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What is the Christian's view of nature? The answer we get from this passage is —

I. HE REGARDS IT AS ORIGINALLY PRODUCED BY THE DIVINE WORD. "By the Word of God the heavens were of old," etc. It had an origin — it is not eternal; it arose not from chance, but from the Divine Word.

II. HE REGARDS IT AS DEPENDENT EVERY MOMENT UPON THE DIVINE WORD. "The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same Word are kept in store."

1. That the past changes of nature are to be referred to the Divine Word. Peter here refers to one tremendous catastrophe. "The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." The deluge was no accident. "I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth," etc. The earthquake, the tornado, the blight, the pestilence, all these things in nature come from the Word of God. His will is in all.

2. That the present existence of nature is to be referred to His Word. "But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same Word kept in store" — are preserved in their present state. If this is a right view of material nature, we may infer three important considerations.

(1) That it is absurd to cite the so-called laws of nature against the fulfilment of God's revealed purposes. This is just what the scoffing sceptics did in the days of Peter. The laws of nature seemed against the deluge; but God purposed that these things should take place, and the laws of nature yielded. The laws of nature may seem against a resurrection, etc., but the purpose of God will be fulfilled. If material nature was originally produced by, and is ever dependent upon, the Word of God, we infer —

(2) That there can be no real contradiction between its facts and those of the Bible. Moreover, if material nature was originally produced by, and is ever dependent upon, the Divine Word, we infer —

(3) That its relation to the soul should be especially realised. As the Word of God is thus in material nature, material nature has a meaning. It is the voice of God to the human heart, a Divine appeal to the human conscience. Nature has a moral meaning, God's Word is in it.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

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KJV: For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

WEB: For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;