Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.    

  1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

When we, as humans, are given ample warning about an upcoming event, we generally should take notice. When a category 5 hurricane is heading for the coast of the United States, we generally receive a fair amount of warning prior to the event. The beaches might be sunny, full of vacationers, and functioning as normal, while, lurking in the distance, is a storm sure to effect the coast line as well as communities inland with devastating wind, rain, and flooding. So while everything looks normal today, our weather forecasters work diligently to protect us, by given us fair warning about the impending situation (and they tend to do a very good job of it). 

And just like getting fair warning about a devastating storm approaching, we have been given ample warning of the judgment of God. That’s what today’s passage is all about. For born again believers in Jesus Christ, it is something to look forward to. Sin evicted from our midst, the enemy judged, and eternal life with Jesus Christ, makes this day an exciting one. But for the unbeliever, this day will be one of fear and dread. That’s why it’s so important to make sure the our lives, the lives of our family members, and those people in whom we come in contact, have heard the gospel and surrendered their lives to Jesus. No one need face this future day on the wrong side of redemption but tragically many will (Matthew 7:13-14). 

Why the masses of people in our world today do not see that living in the grace, mercy, forgiveness, and redemptive power of God through faith in Jesus Christ is actually the superior way to live, I simply do not know. If it’s for lack of hearing the good news of Jesus then we, as the church, need to get out and make sure that every man, woman, and child hears (Mark 16:15-16). But if it is hearing yet rejecting, with a determination to live life on their own terms, we need to continue to be available for these people. They might reject Christ and even our attempts to share good news with them but the effort needs to made none the less. 

If you study the history of mankind, you will notice that, despite all of the innovations that have taken place over the centuries, we, as the human race, have not improved in our morality. In fact, the world, in general, is moving away from God, from the truth of His Word, and the saving power of the gospel. We substitute everything under the sun, including religion, as a way of avoiding the “denying of self” required for anyone to enter into a new and wonderful life in Christ (Luke 9:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17). In a culture that asks us to celebrate and take pride in sexual perversion and confusion, a society in which elected leaders now stand with and protect lawlessness, and where the taking of the precious life of a child in the womb is not considered murder rather a constitutionally protected health decision (something the framers never imagined or intended), the moral decay of our society is evident. When good is being called evil and evil is being called good (Isaiah 5:20) and those who care the most for human souls are mocked while those promoting destructive behavior are labeled as the “caring” in our society…this is how you know that the time is near. And we don’t know when it will take place but Paul’s description is clear, that it will come “like a thief in the night.” 

Every man, woman, and child has the right to adopt whatever lifestyle they see fit but what we cannot escape are the consequences for such decisions. God does not force Himself on anyone. We can hear the gospel presented, the Word of God preached and taught, and choose to ignore what God is telling us but what we cannot do is ignore the implications for such a rejection. Everyone will either experience this day, being proclaimed in today’s passage, or they will draw their last breath on this earth and face eternity. Either way, our decisions on this earth will dictate the reality of our eternal existence. For the Christian, acceptance by God, salvation, forgiveness, restoration, and eternal life will be the end result. For those outside of Christ, rejection, condemnation, judgment, spiritual death, and eternal separation from God will be their eternal reality (John 3:18). 

When we compare our lives on earth to our eternal existence, it’s not difficult to see that this life is but a blip on the screen (Isaiah 40:8, James 4:14). And though this is not a difficult idea to understand, it seems that most people are content to invest all of their effort into this fleeting, earthly, temporal existence (Matthew 6:19-21). But for the wise, eternity is something to not just consider or muse about rather it is something for which to plan. Just like the urgency in preparing to evacuate the area being effected by an incoming storm, should be our level of preparedness for the day of the Lord. And even if we do not live to see this day, our mortality is evident and should require more than just financial planning as to whom our worldly possessions will go. We should be living earthly lives that reflect our eternal reality. And indeed, that is exactly what everyone is doing whether they realize it or not. For the Christian, our lives are lived for Christ, His Kingdom, and for His Glory. Filled with the Holy Spirit, we now rise above the spiritual blindness, darkness, and distortion of the culture and now walk with our eyes focused on our Savior (1 Corinthians 2:14-15, Colossians 1:10). But for those outside of Christ, although salvation is just a prayer away for anyone, the unbeliever’s life is also a demonstration of their eternal reality. A rejection of Christ now means a rejection of them later (Matthew 10:32-33, Luke 9:26).

But it doesn’t have to be this way! God desires for us to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Yes, the consequences for our sin is death, physical and spiritual, not to mention eternal separation from God. But the free gift of eternal life is offered to us through faith in Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 6:23). God spoke this world into existence (John 1:1-5). God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26). And He loves us more than we could ever imagine (John 3:16). So, living apart from Him doesn’t make sense in this life or the next. But if you personally know about the amazing, spiritual transformation that comes from surrendering your life to Jesus Christ, including the joy, peace, hope, purpose, and restoration that comes from such a decision, share that with someone today. The person with whom you share is responsible for what they do with the gospel but it is our responsibility to make sure that everyone has been given fair warning about that day (2 Corinthians 5:20-21), so that as many as possible will experience it, not as a day of fear and dread, but rather as something to look forward to!

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11