The end is still to come
24th September 2023
When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.
These are the beginning of birth-pains. Mark 13:7-8 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The end is still to come
With the terrible flooding in Libya coming so soon on the heels of the awful earthquake in Morocco, and with the war in Ukraine dragging on and on – not to mention nations rising against nations in other parts of the world – it is easy to imagine that the end of the world is near.
So it is useful to remind ourselves of these words of Jesus to his disciples. He explicitly tells them not to be alarmed and assures them that “such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” He says that wars, earthquakes and so on “are the beginning of birth-pains.” In other words, they are a sure sign that the end is coming, but also that the end is not yet – just as birth-pains signal that the baby is coming, but it has not yet arrived. It will be a painful time, and it may last a while; the end is coming, but not yet.
We need to be careful not to slip into either of two extreme positions. One is to think that the end is near and is coming right away. The other is to think that the end is never coming and everything will carry on as it is. Of course, the end could come at any time, and we need to be ready for that, but that is not to say that it is definitely coming soon.
But what does it mean to be ready? We need to remember that it is not simply the end that is coming, but that it is none other than Jesus himself who is coming, and that he is coming to judge the world and to save his people. So being ready means being ready for him, ready to meet him, and to make sure that we are among the people he has come to save and not still belonging to the world he has come to judge.
That means turning to him, asking for forgiveness for our sins – especially the sin of not living in line with his commands – and turning from those sins. When we do that, we can be sure that we will be forgiven since he has already paid for our sins when he gave his life for us on the cross. And we can then be sure that when he comes we will meet him as our Saviour and not as our Judge.
Father, thank you for preparing us for the end of all things and for the coming of your Son Jesus as Saviour and Judge; make us ready to meet him when he comes. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)