We go from one activity to another, often without even batting an eye. This certainly can happen within the Divine Service. How much attention do we pay to what’s going on? Do we know why we do what we do in worship service?
Before confessing our sins as a whole congregation, we speak back and forth responsively, “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord” and the congregation responds, “and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” After those words, there are some important red words printed in the hymnal. They say, “Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.”
There is a time of silence. It is a time to consider myself and yourself in light of God’s Law found in the Ten Commandments. Have I been the best father and husband I could have been for my children these past days? Probably not. I failed in my responsibility to my wife and children, breaking the 4th commandment not being a faithful to my calling as head of my household. Did I grudgingly congratulate someone who won the raffle or the lottery, when in reality wishing it was me? Yup, so I broke the 7th, 9th and 10th commandments. And oh, by the way, I broke the first commandment because I didn’t trust God to give me all that I need.
Lord, have mercy. I am a sinner. I deserve exactly what I am about to confess about myself. I deserve death. We plead for God to have mercy on us.
But God who is faithful and just forgives our sins. Thanks be to God that, for Christ’s sake, God forgives our sins. We cannot add anything to make God forgive us. Christ has done it all. Thanks be to Christ!
When we confess our sins and receive His forgiveness in the words of Absolution, we are prepared to sing our Redeemer’s praises. We are prepared to receive from His bountiful goodness the forgiveness of sins purchased and won for us by our Lord Jesus by his death on the cross.
So, take a moment to slow down and brush up on the Lord’s Ten Commandments in preparation for Confession and Absolution as we begin the Divine Service, where God comes to serve us His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation given to us on account of Christ, our Lord.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp Christ Lutheran Church Noblesville, Indiana
Starting tomorrow, What Does This Mean? walks the Divine Service series again.
Pastor Jacob Hercamp takes us through the Divine Service, explaining the traditions behind what we say and do in the Church’s historic liturgy —from the Confession and Absolution, where the service begins, to the Benediction that sends us home. Along the way: why we make the sign of the cross, what an Introit is, and what is — and, in one memorable installment, is not — there in the middle of the service.
The walk runs into January, stepping aside for the Church’s feasts and seasons as they come. Walk it again, or walk it for the first time — and bring your questions. That’s how this series began: with confirmation students asking why we do what we do.
First step: Confession and Absolution — Monday, November 9.
[Twenty-Third in a series of posts on Last Things]
Encore Post:
When people speak of the Second Advent of Christ, the focus almost always is on his descent from Heaven, with all the angels and all the saints who had died. That is a natural thing to do because it is very dramatic. The skies part, and the army of heaven, with countless members, descends with the Son of God in his full glory. The tombs are rent, the dead raised as the author of life calls them forth in the glorious resurrection of the last day. Then comes the drama: the destruction of sin, death, and the power of the devil, and the summons all must obey at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Then the book of life is opened, all secrets are revealed, and those with faith in Jesus are pronounced “not guilty” before the throne of God, for the Son of God, the Lamb who took away the sin of the world, was slain for their sake. Then the unbelieving will be sent with Satan and his angels to the unending lake of fire prepared for them.
But the best is yet to come and gets little attention. Perhaps it is because we merge it in our minds with the state of the dead, who, in this age, die in the Lord. They are with him forever. And yet their state is not yet perfect. Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs puts it this way: “Heaven is great, but it is not the end of the world.” Their bodies are yet to be called by Jesus from their graves, so they may be fully restored and improved for eternity.
Perhaps it is because we really can’t understand it. So, the Scripture describes it for us and paints several images for us. Eternal life is — well — eternal! We will die only once and, once resurrected, live forever with the Lord. It will be without sin — sin having been defeated on the cross, we are cleansed of it forever. There will be no more sorrow or sighing or grief or pain, for these things will pass away. God will dry every tear from our eyes. Our bodies will be glorified, purged of sin and its curse. We will shine like the stars in the joy of our Heavenly Father. We do not know what we will be like except that we will be like Christ.
Best of all, we will be with Jesus and see him face-to-face. Then, with joy, we will sing his praises forever.
