(Matthew 24:14) The end will come.

Many people live in denial concerning the certainty of the end (completion) of this world.

People are entertained by scary movies about the world’s destruction by zombies, but they push out of their minds any lingering thoughts concerning the certainty of the end. It makes them uncomfortable. 

The reason that the end of all things makes them uncomfortable is because it surfaces the awareness of our finiteness and mortality. It reveals that we are not really in control of reality. 

The denial of the end is why so many people embrace the empty fantasy that advanced technology, like AI, will somehow save us from our own human fallenness. We can live forever! Elon Musk wants to save “humanity” by colonizing Mars. 

In contrast to modern Christians, who like to talk about the end-times, early Christians actually spent time meditating and envisioning the coming of Jesus, the end of the world, judgment, and eternal life. 

They welcomed the end. 

They did not predict the time of the end, but they deeply embraced the certainty of the end. 

They were not encouraging escapism; they were emphasizing realism. 

For many modern Christians, the idea of focusing one’s life on death, and the end of this world, strikes us to be morbid and depressive.

The teaching of the Bible, however, indicates the opposite. When we look forward to the end, the quality of our Christians lives actually improves. For example, 2 Peter 3:11-12 says, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You should live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the coming day of God.” 

Do you look forward to the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this world? 

Do you spend any time meditating on the certainty of the end? 

This is what the early Christians teach us: The more we focus on the certainty of end of this age, the more likely we will be tempted to become conformed to it.

As the Bible tells us, “Do not be comforted to this world” (Romans 12:2), for “it is passing away” (1 John 2:17). 

No one knows the end of the world, but we are certain that one day we will enter a new heaven and earth.