The Great Day of the Lord


Read Zephaniah 1:14-18 and 2 Peter 3:10-12

“The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly.” (Zephaniah 1:14a)

These are not verses I really like to read. “A day of distress and anguish.” “Blood poured out like dust.” “The destruction of the heavens by fire.” They make me think of Ghostbusters, or of horror movies.

But God doesn’t tell us just what we want to hear, He tells us what we need to know, and throughout Scripture He used prophets and preachers to warn people. The same way that John the Baptist insisted, “Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2), Peter and Zephaniah warn that one day, the world will end and God’s judgment will come. God has clearly laid out His plan for the end of this age in Revelation. We don’t know when it will come, but this coming event should motivate us now. The expectation of future judgment is a strong incentive: “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God” (2 Peter 3:11).

Jesus’ blood covers believers from God’s righteous wrath over our sins, but we are still expected to live as people who have been redeemed— bought with a price. This is why Peter tells us to live holy and godly lives; not to earn our salvation, but to stand before God with lives full of worship to Him, so that we are not ashamed on judgment day. This is a reminder of how holy our God is, that He always judges unrighteousness.

We know from the rest of Scripture what God expects of us, and how to live in a way that pleases Him. If we do that, we can “look forward to the day of God.”

DIG DEEPER:

  • Could your life be called holy and godly?
  • If you were to stand before God in judgment, are there aspects of your life you would be ashamed for God to examine? What can you do to change these?

written by Maggie Freitag


Recommended Posts