[Twenty-first in a series of posts on Last Things]
Encore Post:
Jesus had much to say about his return. The signs that we are in the last days are clear. He will return suddenly, so be ready! The angels will descend, the dead will come to life again, and we will all gather before his judgment throne. The lost will then be thrown with the devil and his angels into hell, and we will go with him to live forever. But where is the talk about the Tribulation and the Millennium? Jesus never speaks of seven years of special punishment for the world’s sins, or of an earthly reign at the end of time, much less a thousand-year one. So, where does the talk of a millennium on Christian radio, in endless end-time and prophecy books, come from?
The scheme behind that talk — a rapture that removes Christians from the world, seven years of “Great Tribulation” under the Antichrist, and then a thousand-year earthly reign before the final judgment — is less than two hundred years old. John Nelson Darby first taught it in the 1800s, and the Scofield Reference Bible carried it into countless churches, where prophecy teachers treat the Bible like a giant algebra problem, set dates for the end, and recalculate when the dates fail. (Yesterday’s post traced where this system came from.) Yet the whole view of the end is not accurate.
Scripture does speak of a great tribulation. In Revelation 7, one of the elders asks John who the white-robed multitude are. John answers, “Sir, you know.” And the elder tells him: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.” The Greek verb form “are coming” is ἐρχόμενοι. It is in the present tense: they are coming out of it — and they will be coming out of it, generation after generation, from the first century onward. The great tribulation is not a seven-year block of time waiting at the end of history. It is the time between the Ascension and the Return of Jesus, the tribulation Jesus himself promised: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). The white-robed saints are arriving out of it now, washed, as the elder says, in the blood of the Lamb.
God does not promise to spare His people the tribulation. He promises to bring them through it — as He has brought the white-robed multitude, who came out of the great tribulation with their robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). So Christian readiness is not an escape plan, and it is not a calendar. It is the quiet faithfulness of people who know how their story ends: doing the work God has given them, bearing what He lays on them, and watching for the Lord who will come for them — at the end of days, or at the end of their days. Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).
Personal Note: This encore post, first written a year before we knew my wife Kris was in her last days, captures my thoughts well today, as I now focus on the joy I have that she is with Jesus today. Permit me to share it with you today:
For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!
On this All Saints ‘ Day 2026, a flood of thoughts and emotions occupies my mind. Seven years ago, on Reformation Day, Evangeline Charissa Keller was baptized into the name of the Triune God by her father in the NICU in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her entrance into the world was dramatic, and the shadow in the back of my thoughts was the remote possibility that she, her mother, my daughter, and her father would be at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb by that day. The Lord had mercy and blessed the work of doctors, nurses, and many others to perform near-perfect procedures. They all came through nicely and thrived as I preached at my son-in-law’s All Saints’ divine service that year. It was as if the Holy Spirit whispered, “Not yet, not yet.” This year, all is very well with them, and a very bright seven-year-old joins her ten-year-old sister in delighting and challenging her mother and father.
Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Then my thoughts turn to those who are now at the Feast, resting from their labors. My own grandparents and grandparents-in-law, who lived and prospered through incredibly hard times, kept the faith in their own … unique … ways, who were often living examples of saints and sinners at the same time. I remember my grandmother Smith reading from the big KJV family Bible to me on her lap as a child. Also, my grandmother Schneider and her aunt, who gave me my first Greek New Testament as a confirmation gift. My parents- and parents-in-law, troubled in troubled times, yet still kept their faith. My father, that bruised reed, the Lord did not break. And now, in 2026, my beloved wife, Kris, who loved me, her children, and her grandchildren through constant pain all her life, produced endless beautiful and practical crafts that blessed many. Her straightforward, rock-hard faith was an inspiration to me and to many. All at rest with their Savior, two grandchildren whom the Good Shepherd folded in his arms while still in the womb, along with others. Fathers and brothers in the faith that taught me and many others, and laid the same stole of ministry on me as I have now laid on my son-in-law and spiritual sons. I am thankful for them and for their confessions, praying to be faithful to the Lord as they were.
