We Need God’s Kingdom!
NEVER before has there been such a desperate need for a real change in human affairs. The poor and hungry want food, shelter and clothing. The politically oppressed want freedom. Those weary of war and hate want genuine peace. The many who are victimized by crime want security. The sick want good health.
But more and more people see that the benefits they want are not realistically in sight. Even many who live in wealthier lands now see their way of life being damaged or destroyed by inflation and other economic instabilities. Thus, a college professor in the United States exclaimed: “I don’t see any hope!”
Governments of men, however sincere, are not able to bring true and lasting relief from today’s enormous burdens. They often do the opposite, and, as a result, people lose hope and confidence. A retired state supreme court judge in America said: “People are becoming suspicious of everybody because of dishonesty in public office.”
BURDENS MOUNT
Life in this system of things is becoming more complicated with each passing year, and the burdens grow more intense. Adding to the pressures is the world population growth—about 70 or 80 million a year now, much of it in lands that are already overburdened with problems that are not being solved.
Too, the world is becoming increasingly violent as dissatisfaction and frustration mount. The publication Il Giornale of Italy stated: “A characteristic symptom of our times is the undercurrent of violence.” It noted that World War II caused 55 million deaths and untold misery, and also that since “peace” came in 1945 there have been “thirty million deaths in ‘local’ conflicts and massacres.” The publication added: “The confusion which reigns in the world . . . is rampant in families and schools, it shakes churches and states to their foundations.”
El Diario of Bolivia said regarding this world: “It can well be asserted now that not only is it unbalanced, but mad. Great parts of the world are insane with hate.”
DOES ANYONE KNOW?
So dismal is the outlook from the human point of view that a clergyman of the United Church of Canada asserted: “No one can confidently forecast that a better day is coming. Whether civilization will disappear or whether there will finally be a new society with more abundant life for all, no one surely knows.”
But that is totally false! The truth is that Someone does surely know! And that Someone not only knows, but has the power, the wisdom and the will to make the required changes so as to fashion a new society that will satisfy human needs.
That Someone is the Creator of the earth and man. In the communication that he has inspired for our guidance, his Word, the Bible, he says: “From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my [purpose] would never fail, that I would do everything I [delighted in].”—Isa. 46:10, Today’s English Version.
NEEDED CHANGE COMING
The God whose purposes never fail tells us that a gigantic world change is certain to come. In an inspired prophecy about our time, his Word states: “At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever.”—Dan. 2:44, TEV.
Did you know that it was God’s purpose to rip control away from all earth’s present governments, to “destroy all those empires” completely? Were you aware of the fact that “the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end”?
Yes, God’s purpose is to replace all the now-existing governments of men. No, not by some new world federation of nations, nor by any continuation of today’s United Nations. Instead, God’s kingdom will be his government ruling from heaven, where no human can tamper with it or corrupt it.—John 18:36.
The prophecy observes that this Kingdom government will grind to dust the entire complex of present human rule. (Dan. 2:35) This includes the earthly supporters of this system, “of freemen as well as of slaves and of small ones and great.”—Rev. 19:11-21.
Who will survive this gigantic world change? Revelation (the Apocalypse) foretells that “a great crowd” will. Why do they survive? Because they have been rendering God “sacred service day and night.”—Rev. 7:9, 15.
This needed world change will pave the way for an entirely new system of things. That is why the apostle Peter could speak of “new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Pet. 3:11-13.
Thus, what will take place is similar to what psychoanalyst Erich Fromm suggested in his book The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. He observed that the violent and unsatisfactory conditions in human society could be done away with ‘only if the whole social and political system as it has existed during the last 6,000 years of history can be replaced by a fundamentally different one.’
While Fromm did not have God’s kingdom in mind, nevertheless it will replace this present system of things by ‘a fundamentally different one.’ That will mean a new human society here on earth, under the control and direction of God’s heavenly kingdom. And under Kingdom rule, all the needs and legitimate wants of decent people will be filled beyond their fondest dreams.
WHY SO LONG?
Why has God waited so long to bring about this much needed change? One reason has been to test the claim that man does not need God’s direction to be successful. (Gen. 3:4-6) But the past thousands of years have shown how totally unsatisfactory human rule is apart from God.
Every form of human government and society has been tested. The most sophisticated sciences and inventions have been used to try to help. But nothing has solved man’s problems, which have persisted and grown worse. What has been proved beyond reasonable doubt is: “To earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jer. 10:23.
What all of this shows is that we need the kingdom of God ruling over us. And when it does take over total control of earth’s affairs, what will it mean for you?