“We’ll get through Covid, I guess. But I figure eventually some superbug will crop up and wipe us all out, and that will be the end of life on earth.”

I had been making small talk with the assistant manager at our local cell phone store while he fixed my phone. The conversation soon turned to the rising case counts in our area. That was when his eyes locked onto mine above his camouflage face mask, and he shared his theory about the end of the world.

He looked down again and continued swiping through screens. I collected my thoughts and said a quick prayer. “I believe, too, that our world has an end date.” I said. “It won’t be due to a virus, though. God has set that end date. It will be when Jesus comes again.”

The Holy Spirit had opened an opportunity for me to be God’s prophet, telling the truth of God’s Word to a stranger in my path.

God has not abandoned us to a world of scary diseases, case counts, and death. He has remained faithful to us, even though our first ancestors’ rebellion against him is the very reason that earth is no longer the paradise that he intended for us.

God still loves us. He did not leave us to be destroyed by our own sin. Two thousand years ago, he sent Jesus to our corrupt earth, to rescue us through the most humble service imaginable. Jesus lived a perfect life in our place and paid the penalty for our rebellion on the cross.

Then God the Father elevated Jesus, giving him all power and authority over everything in heaven and on earth. Jesus, both Judge and King, will return in triumph! He will make public the verdict that the Holy Spirit has already confirmed in our hearts. We are covered by the Judge’s own perfection. We are not guilty!

Then our Judge will condemn and do away with all that corrupts and kills and destroys. These will never hurt us again. We will share in his victory over sin and death, made sinless ourselves. We will be with him in a new heaven and earth, freed from the chains of corruption and decay (Romans 8:20). Unspoiled forever, this new world will rejoice, and we will celebrate with it.

Take a moment today to read Psalm 96. Sing “Joy to the World,” based in part on this psalm. Meditate on the love and faithfulness of God in sending Jesus at Christmas, and in promising that he will come again.

Then go out in confidence as God’s own prophets, chosen and equipped to be his truth-tellers. The people whom God puts in your path are wondering—and worrying—about disease, about dying, about the future of life on earth.

We know the future through God’s revealed Word. We have the truth that dispels all anxiety. This Advent, let us speak up with that joyful truth.