NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
The “end of the world” is an expression that was used in the Worldwide Church of God to mean the end of the age of man where man governed himself and the beginning of God’s government over man that would result in a wonderful new world of peace, safety, security, abundance, prosperity and of joyful living such as the world has never known. It would also be the time when the Millennium would start following the 2nd Coming of Christ. The Scriptures that were usually used in support of this belief are the following:
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
It was taught and believed that once the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world that the “end” would come soon after. Mr. Armstrong who preached God’s gospel message to the world has now been dead for over 30 years and still the “end” has not come. Christ has not returned and the Millennium has not started but was the Millennium the event that Christ had in mind when He said the end would come. Recall that He was answering the disciples’ question about when would the “end of the world” come.
Let’s spend some time examining the Scriptures to see what is “the world” that would end after the Gospel had been preached to the world. There are many Scriptures which provide information about “the world” and here I will quote only a few of those which gives us the most information. The reader should feel free to do a word search on the term “the world” to see and examine the great number of Scriptures talking about “the world.”
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
As we can see, the world is man’s system of government or civilization based on his understanding of good and evil and which has developed and is driven by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life of men. It is for the most part contrary to God’s law and the result of this system of government often is conflict between individuals, men and women, groups, cities, regions and nations resulting in wars causing material destruction and loss of life on a very large scale.
As the Scriptures say, “The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.” (Isaiah 59:8 KJV)
Mankind is capable of lust because of the mind power and free will given it by God; men are not forced or programmed to behave in certain ways; they have the ability to analyze and evaluate situations and are free to react to them as they choose either in a way that respects God’s law or in a way that is excessive and which is lust. Mind power and free will make it possible for men to make their own choices and this is required for God to be able to reproduce Himself through man who must be capable of individuality and personality by having a mind fully independent and distinct from God’s own mind. This freedom of thought and independence of mind make it possible for men to be beings of CHARACTER. The good or the evil that men do is the result of the choices that they freely and willfully make to either subordinate their will to that of God and restrain themselves as required by God’s law or not.
Why?
Without mind power and free will men would simply be flesh robots with no ability to think, have their own thoughts and have personality (be persons) or individuality as they would be limited to reacting to the world in accordance with their programming as is the case for all other animals created by God.
For God’s plan of reproducing Himself through man to be accomplished it had to be possible for mankind to have absolute free moral agency i.e., the ability and freedom to choose with there being no other power in the universe that can force man to believe something against his will; it has to be by his own choice freely taken; if not, he cannot be held responsible.
This absolute freedom to choose is an integral part of the minds of all men as God has created them and it remains with man until the time of death; making bad choices does not affect our freedom to choose nor does it cause God to take it away from us.
During the Millennium and the Last Great Day is the time when the many will be called; however, as we know being called is only the first step on the road to salvation; being called is not the same thing as conversion. Christ clearly says that many are called but few are chosen i.e., they make the choice to remain in the world (Matt 22:14). Those that are not chosen continue to have absolute freedom of choice as they continue living their lives. Collectively, the decisions made by those who have not been called and by the many who do not pursue their calling results in this system of government of man by man which the Bible calls the world as we have seen in 1st John 2: 15-17.
As long as there will be unconverted men alive on the earth, there will be men governing men and there will be a civilization based on the decision men make based on their personal and varying understanding of good and evil cut off from God.
Christ plainly and clearly says that it is the few that will be saved in Scriptures that are plain and simple and which require no interpretation (See Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?). Those that are not saved is as as a result of their own choice knowingly and freely taken. It is God’s will that all should come to repentance but God will not force anyone to repent; it has to be the decision of the individual at the time of his calling and all mankind will be called and given the same chance to choose.
What is it then that will end after the gospel has been preached to the world?
Christ says the end will come; the end of what? The end of the world?
As we have been exploring together, the world is the civilization created by man cut off from the true knowledge of right and wrong and whose decisions are largely based on lust. Will God rule over mankind by brute force? No, God leaves mankind free to make its own decisions; He has given man absolute free moral agency and nowhere in the Bible can we read that God would take free moral agency away from man because of wrong decision making.
During the Millennium and the Last Great Day in the words of Christ Himself in plain Scriptures the “many” will NOT be converted and they will continue to have free moral agency as has been the case since the days of Adam and Eve.
The civilization of man cut off from God will continue as long as there will be men alive on the earth because it is the few that will ultimately remain converted (Matt 7:13-14) and it is the many that will refuse their calling, remain unconverted and continue man’s governments.
When then will the end of the world happen as the disciples were asking Christ?
When will man’s system of government over man end?
It will end after the 3rd resurrection when there will be no unconverted men left on the earth and all those that are converted have inherited glorified spirit bodies and have become members of God’s eternal kingdom.
A new civilization based on a new and perfect law administered by a perfect government over subjects who have freely and willingly submitted to it will be none other than God’s Kingdom which will be established after the third resurrection when God makes all things new and, a new heaven and a new earth are created.
The end of the world or of man’s government over man will come when God’s Kingdom is established over the new earth and the new heaven that will be created once there are no longer any flesh-and-blood humans alive with the wicked having been burnt up in the Lake of Fire which is the 2nd death from which no resurrection is possible.
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