1:7
Paul is looking forward to the return of Christ. That is the day when we will get relief from our troubles. Now, not all suffer equally in this life, and we may well get some relief in this life, but the true everlasting relief comes when Christ returns. Whatever we go through in this life we need to remind ourselves that it is only temporary. When Christ returns it will be with blazing fire and with His powerful angels. The force of this earth will b as nothing compared with Christ.
1:8,9
Those who reject the gospel are disobeying God and will be punished. This isn’t an aspect of the gospel that we tend to talk much about, or even to like. However, it is part of the gospel. The call to believe in Jesus is not an option to be considered, it is a command to be obeyed. “They will be punished with everlasting destruction”. One could get involved in a silly debate about annihilationism, or “conditional immortality”, but such debates are pointless and achieve nothing. There are the most severe consequences for those who reject Christ. They will be separated from God and from His glory. The converse of this is that those who do obey the gospel will be with God and His glory for ever.
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