It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine!)

The broad consensus among scientists worldwide is that global warming is happening, aka climate change. Some are forecasting 2016 to be the hottest year on record. If so, that’ll be an upward global trend for three years running. (Of course, there is some debate on this.) In December 2015, representatives from 195 countries signed the Paris Agreement, agreeing to limit greenhouse gas emissions, with most submitting voluntary plans to curtail their countries’ pollution.

As a Christian, I have mixed feelings about climate change. I can unequivocally say that I dislike the desert and prefer mountains and snow. Every shrinking glacier causes my heart grief. Yet I also know that the unified testimony of Scripture is that the world is going to get unbearably hot, literally.

the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)

The Bible does not declare exactly when this will happen, only the fact that we should expect it. This has been long expected. When the Flood subsided thousands of years ago, God promised never to destroy the earth with water again. The sign of His promise is the rainbow, fashioned as a visual reminder to us of his wrath towards sin and his grace towards man.

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. (Genesis 9:11)

This covenant by God with Noah has an implicit warning. God does not promise to limit his wrath towards sin in the future. He remains willing to destroy the earth again. He only says that he will not again use water. And later in Scripture, we learn that the next time will be with heat.

the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! (2 Peter 3:12)

Back in the Cold War years, it was easy to imagine the final destruction of the world coming via nuclear war. Everything on earth destroyed via nuclear bombs and radiation. And while a massive nuclear war might seem to align with the descriptions in 2 Peter 3, that interpretation doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

The heat and burning described in 2 Peter 3 is the type used by farmers to remove crops and prepare a field for replanting. It is a scorching, consuming fire that destroys life. It parallels the flood of Genesis 7–8. The flood was said to ‘destroy the earth’ — yet it was not an utter destruction, so much as a purifying cleanse. 2 Peter 3 describes a similar type of destruction. God will bring a fire that destroys the earth for the purpose of new growth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1–2)

Whereas Noah was preserved through the flood, glorified saints are now awaiting the renewal of the heavens and the earth, prepared for their habitation. We’re told that the polar caps are melting, the seas are rising and the average air temperature is increasing. Slowly but surely, it’s getting hotter. Is this the means by which God is going to bring about the new heavens and new earth?

I don’t know.

The more I study Scripture, the more I realize that God has a plan of which the world does not know. It could be that he raises the global temperature hot enough to destroy all life here, in preparation for the new heavens and new earth. He has the power to do this in an instant, and he has the patience to allow this to take hundreds, even thousands, of years. And it could be that he has a totally different means planned by which the earth will be destroyed.

What’s certain is that it will happen. When? We don’t know. We only know why it hasn’t happened yet. God is waiting for more to repent.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:9–10)

The promise of God is sure. His son, Jesus, will return. The wrath of God towards sin will hit all of creation. The rich and the mighty will cower and flee. The earth will be laid bare and all will stand before God to be judged. Are you ready for that day?

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and lived the perfect life you never could. And though sinless, he was put to death on a cross, just as the Scriptures foretold. As he hung on the cross, the wrath of God for all the sins of God’s children were laid upon him. And when he had paid the penalty for those sins, he willingly gave up his life. Though crucified with criminals, he was laid in the tomb of a rich man. And three days later, he rose again and was seen by many, displaying His power over sin and death.

If you believe that God is righteous to judge you for your rebellious disobedience from his ways, then Jesus stands ready to forgive you. Repent of your efforts to live apart from God, trying to earn your way to eternal happiness apart from him. Put your hope in Jesus and confess him as your Lord and Savior. His righteousness can be counted as yours. His death can make atonement for your sins.

For those whose hope is Christ, the end of the world comes without fear. Whether global warming is a prelude to what 2 Peter 3 describes or simply an environmental change that will be resolved, the end is drawing near. As REM once sang, “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.” How about you?

“That’s great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, an aeroplane, Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, don’t misserve your own needs…”
— REM, It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)