The End of This World

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
2 Peter 3:1–7
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The End of This World
            There are many false beliefs about the end of the world. Many well-meaning Christians have been led to believe that they will be spared from living in the final days, that a secret or not-so-secret rapture will happen, and all Christians will be taken to heaven before the truly bad days of Armageddon begin. This misguided belief results in missing the point that the end times is not a specific event waiting to be initiated in the near future but is in fact now. The world has been living in the last days since Christ ascended to heaven. And upon His return, judgment will occur for all people. And in the meantime, we need not concern ourselves with trying to decipher a nonexistent Biblical code to know when Jesus will return, we simply live in the reality that today could be the last day of history or it could be a thousand years from now. And in the waiting, we focus on what is here and now, God’s promise delivered to us in His Word and Sacraments. Like the flood in the days of Noah, the waters of Baptism washed away our sins and we rest secure in the ark of God’s love, His church. Jesus’ death and resurrection won for us victory over sin, death, and the devil. And His promise remains even after there are no more days.