“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:26-30, NASB).

Jesus was once asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come. Jesus replied that the Kingdom of God was imminent–it was so near to them that it was within their grasp because the coming of Jesus was the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus then explained to His disciples that a day will come when this present, invisible Kingdom which He was inaugurating on Earth culminates with a future, visible Kingdom at His Second Coming at the end of the age. The Kingdom’s future coming will render judgment on Earth and will receive redeemed people into eternal life.

In the same way that God suddenly destroyed the inhabitants of the earth with a flood in the days of Noah and destroyed the inhabitants of Sodom by fire in the days of Lot, so will it be at the future coming of Jesus and His visible Kingdom.

Because the present world order will be replaced with a Divine Order, whoever seeks to hold on to his life or way of life in this present world when Jesus comes again will lose their lives. But, whoever is willing to let go of their life or way of life when Jesus returns will preserve it (vs. 33).

In other words, you should live out your life in this world like it’s preparation for your life in the world to come. So, desire God’s Kingdom more than your life in this world so that you won’t be left behind when it all ends!

After all, the end is near!

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord… For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 5:2, NASB)