O blest communion, fellowship divine, we feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Twelve years ago, I struggled with a massive infection in my heel. Several times, I told my pastor that I still believed what I had taught and confessed for these forty-one years as I went to surgery. Later, I was told that I was on the threshold of attending the Marriage Feast myself. It was as if the Holy Spirit said, “Not yet, not yet.” In those few years, I have continued to preach, to teach, cared for my home congregation when our pastor was on the threshold himself, presided at the weddings of all of my children, seen all my grandchildren save one baptized with the same baptismal shell with which their parents and others were baptized, passed the baton on to four of my spiritual sons, welcomed two pastors to our home congregation, and, with them, mentor vicars and fieldworkers. God has blessed me more than I deserve.
The golden evening brightens in the west. Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest; Sweet is the calm of paradise, the blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!
And now I reflect: I was blessed to celebrate All Saints’ Day with my wife 34 times, thankful for each day we were together. I pray to thank the Lord for those who are safely home. After receiving the Lord’s Supper, I pray to thank him for my late wife, my ever-growing list of grandchildren, my children, and their spouses. I will rejoice that this year I can still hold their hands, speak with them through the ether, and see them all once in a while. Soon, all too soon, the angels will come for me or one of them, to join those at the Feast as the Holy Spirit no longer says, “not yet,” but the Lord Jesus says to one of us, “Welcome to the joy of your Father.”
But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Yet, all too soon there will come to this vale of tears that day, whether we are here to see it or at the side of our Lord, when Jesus will return, destroy sin and death forever, call us all from our graves, make new the heavens and the earth, and dry every tear from our eyes. Lord, should you tarry beyond the end of our time, let at last your angels come to Abram’s bosom bear us home, that we may die unfearing. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
Sermon on Luke 17:20-37 Kramer Chapel Concordia Theological Seminary Friday after the Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year November 15, 2013
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our coming Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text is the reading just read. Day of wrath, day of mourning, when to ashes earth is burning like David and Sibyl predicted. Oh, the future filled with trembling as the judge descends from heaven in order to judge and discuss in great detail. The trumpet sounds and resounds through the sepulchers and up the dead come together before the judge. Now, it’s not the end of the world, just the end of the quarter.
But people have thought a great deal about the end of the world. It turned out that, as the millennium approached, many people thought that the Lord Jesus would return that coming December 31st, and so they began all of their preparations: they sold their property, and they gave it to the poor, they went on pilgrimages, they even one day gathered with the Pope in order to welcome in the new year and the new kingdom as Christ returned. Some, deathly afraid, like the words of the Dies Irae just quoted, were said to have died of heart attacks, in fear, while waiting for that moment. But time passed, the bells of St. Peter’s rang, and Pope Sylvester II made the sign of the cross and greeted the year 1000 into the world. The trumpet had not sounded and the dead were not raised. And there were a lot of people really relieved. There’s something a little bit wrong with that picture, but let’s save that for later.
A few hundred years later, a Baptist farmer by the name of William Miller had become convinced he had cracked the code to the date of the return of Christ. It would be no later, he said, than March 21st of 1844. And the popular message went throughout the United States, and people began to sell their property, give their goods to the poor, and gather with William Miller in pilgrimages around the country, and eventually went to a hilltop, it is said, in white robes, awaiting the Lord. And the trumpet did not sound, and the dead were not raised. And William Miller went, “Oops, a slight mathematical error. It will be October 22nd of this year, 1844, that the Lord returns.” And the trumpet did not sound then. And the dead were not raised then. And William Miller said, “I guess I should repent of setting dates.” Ellen G. White, however, responded, “Oh, no! You got the date right, just the event wrong.” And so began Seventh-day Adventism. And later, from its stock, Charles T. Russell, an Adventist, decided that the Lord would return in 1874. And when the trumpet did not sound, he decided that the Lord had appeared invisibly, and so it would be 1914 that the absolute end would happen. 1914 came and went. Charles T. Russell came and went. Future dates — 1918, 1975 — all came and went. When Hal Lindsey decided that because Israel had been around for 40 years, the end of the world was coming in 1988, so did a little fellow by the name of Edgar Whisenant, who published a book, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Would Be in ’88, and then later Harold Camping, and the Mayans. And, believe it or not, there will be more, probably, until the day that the Lord does return, and the trumpet sounds, and the dead are really raised. They will not be the last.
