But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the Earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)

Two Realities Few Believe

It is said that death and taxes are the two certainties of life but the two realities of life are found in Peter’s warning of the impending return of the Lord and the total destruction of the known world. Everyone agrees death is certain and every Spring taxes come due. Nobody likes paying taxes and everybody loathes what death brings. The certainties of life come with an accepted norm that all will die and the government will require its pound of flesh. Sadly, the greater reality beyond death and taxes is the eternal question of life being governed by a higher being that has reserved the known universe for destruction and the accountability of humanity. The day of the Lord is the most real thing a person can know. What the day of the Lord brings is the second most real thing that every soul should understand. Life for all humanity will end, and then comes a judgment.

Many pundits warn of the impending destruction of the world by global warming. Some have suggested a depletion of the ozone and pollution from fossil fuels or a host of other man-made calamities could bring the human race to an end. There is nothing further from the truth. Without reservation and any possible truth to the claim, nothing within the arsenal of man’s power could destroy planet earth. Nuclear holocaust, supposed global warming, and whatever level of air pollution is used to scare the population into believing the great lie of human power it pales in comparing who rules the world and the universe. Humanity can and never will destroy the world because that is left in the hands of the One who created the world and the universe.

God is coming back one day. He made that promise two thousand years ago and He has not forgotten. Death will take the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every day and this will continue unabated until the Lord God decides to send His Son. Oil spills will fill the oceans and skies will fill with pollution, but the power of nature will continue to cleanse and purify the environment as it has done from the beginning. Yes, man can harm the environment, but he can never destroy the planet. That judgment is left in the hands of the mighty God who formed the world from the abyss of nothing. When the Lord returns, planet earth will explode in a fiery ball. The moon will become a mass of dust, and the sun will burst into nothing. Every planet and all the stars will erupt in the fiery wrath of God, and in an instant – the universe will cease to exist.

When the Lord returns and the world is burned up and the universe destroyed, all life on Earth will also be burned up. The first reality is that when the Lord returns, every soul on Earth will lose their carnal bodies, but they will retain their spiritual image of the Almighty. When a man dies, his body returns to the dust from whence it came, but his eternal spirit returns to God who gave it. At the coming of Christ and the destruction of the world, the body will dissolve into nothingness amidst the burning heat of God’s wrath, but the eternal nature of man will be transported to the presence of the Creator – Lord, God Almighty. The Earth ends, but humanity does not.

There are two certainties that all men must consider. The certainty of the universe being destroyed is incredible and universal, but that is not the most important part of the story. The second certainty of the world’s destruction will be an instant in time and become the abyss of blackness again. The first certainty is the coming of Christ to gather all men together for a judgment of righteousness, truth, and justice. That is what all men should know and fear. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and most will be unprepared. Disbelieving in the return of Christ and the destruction of the world does not change reality and its certainty. There is a great day coming. It will be a loud and powerful scene when the world explodes. The greater noise will be the sound of those unprepared to meet their God – and it will be too late. Two realities. Whether you believe the second one is not as important as whether you are prepared for the first one.