The Ephemeral and the Eternal

Another theme that we see throughout the two epistles of Peter is the difference between what is eternal and what is only temporary.  He seemed to have wanted to get the point across that the temporal things of the earth will not last forever and therefore we should not be focused on only obtaining that which is temporal in our lifetime.  Both our own mortal existence and that of the earth itself are really only momentary.  In terms of his own life Peter told the Saints, “Shortly I must put off this my tabernacle,” and in relation to the earth he similarly said, “The end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7, 2 Peter 1:14).  He reminded them of the fleeting nature of things on the earth: “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away” (1 Peter 1:24-25).  He focused as well on the fact that the Savior would come again and when He did the things on the earth would be totally changed: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved” (2 Peter 3:10-11).  The implication, then, is that since the things of the earth are only ephemeral, we should put our efforts in obtaining that which is eternal.  We are not “redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold” but rather through Jesus Christ who is eternal (1 Peter 1:18). 

                Peter’s words remind us in numerous places of the everlasting nature of God, His word, and His reward for those who are faithful.  He testified that the righteous can be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).  He then repeated that “the word of the Lord endureth for ever” (1 Peter 1:25).  He promised that the reward for righteousness is never ending: there is “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).  To obtain this he encouraged the Saints in these words: “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).  The sufferings in this life will only be temporary, but the blessings for those who endure in faith are permanent: “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).  He taught to the faithful: “When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4).  We can have faith in the goodness of God that His blessings will be forever in the “everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11).  And, most importantly, God should be “glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11).  To God “be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (1 Peter 5:11).  Peter’s message to the Saints in his day and ours is that the problems and suffering of mortality will, in the words of another scripture, “be but a small moment,” but the blessings of the Father to the faithful will be “forever and ever” (D&C 121:7, 46).