You see, no one really knows the day of Christ’s return. As a matter of fact, the Pharisees, while they were sitting with the advent of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, asked, “When is it going to happen?” And so Jesus had to tell them, “You missed it. It’s already here.”
You see, the Bible isn’t an algebra problem, as many of our dear friends in the evangelical community would like to make it out to be. You don’t plug in a despot, crank the wheel, come up with a date, and be able to generate the day that the Lord will return. Jesus said, not even the Son of Man, while He was in His state of humiliation, knew the date — only the Father. But in a perverse way, end-times speculation decides that it can know what the Son of God Himself did not know. It goes something like this, although I don’t think they think of it this way: “I, the first person in 2,000 years, have figured out when the Lord and Savior is going to return — and doesn’t that make me a special prophet? More special than the Son of God and all of the wise prophets and apostles and teachers of the church for 2,000 years since then?”
For those who believe such messages, it gives us a hope in the face of things that in our life just don’t seem to go terribly well. Maybe we don’t feel all that significant because our name isn’t ever in the papers. Maybe we think that all the work we’re doing is going to be completely in vain. If so, I recommend reading Ecclesiastes. If, in all of this, we suffer, either from a long-term debilitating illness or through things that happen in our life — maybe things do not go well, a disaster hits us — we can know, if we believe this, when exactly Jesus is going to come, and we might imagine that we can escape from the sufferings of this world, maybe even we’ll be in a special class that will be zapped out of this world while the rest of the people really suffer. There’s a certain sense of sweet vindication in it for those people we think are persecuting, who are actually persecuting us. We know that they’re going to get theirs when that last day comes, and that we who are righteous will really shine like the stars and will get all of the credit that we have for living our lives so wonderfully during this life.
The problem, if you haven’t learned it from the classes now ending, is that we don’t deserve a bit of it. The big problem with actually wanting the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to return, and to do away with sin, death, and the power of the devil — all those other guys — is that we’re one of those guys as well. We also are sinners, and that sin we cannot free ourselves from. And God, when He promises the end of the world, if you look very carefully, doesn’t promise an escape hatch for Christians. As a matter of fact, He says, “As I have suffered, so you will suffer.” And so escape from all of the things, the troubles and the trials of this world, is not on God’s schedule for us. Instead, He will use those to polish our faith, to strengthen our trust and our grasp in Him, so that when the end of our day — even if it isn’t the end of days — comes, we will be in His hands forever and ever, and we’ll get to see the real thing transpire, because we will be with Him where He is.
The problem with becoming obsessed with the future, in addition, is that we miss the present, and we miss what God is doing here and now. You see, the advent of Christ is not about us. That may come as a kind of a shock to us. The advent of Christ is about what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for us.
It is yesterday, when He came and lived a perfect life for us, when He suffered and died, rose again, and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us. It is then that our sins — even our conceit, and our desire for revenge, and desire for escape — were all paid for upon the cross, when, because He had pronounced that sentence upon Jesus, He pronounced the sentence of “not guilty” on us, so that none of these sins will go with us into the next life.
Because He died and rose again from the dead, He has promised that He will be with us always, even to the end of the age itself. In other words, even though Jesus is coming back, He never really left. He has been with His Christians all these years, and He has been with you from the day you were a twinkle in your mom and dad’s eye, to the day when you were admitted to the seminary, to the day when the Lord calls you to serve in His church, to proclaim the gospel or to minister mercy to those in need. He will be with you until the day is come that there is no more for you to do in this life, and He gladly takes you to be by His side at the end of your time, or at the end of time itself. It makes really no practical difference to you, does it?
But there is also the coming of forever, the coming that makes the bride scream, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” — the day when He will come to earth, and the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, and those in faith in Christ will go to be with Him forever, for He will dwell with them, and there will be no more sorrow, or sighing, or crying, or pain, for all these things will have passed away. And so I would recommend that we live this life awaiting the second coming, but live it the way that Martin Luther supposedly said, but didn’t. It is said that he said, when he was asked what he would do today if the world was going to come to an end, “I go plant an apple tree.” And so, even though Luther didn’t say it, let’s go plant some apple trees. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be and abide with us both now and forevermore. Amen.
