Does Man Have Any Need of God?

ON JULY 20, 1969, as tens of millions of persons watched on television, two men stepped from their spacecraft onto the moon’s surface. It was a crowning technological achievement.

Surely this marvelous feat of traveling about 240,000 miles in space demonstrated man’s intelligence and ingenuity. And some may observe, ‘It was accomplished without any need of God.’

But was it really? How did man get to the moon?

Knowledge of Laws Required

Years of preparation were involved, yes, centuries. How so? World Book Encyclopedia observes:

“In the early 1600’s, Johannes Kepler, a German scientist, developed the laws of planetary motion that describe the orbits of bodies in space. Today, these laws are used to determine the orbits of artificial satellites and to plan the flights of spacecraft.

“In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published his ‘Laws of Motion,’ which used Kepler’s work as a base. Newton’s laws, like Kepler’s, form a cornerstone of spaceflight planning.”

Kepler and Newton did not make the above-mentioned laws. They simply discovered them, or provided an explanation of their operation. But why is space flight dependent on these laws?

It is because bodies in space adhere strictly to them. Thus when man understands these laws, he can determine by mathematical calculations where a particular body in space will be at a given time. Such calculations are made possible by the orderly, consistent movement of heavenly bodies.

The moon, for example, speeds along in an ever-predictable orbit around the earth at an average of 2,300 miles per hour. It makes one trip around the earth every 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds. Similarly, the earth hurtles around the sun at some 66,600 miles per hour. It completes one trip around the sun every 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 9.54 seconds.

Thus in flights to the moon, man on the earth aims his spacecraft at a point in space 165,000 miles ahead of the orbiting moon. By various calculations man knows that the moon is certain to be at that spot at the predetermined time. And if the spacecraft is provided proper direction and power it will be at that spot too, making a moon landing possible.

Origin of Law and Order

What is responsible for the precision movements of heavenly bodies that make space flight possible? Have you ever given this thought? The first American astronaut to orbit the earth, John Glenn, was moved to exclaim:

“It is the orderliness of the whole universe about us . . . galaxies millions of light-years across, all traveling in prescribed orbits in relation to one another.

“Could this have just happened? Was it an accident that a bunch of flotsam and jetsam suddenly started making these orbits of its own accord? I can’t believe that. . . . Some Power put all this into orbit and keeps it there.”

Space scientist Dr. Wernher Von Braun also was impressed by “the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe.” He explained:

“Manned space flight is an amazing achievement. But it has opened for us thus far only a tiny door for viewing the awesome reaches of space. Our outlook through this peephole at the vast mysteries of the universe only confirms our belief in its creator.”

Yes, a vast complex of heavenly bodies governed by fantastic mathematical precision has been discovered in space. A professor of mathematics from the University of Cambridge, P. Dirac, wrote in the Scientific American: “One could perhaps describe the situation by saying that God is a mathematician of a very high order, and He used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe.”

Is it not obvious that the laws responsible for such orderly movement of the earth, moon and stars had to have a Lawgiver? Without the existence of these laws, space travel would be impossible because the heavenly bodies would be in chaos! Is it not apparent, then, that without God, who created and upholds these laws, man’s moon landings would also be impossible?

But is man dependent on God only when traveling in space?

Providing Food

Recently, glowing reports have been telling of the so-called “Green Revolution” that has been brought about by man’s development of “wonder” wheats and “miracle” rice varieties. Thus, some authorities say that, through man’s ingenuity, plenty of food will be provided earth’s growing population.

But can man be credited with providing this food? Is its growth, in fact, dependent on his efforts and technology?

Actually the so-called “miracle” grains were not created by man. It was simply by selective breeding of existing types of wheat and rice that more productive varieties were developed. True, man worked hard to plant and water the seed, and then toiled to harvest its fruitage. But man did not make it grow, did he? No, the plants make the food.

They do this by means of the remarkable process known as photosynthesis. Several years ago a professor of biology, Frits W. Went, wrote about it:

“In terms of energy, there is nothing to compare with it: It makes green plants grow​—all green plants, all over the world . . . And in terms of tonnage its production makes man’s industries seem trifling. Every year the world’s steel mills turn out 350 million tons of steel, the world’s cement factories 325 million tons of cement. The world’s green plants, however, produce 150 billion tons of sugar every year.”

So can you see why photosynthesis has been called “the most important single chemical process in the world”? All life on earth in one way or another depends on it! But what is responsible for photosynthesis? Could it have just happened by itself?

It is well known what green plants use to make food​—carbon dioxide from the air, water from the soil and light from the sun. These all penetrate to the interior of plant cells, where the remarkable substance called chlorophyll exists. The stage is now set for the amazing process of photosynthesis. Science News Letter explains:

“It is here that the ‘deities’ perform their miracle. Sunlight provides energy for the great chemical change, and chlorophyll acts as the ‘switchboard’ that controls the reaction. Under the influence of these two, the carbon dioxide and water now combine to create the basis of all food, a simple sugar.” Using this sugar, green plants also make more complex carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and vitamins.

