“This world is our passage not our portion.” Matthew Henry

I hear a lot of talk these days about the end of the world. Conversations about Armageddon (the meaning of that word is different from person to person) are becoming normal chatter not just from the church pulpit but in the grocery line, at the gas pump, even at the doctor’s office. The level of fear attached to such conversations is always dependent on whether or not the end of the world is seen as a loss or as a gain.

Now you might ask, “How can the end of the world be seen as a gain?”

Well for Christians the “end of the world” is a misnomer. When we talk about the end-times we are not talking about the end of everything just the end of this age and this world order. We are talking about the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise  that “The meek will inherit the Earth.” We are talking about the destruction of sin and death and the reinstatement of Jesus as King of the World.

In that time big changes are coming. The establishment of that new order comes through the judgment and destruction of the old order. Things valued by the old order will be lost. Frankly, there are things in the old order that we humans, even we Christian humans, really like. Things like war and poverty and famine will be absent in Jesus’ kingdom (and everyone shouts Hallelujah!) but also missing from Christ’s reign will be things like the vote, freedom of religion and R-rated movies ( many of us would be Okay with one and two but try to take away James Bond and Jesus just might have a mutinee on His hands!)

What Matthew Henry said is true; This world is just a place we are passing through. It is  not our reward. We aren’t supposed to get too comfortable here because this world with its “comforts” is passing away. So Christian don’t be afraid when you see your current way of life fading away in the collapse of the world around you. Jesus said,

Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Ma. 24:4-14

In light of this truth, hold on to Christ. He was at the beginning. He will usher in the end. He will take those who trust in Him beyond the end into the inheritance that truly is our portion!