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The Real Terminator!

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"With hurricanes, earthquakes, fires out of control, mud slides, tornadoes, flooding and severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" - Jay Leno

Great question Jay! It seems like every time we turn around there is some new set of threats, and have you noticed that the newspaper headlines are reading like an apocalyptic novel?

Is anyone thinking that Judgment Day might be just around the corner? If so, might it be smart of us to get ready for it?

Now I'm no genius, but you don't exactly have to be a whiz kid to figure out that every day we get one day closer to Judgment Day - right? Mainly because time doesn't stand still - and neither does God. It may seem like He is out of the picture when it comes to dealing with the incredible injustice and wickedness of this world, but the Bible paints a very different picture.

Let's first go back in time to a time when God cried "ENOUGH!"

Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them." (Genesis 6:5-7)

As you may remember, there was a flood on the earth, which came as a result of humanity's stupid and sinful behavior. Somehow in some people's minds, God is made out to be the bad guy in this story, but that's totally wrong. Notice that God's decision to judge the earth was not random. He made a thought out assessment, announced it to everyone, and then gave everyone on earth 120 years to repent! The people in Noah's day were warned and warned, and they just laughed and laughed...right up until the really wet part. Here's the way Jesus described it:

"When the Son of Man returns, the world will be like the people were in Noah's day. In those days before the flood, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came to destroy them all." (Luke 17:26-27)

And so it seems that the next judgment day is going to go down pretty much the same way. Not that we're going to have a flood of water, but there is going to be a flood of God's judgment that is going to make Noah's experience look like a cruise. Check out some of these troublesome descriptions of what the future holds for planet earth:

First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. This will be their argument: "Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created." They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth up from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the world with a mighty flood. And God has also commanded that the heavens and the earth will be consumed by fire on the day of judgment, when ungodly people will perish. (2 Peter 3:3-7)

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. (2 Peter 3:10)

The Bible isn't exactly vague about the fact that there is a judgment day coming! Notice also that every thing on earth is going to melt away, but here's the most important part: every one on earth is going to be taken away. Here's how the Apostle John describes it from a futuristic vision he was given:

I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in the books, according to what they had done. The sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead in them. They were all judged according to their deeds. And death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death--the lake of fire. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

We should all consider ourselves seriously warned, and we should all let the reality of the future judgment impact our present lives. That's the advice that Peter gives anyway:

Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! You should look forward to that day and hurry it along--the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God. (2 Peter 3:11-13)

The world we live in right now is definitely not right with God - but don't let that stop you from pledging your allegiance to Him and getting ready for His judgment day!

Head: What you need to know about this truth

The Bible promises that there is an upcoming judgment day where all earth will be burned up and all people will be taken up before God to stand trial for what we did with our lives.

Heart: What you need to feel about this truth

The reality of a future scenario where we all will stand trial for what happened here on earth should impact us to the core of our being! Specifically, every thought, word, and action should be carefully weighed in light of how it would hold up on judgment day. In other words, start today with an attitude of "what goes around comes around"...because there is more truth to that phrase than you think! By the way, can you imagine how different (and better) the world would be if we all did that?

Hands: What you need to do about this truth

This one is easy - read Peter's words again:

Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! (2 Peter 3:11)

Here are a few different versions of this all important verse:

Everything will be destroyed. So you should serve and honor God by the way you live.

Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life?

Since all these things are thus in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities.

Holy...devout...godly qualities...get the picture? These words basically mean living your life set apart for God's purposes. How can you make this happen more and more in your life? Maybe to get started, memorize this quote from a great missionary to Africa named C. T. Studd:

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last."