For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 (NLT).

Time … marching on … to where? Will the clocks suddenly stop ticking? Will there be a day beyond which there are no more days? Is this world coming to an end?

The sixteenth century French astrologer Nostradamus claimed that he foresaw the end of the world. The renowned physicist, Brandon Carter has concluded that human life will cease to exist. And Islamic jihadists seem to be doing their best to speed things along.

Read the newspapers, watch the TV, listen to the political debates, and there’s no doubt we live in very fragile times. Time is marching on. We seem to be getting closer to the end. There are numerous signs, threats to our existence, scenarios that have the potential to extinguish life on earth as we know it.

According to popular doomsday literature the end of the world could come from:

War – There is the potential for biological, nuclear, or religious war. A disturbed despot like Kim Yong-un from North Korea with access to a weapon of mass destruction could press a button and …

Plague – More than three million people die of AIDS every year. Bubonic plague could strike again, as it did in London in the 17^th century. With increasing frequency we’re battling with SARS, Ebola, Zika, Marburg and other viruses.

Cosmic event – There are thousands of asteroids in our solar system. If one the size of a garage were to hit the earth it would completely destroy a city. If a 1km asteroid were to hit the earth, it would blast a twelve-mile hole into the crust with an explosion equivalent to the world’s entire nuclear arsenal several times over. All galaxies, including our own, have massive black holes at their core that suck in the heavenly bodies around them. Physicists studying super-string theory wonder whether a wave might be generated in one of eleven dimensions that could result in a catastrophic big bang.

Natural disaster – The interior of our own planet contains enough energy to wipe us all out. Volcanic eruptions and mega tsunamis could cause mass extinction of species. If every one of the worlds volcanoes erupted and kept on erupting our atmosphere would become hot, dense and poisonous – completely sterile and lifeless like Venus.

Nuclear error – The meltdown at Chernobyl caused untold suffering. Particle physicists continue playing Russian roulette with our planet according to Dr. Benjamin Allanach, a research associate at CERN, the European particle laboratory.

Rogue technology – No one knows what the outcome will be as scientists tamper with and modify DNA. Some environmentalists warn that alterations to plant genome could leave plants unable to reproduce. Global famine could be the result.

Man-made disasters – CFC’s have depleted the ozone layer, carbon monoxide, methane and other chemicals are polluting the atmosphere causing increases in skin cancer and poisoning of the water and soil. Economic mismanagement could lead to an economic collapse which would have dire consequences. It’s estimated that more than 90 percent of the world’s oil reserves have been discovered. Without alternatives to oil it’s estimated that the world would not be able to support more than two billion people.

Climate change – Global warming is significantly altering the earth’s temperature. Argentina’s Upsala glacier is shrinking by 200 metres a year. If the ice at the poles melts, sea levels could rise by more than two hundred feet, flooding large portions of the earth. Desertification is accelerating. Thirty-three thousand people already die of starvation every day.

The passage of time – After five thousand million years all the sun’s hydrogen will be used up and it will become a burnt out ember known as a black dwarf. It would be the death of our entire solar system.

The end of life as we know it. Will it come about because of nano technology that has run amok, a new ice age, or a plague of cockroaches? What will happen? God’s Word says:

“Nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other. There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and epidemics in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs in the heavens. But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will be accused before kings and governors of being my followers. This will be your opportunity to tell them about me. So don’t worry about how to answer the charges against you, for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply! Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you. And some of you will be killed. And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me. But not a hair of your head will perish! By standing firm, you will win your souls. And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Let those in Jerusalem escape, and those outside the city should not enter it for shelter. For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. They will be brutally killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be conquered and trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end. And there will be strange events in the skies—signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. The courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the stability of the very heavens will be broken up. Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory. So when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up, for your salvation is near!” Luke 21:10-28 (NLT).

That’s the bad news. Now for the good news.

The end of life as we know it will not be the end of life per se. God has a plan to save some of us. A select group of people are going to be rescued. And who are these people? Romans 10:9 says, “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (NLT).

Everyone who confesses Christ as Lord of their life and live according to His Word, will be saved.               What a phenomenal act of mercy on God’s part. There’s a future and a hope beyond the end of this life. Even though there will be terrifying things happening in the heavens and on the earth (cf. Luke 21:11) “not a hair of your head will perish” Luke 21:18.

So don’t live in fear. Because if Jesus is your Lord, when the clocks stop ticking it will be the dawn of a wonderful new beginning!