapter . Or , according to some scholars , as the language of smelting , in which fire is used to separate base rock and dross from the pure metal that remains . The universe will be purged of all evil and after that fiery cleansing , after the destruction of ‘ the world ’ in its sinful rebellion against God – then , Peter continues with the wonderful verse 13 , ‘ in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells .’ The future for creation is not one of obliteration and evacuation , but of cleansing , restoration and righteousness .