One of the most popular of the signs Jesus predicted would happen before the Second Advent is the success of the missionary mandate. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world,” Jesus predicted. (Matthew 24:14) This sign appears to be, unlike the other signs, a unique condition, one that was not fulfilled during the ministry of Jesus. Millennialist prophecy scholars note that it wasn’t until the 19th century that missionaries reached many parts of the world. While this is true, it is based on an English translation of the prophecy. The passage is better translated: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole inhabited world — the civilized world of the Roman Empire. (οἰκουμένῃ–oikoumene–Ecumene)”
The Greek language of the New Testament uses several words that are translated as ” world in our English Bibles. The Greeks and Romans used οἰκουμένῃ for the lands of the Roman Empire. They thought of humanity as made up of two classes of people, the civilized Graeco-Roman nations and the barbarians. κόσμος (kosmos–cosmos) was the word Greek philosophers used to speak about the universe. In Jewish-Greek writing it carries the sense of all creation and especially all peoples — this is the word used in John 3:16. The word γῆς (ges–the root of our word geography) was used for the physical world, translated as earth or the land.
This prophecy, then, is similar to the others we’ve examined. It does not give Christians a trigger for calculating the date of the Second Advent. It describes the age between Christ’s Ascension and his return: the gospel proclaimed among all peoples. It was fulfilled already when, according to tradition, St. Paul reached Spain, known in his day as “The End of the World.” The apostles themselves could speak of the gospel as already proclaimed in all creation under heaven (Colossians 1:23).
And it continues to be fulfilled wherever Christians preach the good news of salvation, wherever they live. As they fulfill Christ’s sending, baptizing and teaching, the Holy Spirit uses their witness to create faith, call the lost to faith, and build Christ’s church. This sign is not a countdown but a description of the Church’s work through the whole New Testament age — and it is why God patiently delays the end (2 Peter 3:9). Through the preaching of the gospel, Christ continues to call sinners to himself, and wherever sinners are baptized into Christ and trust in him for salvation, this prophecy is being fulfilled.
When he completes this task and our mission is accomplished, Jesus will return to bring his bride home. Until that day, the Church keeps doing what her Lord commanded: preaching the gospel, baptizing, and teaching.
Jesus repeatedly warned his disciples that people would hate them for his sake. Already in the Beatitudes, Jesus tells them they will be blessed when they are persecuted and slandered for his sake, for they have the kingdom of heaven and are like the prophets who came before them. (Matthew 5:10-12) He tells them that being a disciple means taking up their cross and following him. (Matthew 16:24-26) The enemies of Jesus and his gospel would arrest you and throw you in prison, bring you before kings and governors. Even parents, family members, and friends will betray you to the authorities. Some will even be put to death. You need not worry, however, because the Holy Spirit will give you the words to speak. Yet you will not perish. (Luke 21:12-19)
So, as a sign of the end, this prediction is nothing new for them or for us. It should not surprise us that it is associated with the end of days. It is not, as some millennialist writers believe, a specific prophecy of the persecution of the Jewish church after the rapture. Like the previous sign, it describes times infected by sin and its effects.
This prophecy was fulfilled in the days following the Ascension of Jesus and continuing to the present. All but one of the apostles died a martyr’s death. Throughout the early Church, persecution occurred from time to time. The witness of these early witnesses to Jesus was so impressive that pagans — including persecutors came to faith. As Tertullian put it, “The blood of the martyrs is seed for the church.”
Throughout the ages, the church has continued to be persecuted until today, and more Christians are persecuted and martyred than in all of history. Like their Lord, they laid down their lives for Jesus. When Jesus returns in glory, they will come with him to greet those of us who are alive on that day. May we be numbered with them, here and in eternity.
