What Everybody Ought to Know About the End of the World

Did you know that there is enough water in the atmosphere to cover the entire globe?

The United States Geological Survey estimates that there is 3100 cubic miles of water in the air, enough to bury the earth at a depth of about an inch (source). This shouldn't come as a surprise to readers of the flood narrative in the book of Genesis.

Edward Lim (Creative Commons)

To be sure, one inch is a far cry from the twenty-two foot depth described in Genesis 7:20, but thinking about the flood in these terms leads me back to the creation story. Furthermore it offers some interesting insights to the future of creation.

Remember what happened the second day?

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. Genesis 1:6-7

That "vault" is the sky, and God created it to keep the water vapor separate from the water on the earth. So we could say that when God flooded the earth, He undid what He did on the second day, i.e. He unseparated the waters, causing the atmospheric water vapor to return to the earth.

Of course after the flood God promised never to flood the earth again, so you shouldn't be worried about that:

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22

Nevertheless this passage implies that the earth will not endure forever.

Just as the flood was essentially an "uncreation", so will it be with the end of the earth. Here are three things you should know about the end:

1. The end is inevitable.

Jesus said that, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Mat. 24:35). It is not a matter of if, but when. John picks up on this in his gospel account of Christ:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 1:1

This is of course an allusion to creation:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

John begins his gospel in this manner to demonstrate that God existed before creation. He was there "in the beginning" and will be there in the end. And how did He create the heavens and the earth? By His word. He spoke everything into existence (e.g., Gen. 1:3).

2. The end will be sudden and unexpected.

Jesus said that the end will be sudden like lightning and unexpected like the flood in the days of Noah (Luk. 17:24-26).

3. The end is a good thing for those who believe.

The end of the world means the end of pain for believers. God will invite them to join Him in eternity. Jesus will return as a righteous judge and will put an end to evil.

Remember when Jesus talked about building your house on the rock? He wasn't talking about earth; He was talking about His word. His word predated creation, and it will persist when the earth passes away.

Do not fear.

Instead make Christ your foundation. Though your body will perish your soul will endure with Christ. All others will wash away with the rain.

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My pastor inspired this post by one of his sermons some months back. What do you think the end will be like?