The world will never end

I'm not sure anyone has taken the (alleged) implication Mayan prediction that the world will end on 21st December 2012 totally seriously. Actually, what the Mayans and others really thought about this is somewhat more complex, although unsurprisingly the media aren't terribly interested in nuance.

It has, however, occasioned quite a lot of social media banter. It's an excuse for some pretty good jokes, and many more lame ones. What's struck me is that there are a lot of comments that revolve around life being good, therefore the end of the world being something we wouldn't want. Lurking behind that is the assumption that when the world does end, that's it, there will be no tomorrow, the end. Comments like (paraphrasing, never quoting):

• All my Twitter followers are lovely people, so I hope the world doesn't end.
• Even if the world ends, we'll all still be here maintaining your gas supply.
• I've just planted a lovely new front flower bed; I hope I'm still here tomorrow to enjoy it.

Many Christians have, correctly, pointed to Jesus teaching in Matthew 24:36, where he says that nobody knows the date of his return. We won't know in advance, but one day - quite by surprise - the end of the world will come. It may be that today, 21/12/12, people are saying "it's alright, it's a joke, it's not really the end of the world you know", and they'll probably be right. But there will be one day when the words "it's not the end of the world" are followed immediately by ... the end of the world.

That's almost all correct. Certainly Jesus will come back, and certainly that will mean the end of this world as we know it.

But we need to sharpen our thinking somewhat. That won't be the end of everything; there won't be no tomorrow; it won't (necessarily) be bad. What does the Bible say about the end of the world? In brief:

• It speaks of the end of "this world", meaning this world order. In the Old Testament, the collapse of a great empire is foretold in "end of the world" kind of language. Partly, that's using the Old Testament's own symbolism; if the stars are a symbolic way of speaking of our political leaders, then the collapse of an empire is like all the stars falling out of the sky.
• The greatest of these is God's judgement of the city of Jerusalem, with its political, cultic and religious structure. The Old Testament prophecies spoke of the exile to Babylon (again, using "end of the world" language). Jesus picked up on that language to speak of a devestating assault on Jerusalem "before this generation passes away", which the Romans delivered just under 40 years later.
• Jesus also spoke of a day when he would return. Every human being who has died will be raised to life for judgement; those who have done evil will go from judgement to a place of punishment (that's all of us); those who have trusted him and so been given their acquittal as a gift will go from judgement to a place of joy, feasting and responsible service in the physical presence of Jesus their king.
• The rest of the New Testament sees this not as the end of the world, in the sense that there is nothing after this, but the end of this world - the end of a life where suffering, sickness, sadness, Satan and sorrow all feature. Instead, God will renew this world into a "new heavens (sky) and a new earth" (2 Peter 3). That day won't be a moment of annihilation when all our dreams and hopes are cut short, but (for those who are ready and waiting for it) a moment when all that is wrong is removed and all our best, renewed hopes and dreams come true.

So, at the close of Advent, let's be clear on a few things:

• There is no reliable word from God that 21st December 2012 will be the end of the world.
• But it might be. And the day when it does come will be a great surprise to us all.
• There will be a "last day".
• But the last day is not the end of the world; it's the first day of the next chapter of the world's history.
• For God's people, that chapter is the best one ever to be written, and it's a chapter that never ends.