Are We at the Point of No Return?

Julius Caesar knew that crossing the Rubicon river with his army would be considered treason against the Roman Republic. There would be no going back. It would mean civil war.

In January of 49 B.C. he made his choice and began a war that would change the ancient world.

Today, many see our world rushing toward other points of no return. What does our future hold?

“Beyond the Rubicon: Navigating Humanity’s Point of No Return”

In her introduction to her group’s 1,000-page 2025 tech trends report, Future Today Strategy Group CEO Amy Webb wrote:

“In the past year, humanity crossed multiple points of no return. This didn’t happen gradually, but in sudden, irreversible leaps that have fundamentally altered the trajectory of civilization. We’ve moved beyond our mental models, beyond biological constraints, beyond social norms—into territory we can neither fully explain nor comprehend. Just as the first telescopes revealed the vastness of space, today’s science and tech advances are revealing how much we don’t understand about our own potential.

“Yes, AI has made daily headlines, but it’s just one piece of a larger transformation.”

Amy Webb’s purpose wasn’t to scare those who access her team’s expertise. Still, some of the predictions are frightening.

“Let me be clear,” she continued. “The decisions we make in the next five years will determine the long-term fate of human civilization. This isn’t hyperbole—it’s the sobering conclusion drawn from our best available data. The convergence of tech isn’t just changing how we work or live; it’s changing what it means to be human. We’re building systems that can reprogram biology, reshape matter at the atomic level, and process information in ways that defy classical physics.”

In our rush toward technological and scientific innovations, are we truly past the point of no return? If so, what are we hurtling toward? A high-tech wonderland? The singularity? Robot overlords? Human extinction?

The world scene

In the wider world of nations, economies, politics and war, again humanity seems to be speeding toward an uncertain future. Many observers worry about the rapid dismantling of an international order that, however precariously, had prevented a third world war.

The return to a might-makes-right world could reignite even more of the grievances and territorial disputes that have fueled the destructive wars of the past. Now, however, the temptation to use weapons of mass destruction adds even more anxiety.

“Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Even short of that, the threat of new and expanding wars is increasing.

“If the norm against conquest continues to erode and countries no longer fear major reprisals for territorial aggression, threats that seem distant or far-fetched now could become real possibilities. Buffer states—those geographically located between rival countries—would be especially vulnerable to attack. Through the middle of the twentieth century, Poland was trampled and carved apart by wars between bigger powers” (“Conquest Is Back,” Foreign Affairs, March 21, 2025).

What worries people around the world now? Ipsos reported that in the 29 countries they surveyed, inflation is the top concern. Crime and violence came in a close second.

“All nine European countries in our survey have experienced some sort of rise in the proportion expressing worry about military conflict between nations, with Poland (32%) being the most worried” (Ipsos.com, March 20, 2025).

Moral decline

Underlying these revolutionary technologies and the international conflicts is the human factor. Are the scientists and world leaders making wise choices—choices that will lead to good, not evil?

In a world increasingly unmoored from morality, the answer is frightening.

Public opinions of what is right and wrong have shifted dramatically. Even when rapid societal change has provoked a backlash, it hasn’t seemed to halt the downward spiral for long.

Consider just a few examples.

• Pornography:

“Since Barna’s 2015 study The Porn Phenomenon, the number of U.S. adults consuming pornography has continued to rise, with a 6-percentage point increase (from 55% in 2015 to 61% presently). There is also a notable uptick in the number of women accessing pornographic content (39% then vs. 44% now) . . .

“Just over half of practicing Christians report consuming porn with some level of frequency, including 22 percent who view it weekly (15%) or daily (7%)” (Barna.com, Oct. 17, 2024).

• Sex outside of marriage:

Pew Research Center says the total number of Americans living together without being married reached 18 million in 2016—up 29 percent in nine years. The 2011 National Health Statistics Reports show that of Americans in the 15-to-44 age group, 66 percent of women and 74 percent of men have had more than one sexual partner; 8.3 percent of the women had 15 partners or more, and 21.4 percent of the men claimed 15 or more partners.

• Acceptance of lying:

Ipsos Public Affairs conducted an online survey in 2016 that found “64% of men and women say that lying is sometimes justified.” The percentage giving that answer 10 years earlier was 42% (Ipsos.com).

This only scratches the surface. For a look at how all of God’s 10 Commandments are being broken in modern society, see “Why Is God Angry With America?”

Biblical points of no return

Sin has infected every human through every era. But the Bible shows there have been times when evil has been so overwhelming that God Himself has been compelled to intervene.

In Noah’s day, “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually . . . The earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:5, 11).

Noah was the exception, and God used him to warn the people. But they didn’t listen, and they passed the point of no return. God was so grieved, He sent the Flood and used the ark to save Noah and his family and the animals.

Similar red lines were crossed by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

God came down to confirm the outcry against these depraved cities, and He was willing to spare Sodom if He found even 10 righteous people (Genesis 18:20-21, 32). But only Lot was found to be righteous, and God spared him and some of his family.

End-time prophecy

Much of Bible prophecy warns of another point of no return at the end of the age of man. Are we even now rushing toward Armageddon?

Again, human wickedness, violence and depravity pervade our planet. And again, God gives fair warning before He unleashes His wrath. Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:11).

Some will heed that warning and believe the good news that Jesus Christ will return to set up the Kingdom of God on this earth.

But many will not. Even in the midst of the terrible plagues described as the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 13:9-11) and the great day of His wrath (Revelation 6:17), rebellion will continue.

“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

“And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries [or drugs] or their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21).

Learn more about these earth-shattering events and how they fit into God’s plan to save us by downloading our free booklet How to Understand Prophecy.

Is it too late?

There will come a time when it is too late, as the five foolish virgins in Christ’s parable found out (Matthew 25:10-13; see “Lessons From the Parable of the 10 Virgins”).

But that is not what God wants. He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

God wants His human creation to return—to repent. This is an essential part of His plan to save us from ourselves.

In the context of the end-time Day of the Lord, Joel proclaimed, “So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm” (Joel 2:13).

God “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Though our world as a whole seems to be hurtling past the point of no return, individually we can turn back to God. It is not too late for you.

What does God want, and what help does He offer to us? Study the biblical answers in our online article “How to Repent” and free booklet Change Your Life.