The End of the World

Think a minute…Not long ago the biggest-selling book in America was about the end of the world. Watching the world’s news is sometimes like watching a horror film. The 20th century had far more people killed in wars than any century in history.

And in the 21st century, besides all the world’s many conflicts, wars and violence, we are seeing an increase in many kinds of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, droughts, and hurricanes. The earth now has completely new weather patterns that never existed before, including El Nino, La Nina, etc.  

Add to all that, there are terrifying new diseases, plagues, and mystery viruses. AIDS continues killing millions of people worldwide, still with no cure in sight! In Africa, entire towns have no adults left because they all have died from AIDS—so just babies and children are left to survive alone.

According to a United Nations report, our world now has the worst world hunger and famine in history. Hundreds of millions are starving with countless thousands dying every single day. Add to that SARS, the Swine Flu, and the next global pandemic that scientists say will likely attack, for which we are not prepared.

But none of this should surprise us. Jesus warned us that all these things will happen. He said they are like labor pains before a mother gives birth. These terrible things are the sign that He is getting ready to return, only this time He must come to judge all of humanity’s wrong, sinful and evil living. Jesus said we will not know the exact time of His return, so it will suddenly happen before we know it. 

But because He loves us so much, He is waiting as long as He can for us to choose to receive His gift of forgiveness and everlasting life, before it is too late and we are separated from Him forever in hell.

Since He created us an eternal soul and person, Jesus clearly taught that after we finish our life here on earth we all live forever: either in heaven or in hell. He explained that hell is a real place of endless pain, torment and terror, where people are totally, permanently separated from God and all that is good—since He cannot be a truly good God and live together with any sin, wrong or evil.

But the awesome news is that when the world’s Judge is your Father, Who gives you His perfect righteousness, then His return means you are going home to live with Him forever, exactly as He promised. Remember, since He fulfilled His first coming and resurrection, when He guarantees He is coming again at the last resurrection, you can bet your life on it! Through the overwhelming historical and logical evidence of Jesus’ physical resurrection from death, He proved that He clearly is the only One you can bet your life on, now and forever. 

None of us knows if we will live to see tomorrow. But God the Son has done everything He possibly can to forgive and save us before it’s too late. Yet He never takes away our freedom to choose, which He gave to us humans made in His likeness. He will never force you to love Him, and to live His satisfying, safe way.

If you want Him to leave you alone, He will. He will always respect your freedom to choose, even if it is hell you choose by living your own way, not your Creator’s way. But He still stands in your way with His arms of love stretched out. So remember, God does not send anyone to hell, but it is we who choose to go there by ignoring and rejecting Him and His gift of forgiveness and everlasting life. 

So why risk one more day? Right now, once and for all, ask Jesus to forgive you for all of your sins and wrong living. Then ask Him to take full charge of your heart and life every day. Jesus says that is the only way you can have absolutely nothing to fear, neither your sudden death nor the end of the world. Just think a minute…

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