Unshakeable     2 PETER 3:10-13  With each passing year, the instability in the world seems more and more obvious. Natural and man-made catastrophes claim countless lives; political balance shifts; wealth and status come and go. It all causes us to ask, Is anything unshakeable?

As overwhelming as these things seem, let me give you an even bigger example. In today’s passage, we see that the heavens and earth will be shaken. It will all be destroyed—burned, to be exact. Thankfully, we have the promise that God will create new heavens and earth, but in the meantime our world will undergo great turmoil.

Instability can create feelings of insecurity and fear unless we focus on truths we can stand upon with certainty. The Bible refers to Jesus as a rock and firm foundation (1 Cor. 3:10-11; Eph. 2:20). And we know that God is unchangeable and sovereign; nothing can undermine or move Him. His Word is truth, and it will last forever.

As Christians, we know that our eternal relationship with God is secure. We’ve been adopted as His children, and nothing can rob us of this position. What’s more, believers are assured of an eternal home with Him. Though we may at times feel unsettled by our circumstances, we can rejoice when trials bring us humbly to the cross of Jesus—there, we will find true peace and safety.

What assurance we have as God’s children! We can rest in peace and full confidence, knowing that our hearts are secure in Jesus Christ. King David said, “I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Ps. 16:8)

Why Are We Here?

We live to the Lord.   Romans 14:8

If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion. It was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should linger here. It is possible for a man to be taken to heaven and to be found fit to partake in the inheritance of the saints in light, even though he has only just believed in Jesus. It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process, and we shall not be perfected until we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil; but nevertheless, if the Lord had wanted to, He could have changed us from imperfection to perfection and have taken us to heaven at once.

Why then are we here? Would God keep His children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battlefield when one charge might give them the victory? Why are His children still wandering here and there through a maze when a single word from His lips would bring them into the center of their hopes in heaven?

The answer is–they are here that they may “live to the Lord” and may bring others to know His love. We remain on earth as sowers to scatter good seed, as plowmen to break up the fallow ground, as heralds publishing salvation. We are here as “the salt of the earth,”¹ to be a blessing to the world. We are here to glorify Christ in our daily life. We are here as workers for Him, and as workers together with Him. Let us see that our life fulfills this purpose. Let us live zealous, useful, holy lives, to “the praise of his glorious grace.”²

Meanwhile we long to be with Him and daily sing– My heart is with Him on His throne,

And ill can brook delay;
Each moment listening for the voice,
“Rise up, and come away.”

¹Matthew 5:13
²Ephesians 1:6