Futurologists have many predictions about what our world will be like in the coming years. They predict that 30,000 drones will be patrolling the skies of the United States next year and that high-speed trains will be operating in the Northeastern U.S. beginning in 2021. And apparently driverless hover-taxis will be transporting people in Dubai in 2022. But transportation isn’t the only area where change is taking place—changes are in store for space too. China is predicted to complete their first space station in 2022, and a lunar mission will drill into the moon’s south pole in 2024. Futurologists are also expecting unemployment will start soaring in 2025. And if you’re becoming forgetful, in 2023, you’ll be able to receive a brain implant to restore your lost memories. And finally, if you’re a chocolate lover, you might want to start saving your money now, as chocolate will become a rare luxury in 2031.[1]

That’s the world according to futurists. But remember what James said: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.” (James 4:13-14).

Everything can change in a moment, and as Christians we need to see the world—both present and future—as Jesus does. He alone knows what tomorrow holds, and only the Bible’s predictions are certain. In the world according to Jesus, judgment is coming. Tribulation is coming. Death, hell, and eternity are ahead for those without Christ.

            Our Lord’s primary concern isn’t our fluctuating stock market, our political maneuverings, or the jousting between nations. It’s the world’s spiritual needs. Jesus asked, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” (Luke 9:25) “The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11).

As you bustle through a shopping mall or airport, take a moment to think of the lostness of humanity. Lostness leads to hopelessness. If a lamb isn’t found on the mountainside, it will perish. If souls aren’t rescued from the rubble, hope fades for their survival. The devil delights when lostness becomes hopelessness. Isaiah 14:9 says: “Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming.”

            That’s why the world is deluged with pills and pleasures. When the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world, the New York Post carried an article about the sexually-themed parties being planned for the night before. One reveler said, “If the world’s gonna end, why hold back?”[2]

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, King David relied on the sons of Issachar for counsel, for they “had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” In the same way, we need to understand the times, to see the world as Jesus does, and to understand how badly the world needs the Savior.

            When Jesus came, the angels declared, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior” (Luke 2:11). The apostle Paul said God’s grace “has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 1:10).

We aren’t going to the world empty-handed. We have a Savior who has our names inscribed on His palms. While we can’t predict the future, we do know of a coming day “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).

Reaching the world with a hands-on Gospel that changes lives forever—that’s our mission in these days before Christ returns.

Don’t worry about what the experts say. We know Who holds the future, and we know our purpose on earth.

 

 

Dr. Jeremiah is the founder and host of Turning Point for God and senior pastor of

Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California.

For more information on Turning Point, go to

www.DavidJeremiah.org.


[1] These and other predictions are from the website www.futuretimeline.net.