“I will completely sweep away everything from the face of the earth  — this is the Lord’s declaration. I will sweep away people and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth. This is the Lord’s declaration. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, I will bring distress on mankind, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Their silver and their gold will be unable to rescue them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete, yes, a horrifying end of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Zephaniah 1:2-3, 15, 17-18 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/zep.1.18.CSB

How seriously do we take the return of the Lord and His judgment upon humanity? We were not here when He destroyed all those who lived on the earth except for eight during the great flood. We were not here when He removed His chosen people from Israel, destroying their temple and displacing them abroad. We were not here when God came to earth as one of us in Jesus, Who asked for another way than the cross to pay for the sins of humanity but was denied. We were not here that day the earth turned dark and quaked at the crucifixion of the Son of God for the sins of humanity. We may still be here when this God returns again to recreate the heavens and the earth to provide an eternal dwelling place for all those who loved Him during their days upon this earth. Everyone else will suffer for all eternity the consequences of choosing not to love God, not to seek Him first and most, not to do His will always, and not to join His people in proclaiming Jesus as Savior and helping people obey His commands. God is perfect and holy, making it impossible for people who are not likewise perfected and made holy to live with Him. We cannot do this on our own. We must be made holy, forgiven of all our sins against God, and appropriated perfection to stand before God uncondemned. This is the work of Jesus, the perfect One, Who lived without sin and then was crucified for the sins of all humanity. He rose from the dead, proving His sacrifice was acceptable and giving to all who come to Him pardon for sin and righteousness forever to live with God. Without Jesus, we cannot be made right with God for living forever with Him and all those who have loved Him. We must turn to Jesus for salvation from the wrath to come and help everyone else do the same.