Short answer? Because God said it in His word, and it’s getting so close! And I want you to know about it because God wants us to know so we’ll be saved from the wrath to come.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men… The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3
The rather longer answer is: God wouldn’t have told us about any of these things if they weren’t important or if we couldn’t understand them or if they weren’t relevant to the readers of His word.
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 1
These things which are written are truths we can act on, which affect the our lives in ways that involve choices and actual daily living. What the choices boil down to are choosing death or life – the life that God promises or the death of lies that separate people from God – choices that affect your eternal destiny. The prophecies in the Bible about the end of the world display very vividly what the destinies of every person will look like (whether Israel, Christians or unbelievers). They’re big red arrows with flashing lights, saying “Pay attention! God keeps His promises and that’s going to affect you!”
Knowing what God’s promises are – the ones He’s already fulfilled and the one’s He’s going to fulfill – gives a person hope unlike anything in this world. I mean, is there anything throughout all of history that we’ve been able to count on 100%? Other than God, there has been no person who could be counted on to do everything they’ve promised to do, even if they gave it their all, because, well, there’s always human weakness. Too many things can get in the way: health, other people, weather, accidents… But when God says something will happen, it will happen.
God tells us about the future in His word because He wants us to know these things and to live our lives knowing they are as good as done. Knowing that He’s coming back, that He will judge the world in perfect judgment, that He’s keeping His promise to restore Israel, that He will reign as King and restore His creation, and all of the promises bound up in those things, gives us hope of a better world to come when the one we’re in is crumbling around us, and gives us a purpose to share that hope with others (and the simple but profound reality that we do have a purpose).
If you already have your faith in Christ, then this purpose and this hope combine to create a sense of urgency and anticipation – they give us our motivation in this life.
Life seems unbearable sometimes, but it will be over and it all had a purpose, because Jesus Christ is real and He keeps His promises. He is coming! And it’s looking like we will be the generation that will see Him in the air…
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
– 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
The absolute hope I have gives me comfort and such joy, and yet weighs on me because so many people don’t have it. So I’m sharing it with you, and I pray that the Spirit of God would bring His truth to shine brilliantly clear for you, as well!
That’s me done, for now!
Generation 23:00 