When will the world end? Many people have spent considerable time and effort trying to figure that out. They scour Scripture for clues that might reveal the time of the end. All such effort is a sad waste because Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour that He will return in judgment. But that doesn’t mean the Lord’s coming should catch us by surprise. On the contrary, we should always be ready for the Lord’s return!
Understanding the nature of this final era of redemptive history is part of First John’s “we know” passages. In 2:18, John writes, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” If that was true then, it’s certainly true now. We know that no further revelation is coming. We know all that’s left is for the Lord to return. We know it’s the last hour, but are we ready?