A True Global Event?

It is the single largest sporting event on planet earth. And although other great sports championships may include the term "world" in their title, only the World Cup of soccer really fits the idea of a global sports competition.

The governing body for the great event is known as FIFA. It stands for the Federation International Football Association. The championship has been awarded every four years since 1930 with the exception of 1942 and 1946 when it was interrupted by World War II. Spain won the last tournament in 2010, which was held in South Africa.

The 19 World Cup tournaments have been won by eight different national teams. Brazil has won five times. Also, they are the only team to have played in every tournament and have been the host nation for the 2014 games. But their dream of victory at home this year was crushed by an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Germany by a staggering 7-1 score. In the current format, 32 teams compete for the coveted title with only one earning the right to be called the world’s best.

The World Cup is the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the mighty Olympic Games. To reveal the scope of the tournament, it has been estimated that the 2010 final match was viewed, at some point and for some duration, by over 3 billion people world-wide. That was an estimated 45% of the earth’s entire population - a staggering figure by any standard.

When considering the masses that follow this great global spectacle, and especially the numbers at its conclusion, another amazing future occurrence may come to the minds of some who are familiar with prophetic truth as it appears near the conclusion of the biblical record.

Revelation chapter one refers to those who have been redeemed by Christ. It reveals both how they were saved and what they have become in and through Him. “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 1:5b, 6)

But the passage then turns its attention to a great future event that will dwarf all the World Cups ever played put together in both scope and importance. Verse 7 reads, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen." This will truly be a global event without equal!

What an amazing moment that will be – a sudden slice in time when the entire world sees and recognizes who Christ really was and is. For some, it will be a shocking and horrifying realization. But for the believers who make up His precious family, it will be an incredible glorious experience. It will be a spectacular moment when they approach the final time leading up to an unbroken span of eternity complete with rewards and blessings that cannot begin to be imagined.

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Bill Breckenridge