In addition to the global pandemic, earthquakes, locusts, impending economic calamity, and a growing sense of fear the circles the globe. For people both inside and outside the church, this raises a question. Is this the end?
Well, it’s not a new question. Many in my generation grew up wondering if a planet-killing nuclear exchange was imminent. Today’s kids predict climate change will end it all. Movies have brought us all kinds of doomsday scenarios, from Wall-E’s pollution to Deep Impact’s, well, impact. But none of those are really the same thing, are they? The question brought on by the combination of events this year is more specific: is this the end as understood from the Bible?
The easy answer is, well, at least we know the clock is ticking. Back when my son David was little, I can remember sitting with him in a basketball arena. He was too small to understand the numbers on the clock, but he had learned that, when the clock is ticking, it will eventually hit zero and set off that loud buzzer. As a result, whenever he’d look and see the numbers were changing, he’d put his hands to his ears. There could have been twelve minutes still on the clock, and there he was, braced and expectant, because he knew the end was coming.
The New Testament indicates that, with the resurrection of Jesus, the clock is ticking. We don’t know how much time is on it – only that it’s counting down. It’s why the Apostle Peter writes “The end of all things is near” [1 Peter 4:7]. He doesn’t say how near – no one can, because, as the Apostle Paul writes, “the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” [1 Thessalonians 5:2]. So is this the end? The actual, final end? I don’t know.
But I do know the end is coming.
The harder question to answer is one that seems simple: so what? If the end is coming, how should we respond? If the end brings with it all the sense of judgment and finality that is discussed all throughout Scripture, we would all want an advocate with us! Someone to help us through the process, especially since it’s of eternal importance. And the Bible is clear who that Advocate is! Look at 1 Timothy 2:4-5:
[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
God wants all to be saved, and He has given a Mediator to stand between Himself and mankind, the Person of Jesus Christ. Anyone may come to the Mediator by faith. He’s just the only one. With the clock ticking on the end of the world – or the end of our lives, if that comes first – there’s just one way to ensure it’s a happy ending. Do you know Jesus as Lord, as Savior, as Mediator? Do those around you?
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