Waiting In Peace & Holiness

“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:13–14, ESV)

The Goal of Our Waiting

In this Advent season of waiting, it’s important to remember what we are waiting for. When we know what we are waiting for, it changes the way we wait. 

During Advent, there is a double focus on our waiting. On the one hand, we remember how God’s people awaited a messiah for centuries. From the moment God told Eve in the garden, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, ESV), God’s people have been waiting for the snake crusher. It doesn’t matter how you want to calculate the time between Adam and Jesus, either way, it’s long time. God’s people were waiting the entire time—although not successfully waiting. 

However, we are on the other side of Jesus’ birth. We no longer have to wait for the messiah to be born. He has been born. That doesn’t mean we are no longer waiting. Jesus’ birth was the beginning of a new kingdom but not the consummation of that kingdom. There is still a kingdom to come—and we are told to pray regularly for its coming (Matthew 6:10). We are still waiting for this kingdom to come in its fullness. It’s been breaking into the world since Jesus’ birth and will finally arrive in its fullness when Jesus comes again. So, we wait for it. 

Advent Waiting

This is why Advent has always had the double focus on waiting for the Messiah. We take time to remember how God’s people waited for Jesus’ birth, but we are also reminded of our own waiting. This means that Advent is not only focused on the birth of Jesus but also on his Second Coming. 

It’s important for us to remember both things. In a culture of affluence, we are reminded that we cannot save ourselves and need a Savior—a Savior who was born and a Savior who is still coming to make all things new. We haven’t arrived yet. We still need to wait. 

On the other hand, when we look around at a world of brokeness—noticing sick, and poor and homeless, watching the news report on school shooting after school shooting—we are reminded that God hasn’t ignored us. He sent a Savior to bring redemption into the world—to overcome the darkness. We are also reminded that He has promised to come again to usher in a “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13, ESV).

The Goal Changes the Way

Paul reminds us that the goal of our waiting changes the way we wait. He says, “Since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Peter 3:14, ESV). Since we are waiting for a place that will be filled with righteousness, we should wait in righteousness. It makes no sense for us to wait for righteousness in an unrighteous manner. We are waiting for new heavens and new earth that will be described as “without spot or blemish, and at peace,” so we should be waiting for these things in this manner. We need to be waiting in holiness. 

Take the opportunity during these last couple days of Advent to do some self reflection. Use this as an opportunity to look honestly at your life and acknowledge the sins that still cling to you. Acknowledge the anxiety and unbelief that still plague you. Then confess them to God and repent. We have the freedom to do this because a Savior has been born who will forgive his people from their sins—his name is Jesus. 

As we confess our sins, repent, and receive forgiveness, we will begin to wait in holiness. We will begin to wait in the peace that can only come from the Prince of Peace who is ushering in a kingdom of peace and holiness.