After the great flood, God gave a promise that He would never again curse the physical ground because of man. Even though man’s heart is still continually depraved from his youth, God declared He would never again strike down every living thing as He had done (Genesis 8:20-21).

It is a beautiful promise, isn’t it? However, the story doesn’t end there. Justice shall still be served.
That promise speaks of God being long-suffering—delaying His justice and continuously extending His common grace toward all creation until the judgment of fire comes.

This promise precedes a better and bigger promise: when the Lord of Lords and King of Kings comes back, He will judge not just the physical ground, but both the living and the dead.

As Matthew Henry said:

“It is plain that this earth is not to remain always. It, and all the works in it, must shortly be burnt up; and we look for new heavens and a new earth, when all these things shall be dissolved. But as long as it does remain, God’s providence will cause the course of times and seasons to go on…”

God is patiently delaying His justice so that many more can experience His saving grace, changing continuously evil hearts of stone into renewed hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

The point of this short discourse is twofold. First, we believers often lose sight of the better promises of God. We fail to rejoice and tremble at the sight of the beautiful Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—the apex of God’s revelation—which was fulfilled and is to be fulfilled when our Lord comes back in all His glory. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Secondly, to the unbelieving world: God is extending grace to you right now by sustaining the universe and giving humanity the chance to flee from the wrath to come! Let those who have ears hear, and those who have eyes see!

"God has two sheepdogs: Goodness and Mercy. He sends them to us from His throne of grace; sometimes to bark at us, to badger us; sometimes to woo us by persuading us that His will is good and perfect for our lives."
- Sinclair Ferguson