The Kubacz Connection: What is the World Coming to?

What is the World Coming to?

The Indy 500? A Lady Gaga meat dress concert? The Niger Traditional Wrestling National Championships? Something much better (or worse)?

There is good news and bad news.

Maybe the good news first, since it is really, really good: Jesus is going to do what He set out to do. As you might suspect, nothing can stop the One who created all things and by Whom all things hold together. God the Father was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Jesus’ death for us on the cross (Colossians 1). So, Jesus has a plan that is going to happen, all the way through.

In Matthew 24, Jesus was talking to His disciples about signs of the end of the age. He told them about some pretty scary things happening in the world (and even to them). And then He hits them with a climax (which may have seemed a bit hard to swallow since He had just described a famished, quaking, world at war where false prophets abound, the love of many grows cold, and His followers are handed over to be persecuted and killed.) He says that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Pretty bold statement to make. When I think about how it can be intimidating to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with friends and neighbors in my world of relative peace, it is hard to imagine the gospel being preached to all nations (ethne) in the setting that Jesus described. But He said it will happen. And if you look through history at times and places where the gospel has been suppressed and the church has been persecuted, it hasn’t stopped God. (Check out growth of the church in China in the last 50 years).

Jesus said that all nations would hear and then the end will come. So He basically is saying that the end won’t come until all nations have heard. There may be mixed feelings out there about desiring the coming of the end. But with Jesus‘ promises that He will come to reign giving us a hope that we can cling to, I am really looking forward to the end (but I’m still a bit taken aback by many of the scary-sounding things that will happen between now and then). Since none of us know when the end will come (later in Matthew 24), we can’t really sit and watch the countdown. But God has given us an amazing opportunity to jump in and be a part of what we know God will accomplish between now and then.

Jesus was chosen before the creation of the world to redeem us, and through Him we have faith and hope in God (1 Peter 1). Once time began, and Abram showed up on the scene, God chose to bless all peoples on earth through him (Genesis 12). Through Abram (Abraham) came Jesus, and through Jesus came redemption to those who believe. And Jesus said that all nations (peoples) will hear the gospel of the kingdom. And then the end. So, the stage is set, the plan is in place, and it’s gonna happen before this thing is over. Good news, eh?

The bad news? So many of us are missing out on the blessings of being a part of God’s plan. We are so involved in so many things that will pass away. But all around us moves the ongoing, unstoppable, eternity-reaching plan of God to bless all peoples with the gospel of His kingdom. The end of this world will come, after God’s purpose is fulfilled. The end will also come to the time that each of us has been given to be in the world joining God in His plan.

So, the good news is really, really good. And the bad news can become good news, if we ask God to show us how we can get involved. It’s his plan; He is going to make it happen (He’s not letting the absence of witnesses in some places keep Him from revealing Himself in people’s dreams). We just get the privilege of being a part of His plan (here and for eternity). He wants us to be a part. That’s why Jesus explained things further to His disciples in Matthew 25. And gave them the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28. And before He went to be with His Father, read what He prayed for His disciples and all believers in John 17:13-26. (Really, take the time to read it - great stuff about God loving us, unity, Christ in us).

So, how to get involved?

Pray - God wants to talk to you. He wants you to know Him and to know how He is working in your life and in all peoples.
Read the Bible. The plan is laid out in there.
Read The Surge by Pete Briscoe. Full of insight, inspiration, and practical ways that you and your church can start now.
Attend the Perspectives course (perspectives.org)
Revel in the fact that we serve a God whose plan won’t be stopped, no matter what.

What is the world coming to? The end that God has ordained. Don’t miss out on your part in God’s plan for the world.