“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.”
Now it’s important to clarify that Jesus is not saying that these specific things they were doing in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot were bad in an of themselves. Jesus is only pointing out these activities to paint the picture of how people will be going about the mundane routine of their normal lives with hearts that are completely indifferent to Jesus and His coming Kingdom. For them it will be completely unexpected. And though God is long-suffering and slow to anger, their hardening their hearts against the pleadings of the Holy Spirit to receive the Gospel has resulted in much evil and suffering. Therefore, justice demands that the cycle of evil and suffering be brought to an end, and God seeing that everyones choice for or against trust in Jesus has finally been made, suddenly appears in swift judgment. You see, in life just before Jesus’ Kingdom fully comes, He warns us about…
INDIFFERENCE TO THE SUDDEN NATURE OF HIS COMING KINGDOM.
I remember when my son was finally born, it took me a year to fully realize that my hanging out with friends late into a Saturday night wasn’t “a thing” anymore. That would have to be done maybe on a Sunday. Yet it also makes me wonder about the scenario of say a pregnant mother who is late in her final trimester and is told by her doctor that the baby could come any day now. Yet she still wants to go and hangout with her friends and do the things she used to do before she was pregnant or when she was single. It would be as if she was completely indifferent to the fact that she could have a baby at any moment. Then one night while she’s dancing at her friends birthday party, suddenly her water breaks and her contractions become increasingly intense. As she cries out from the labor pains, she and her friends realize that she needs to be rushed to the hospital. They place her in the car, start speeding down the highway only to have to stop because she ends up having the baby in the car. Her indifference had been interrupted by the suddenness of the arrival of her new born baby. And this is the type of picture Jesus is painting of the indifference people will have to the sudden nature of His arrival.
Now something that’s been on my mind for months, that seems like a strange paradox, is how people could be just going about to normal routines of life so indifferent to Jesus and His coming Kingdom when prophecy also depicts this same time as a time of rapidly increasing natural disasters as well as social, religious and political turmoil. And then I thought about the last few years leading up to the pandemic and definitely life during the pandemic, and how over saturated we are with information, news and media constantly coming at us through screens. And how after awhile you can become numb to hearing about the latest natural disaster, yet another case of racial injustice, more fighting over politics, more people being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 unnecessarily, and on and on. You hear the latest bad news and then next week everyone’s moved on thing. And as a result, your heart can become either cynical, angry, fearful, apathetic or just plain indifferent. And then, just to cope with all the crazy going on in the world and in your life, people then often find themselves plunging into self-destructive cycles and addictions, when all the while the Holy Spirit is trying to bring home to your heart that truly Jesus is the satisfaction, peace and rest your soul is really thirsting for!
So how is your heart today? Is the Holy Spirit bringing to your mind that you too have become increasingly cynical, angry, fearful, apathetic or just plain indifferent? Have you been merely going about the mundane routines of life indifferent to Jesus and His coming Kingdom? In your indifference, have you turned to self-destructive or addictive cycles as a means to cope? If this is you, then Jesus is inviting you to turn from indifference to His love, grace, forgiveness and healing. He is calling you to live by faith, in eager anticipation of His coming Kingdom.
Yet, there’s just one more thing about life just before His Kingdom fully comes that He needs you to know about. And it’s found in verse 31…
Stay Tuned for Part 3…
LIFE IN CHRIST
Is your heart hungry for something you just don’t know how to describe? Or has your spiritual journey run dry and you’re looking for a refreshing new way to see the Gospel, or the Good News about Jesus, in any part or throughout all of Scripture? Then look no further, for this resource has been designed to help you do just that. The Gospel is the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ & Him crucified for your salvation and the establishment of His Kingdom. The Bible is its epic, unfolding story. It’s with this Gospel lens that this 365-day devotional journal invites you to experience Jesus by reading, meditating and journaling through Scripture in a way that’s simple, yet totally life-changing! You’ll learn practical tips on how to maintain a vital relationship with Jesus, how to hear God’s voice, how to do this with others in a small group and much more. So come, enter the story and experience the joy of life in Christ!
CJ COUSINS, Speaker/Author
Follower of Jesus, Husband, Father, Associate Pastor for Younger Generations at Vienna SDA Church and Speaker/Author for Living For Him. CJ’s passion is to live, preach & teach the Good News about Jesus and multiply disciples for His Kingdom.