When Jesus’ disciples asked him for signs of the end of the age, the first sign he gave them came with a warning: “See that you are not led astray” (Luke 21:8). The Lord warned that two things would happen. First, people would come claiming to be the Christ. Second, others would insist that the end was near when it was not. (Luke 21:8; Matthew 24:5, 11, 23-28)
History has supplied plenty of examples. Some have claimed to be Christ returned in the flesh. Others have claimed special prophetic insight into the timing of his return. Still others have taught that Christ already returned secretly. Yet Jesus leaves no room for confusion. Christ will not return secretly, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. He will not return through a new birth, as Sun Myung Moon claimed. Nor will he come as a prophet who appears after him, as Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and others have taught.
When Jesus returns, he will come from Heaven in glory with his angels and the saints who have gone before us. Every eye will see him. (Revelation 1:7) No one will need to announce his arrival. No one will need to point him out. No one will discover later that he came unnoticed. As lightning flashes across the sky from east to west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:27)
Like all the signs of the end, these signs appeared during the lifetime of the Apostles and have remained with the Church ever since. They describe the entire age between Christ’s Ascension and his Second Coming, not a specific event to be checked off a prophetic list. False christs and false prophets remind us how desperately the devil seeks to lead God’s people away from their Savior. They are signs that this age is passing away and that Christ may return at an hour we do not expect.
So Christians do not chase after false christs, secret revelations, miraculous claims, or predictions of the end. Instead, we seek Christ where he has promised to be found. He is already with his Church and will remain with her to the end of the age. He comes to us in his Word, in Holy Baptism, and especially in the Lord’s Supper. There he gives us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation that he won for us by his suffering, death, and resurrection.
Therefore, when false teachers arise, and predictions about the end multiply, Christians need not be troubled. Christ has not abandoned his people. He is with us even now through the means of grace. And we look forward to the day when the same Jesus who comes to us now in humility will come again in glory to destroy sin, death, and the power of the devil forever. Then he will wipe away every tear from our eyes and bring us into the new heavens and the new earth, where we will live with him forever.
The second sign that Jesus gave to his disciples to show that the world is coming to an end is that there will be wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6-7, Luke 21:9)
The first time we read this prophecy, it strikes us as rather strange. After all, there is nothing unusual about wars and rumors of wars. Nations have gone to war throughout history. In fact, this creates a constant problem for people seeking to determine the year of Christ’s return. They cope by admitting that, yes, there have always been wars, but that wars will become more frequent and intense as we draw closer to the end. They do have a point, since Jesus describes these signs as labor pains. At first, labor pains come far apart. The closer one gets to birth, however, the more frequent and intense they become.
The difficulty with this reading is that wars do not follow a steady pattern. Sometimes they come one after another; other times, years pass with relatively few. Most Romans living at the time of Jesus experienced Rome’s peace and knew little of war firsthand. Yet only a few decades later, the Jewish people would see war in all its horror as the Roman legions crushed a revolt in the Holy Land. In our own era, the two deadliest wars in human history took place in the first half of the twentieth century. Nothing like them has occurred since, thank God. The wars fought by us and other nations since then have been far smaller.
So, if wars cannot help us determine when Christ will return, why did Jesus give this sign?
Jesus answers that question himself: “See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6). Wars are not signs that Christians should panic. Nor are they clues for calculating dates. Rather, they remind us that all is not well in the world. Human beings were created to live in peace with God and with one another. Because of sin, however, the world is filled with hatred, violence, greed, and the desire to dominate others.
Like earthquakes, famines, and pestilences, wars are part of the labor pains of this present age. Labor pains are painful, but they are not meaningless. They point to what is coming. Every war and rumor of war reminds us that this fallen world is passing away and that our hope cannot finally rest in any earthly kingdom. The kingdoms of this world rise and fall. Empires come and go. Peace treaties are made and broken. Yet the kingdom of Christ endures forever.
These signs remind us that the world is cursed and that it will one day pass away. They keep us from growing too comfortable in our sin and call us to repentance and faith. When nations rage, and the headlines are filled with news of conflict, Christians need not despair. Jesus told us these things would happen. Instead, we cling to him and look forward to the New Heavens and the New Earth, where war will cease, righteousness will dwell, and we will live forever in the peace of God that has no end.
