But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
Peter wrote this letter in A.D. 67, the eve of the total destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This destruction was "at hand." It would bring to an absolute end (telos) "the present order of things," that is, the vestiges of a law that Christ had already taken out of the way, nailing it to His cross (Colossians 2:14). Thayer defines the word "end" as "the end of all things (i.e. the present order of things)" (620-1-5056).