2 Peter 1:16-18 – For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”— and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

By the end of Peter’s life he had apparently begun to connect all the dots. Christ’s kingdom was not of this world, it was entirely a spiritual kingdom. Peter was remembering that mysterious day when he and two other disciples accompanied Jesus up a high mountain. In those precious moments there Peter saw the majesty and glory of the Lord flowing out from Jesus and he tasted the surety of the coming kingdom. The conclusions Peter had come to by the time he wrote this letter was that Jesus would certainly come again. His kingdom would be established on earth. He was certain of this and confirmed it by telling the story of his day with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Here is Barclay’s comments on this passage.

“PETER comes to the message which it was his great aim to bring to his people, concerning ‘the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’. As we shall see quite clearly as we go on, the great aim of this letter is to bring people back to certainty with regard to the second coming of Jesus Christ.….Such, then, was Peter’s message. Having stated it, he goes on to speak of his right to state it – and he does something which is, at least at first sight, surprising. His right to speak is that he was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and that there he saw the glory and the honor which were given to him and heard the voice of God speak to him. That is to say, Peter uses the transfiguration story not as a foretaste of the resurrection of Jesus, as it is commonly viewed, but as a foretaste of the triumphant glory of the second coming.”

I remember back in my early days of my Christian faith the second coming of the Lord seemed to be in the forefront of all of our minds. There were sermons about the Second Coming, prophetic books describing His return, there were songs about His coming and even several conferences that focused on the significance of the Lord’s return. More recently the return of Christ seems to be a forgotten topic. Sometimes there is even a sense of embarrassment to even talk about His return. Peter believed Jesus was coming back, I believe it too. Maybe its time for the people of God to turn their attention to the Lord and His kingdom, after all this kingdom down here is temporary at best. Jesus will return and His kingdom will be established on earth. The people involved in that great day will be those who anticipate and embrace His return.