Have you ever wondered how it could be possible that every person in the world will make a choice for or against Christ before His return? This is often a point of concern for some as they consider everything that needs to happen before the Second Coming. After all, with new people being born every day, with people living in remote areas or places in which governments don’t allow gospel workers to go, how is it that every single person will get the opportunity to choose Jesus before He appears? And if they don’t get to choose, then does that mean Jesus can never come?
Everyone will make a clear choice, and it is the world’s unfolding events that bring people to the critical decision point. As the world continues to globalize, as governments increase their coercive pressure, as liberties are removed, as lies increase, as fear and selfishness magnify, and as crisis after crisis occurs, governments will add to their laws and increase their demands, pressure, and control.
As this happens, every person will be faced with the choice of whether they live out God’s law or the law of sin and death.
God’s law is the law of love, of truth, of liberty. It is manifested in loving God and others more than self, in protecting the downtrodden, in respecting the individuality of others.
The law of sin and death is the survival-of-the-fittest motive driven by fear and the need to protect self—especially at the expense of others. It is doing whatever one needs to do to survive, even if that means killing others to save self.
As we enter into the last moments before Christ returns, God permits events to unfold in such a way that each and every person will face a choice for Jesus—but not in an evangelistic way, not in the form of an altar call or a profession of faith. No, the choice each person makes for or against Jesus is when each person chooses the principles and methods they prefer and practice regarding how reality actually works.
Every one of us will decide whose law we will apply to our lives in how we treat others.
Will we:
- Love others more than self and, therefore, present the truth to others, in love, while leaving them free to decide for themselves; sacrifice ourselves, our resources, and our safety to help, protect, and shelter others?
Or will we:
- Love self first by withholding truth for fear of rejection, retaliation, arrest, firing from our job, censuring; spread falsehood, coerce others, support governments that violate individual liberties, use force; report others who don’t comply to the government; refuse to shelter others, protect others, and help others?
It is in how we treat others that we choose whose law we embrace—God’s or Satan’s; this is how every person chooses either to accept or reject Jesus in the last days, even those in far remote places who have never heard the name Jesus, for our Savior said:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left (Matthew 25:31-33 NIV84).
And notice Jesus doesn’t separate the people based on race, or nationality, or culture, or creed, or denomination, Jesus separates people based on what law they live out in the way they treat others, and thereby how they treat Him:
Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:34-46 NKJV).
Yes, every single person will choose—either to love others or not. I implore you to choose Jesus in how you treat others!