Why does the above science magazine say the ‘deities’ perform this remarkable transformation? It is because only a supreme intelligence could conceive and create such an amazing process. It is “a process that no one yet has been able to reproduce in a test tube,” explains Professor Went.

In fact, not only is photosynthesis beyond man’s ability to duplicate, he does not even understand how it works! Science writer John Pfeiffer said: “Researchers often allude to the photosynthesis reactions as ‘the black box’​—indicating that they know what goes in and what comes out but are not sure about everything that goes on inside.”

Surely it is inconceivable to believe that such a complex process, one beyond human comprehension, could have happened by chance. A powerful ‘Deity’ was indeed responsible! Is it not obvious that we are dependent upon him for our food supply?

Interdependent Web of Life

Did you know that photosynthesis also provides us life-sustaining oxygen? When plant cells break apart water molecules composed of hydrogen and oxygen, they utilize the hydrogen in making food, and expel oxygen as waste. But man takes in the oxygen. He needs it to live.

On the other hand, plants are dependent on the energy-producing process within our body cells. How so? Because carbon dioxide is produced as a waste product in this energy-making process of man and animals. And green plants need this carbon dioxide to carry on photosynthesis, which is the source of all earth’s food!

Truly, life is dependent on the astonishing carbon-dioxide–oxygen exchange between living things! Should it somehow be disrupted, man would die off the earth.

But man is also dependent upon many other marvelous processes that are continuously going on around him. The lowly earthworm, for example, makes fertile soil. In a year, it is estimated, earthworms in an acre of land may pass through their bodies ten tons of earth, building up life-sustaining topsoil that plants need in order to grow.

Also, without honeybees that fertilize flowers, “many fruits and vegetables would die,” explains an encyclopedia. Everywhere one looks on earth there is a complex web of relationships that cooperate marvelously. Is it not apparent that we are dependent upon God for life?​—Acts 14:16, 17.

Origin of Life

Yet some persons may question whether we really need God for life. They may say: “I have seen newspaper headlines proclaiming, ‘LIFE CREATED IN THE TEST TUBE.’” Is it true that man has created life?

No, it is not. All man has done is make a few substances that are components of substances that make up the basic unit of life, the living cell. Scientists have only produced in their laboratories molecules such as amino acids, made up at most of a few atoms. But there may be thousands of amino acids in a single protein composed of millions of atoms! And yet a living cell has hundreds of proteins, as well as other complex substances!

The living cell is indeed a mystery of complexity. J. A. V. Butler explained in his recent book The Life Process: “Even the simplest complete organisms we know of today are almost unbelievably complex. It is difficult to visualize the steps by which they may have originated.” Thus the 1971 Encyclopedia Americana notes: “Scientists are far from being able to synthesize life in the laboratory.”

It is obvious that a living cell is so complex that scientists are unable to come close to making one, and, yet, man and other multicelled living creatures are far more complex than single-cell organisms.

The Producing of a Human

A single fertilized cell in a woman develops according to an orderly plan into a human baby. “It is, quite simply, a miracle,” said Newsweek, October 25, 1965, adding: “No technique can pinpoint the momentous time of conception. No scientist can tell what wondrous forces then take over to develop the organs and myriad nerve networks of a human embryo.”

In the tiny original fertilized cell are found all the instructions and know-how to create a full-grown person! These instructions, if spelled out in English, would require several twenty-four-volume sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica! And yet each succeeding one of the billions of cells the body produces contains all these instructions!

Somehow, however, all other instructions within each cell are suppressed, except the ones which that particular cell requires for its specialized development. Thus some become muscle cells, others nerve cells, still others bone cells, and so forth. Then these hundreds of different types of cells are organized by some amazing directive force into a human baby so wonderfully constructed that it staggers imagination.

The complexity of a human is perhaps best appreciated by noting how intricate are even lowly animals. Pointing, for example, to the marvels of the ant, computer-scientist Dr. Warren S. McCullock said: “Actually, computers are clumsy, stupid beasts . . . They haven’t the brains of a retarded ant.” Also, Natural History observed: “The nervous system of a single starfish, with all its various nerve ganglia and fibers, is more complex than London’s telephone exchange.”

Does not the amazing complexity of lowly ants and starfish emphasize the magnificence of God’s creation of the much superior human organism? Why, the human nervous system records some 100 million sensations a second, its eyes take perfectly coordinated motion pictures in three-dimensional color, its liver carries on hundreds of life-sustaining chemical conversions, and its many other organs perform similarly amazing functions! Do you not agree with the Bible writer who exclaimed, “in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made”?​—Ps. 139:14.

Hence, we cannot escape the conclusion that we are now as dependent upon God for life and the processes that sustain life as man has ever been. God’s marvelous creations indeed win admiration because of their order and perfection.

On the other hand, human affairs are so disorderly and imperfect! There are suffering, distress and wickedness practically everywhere. ‘Why?’ you may ask. ‘Why does God not do something about these things? Does his permission of wickedness indicate that he does not care, or that he has forgotten man?’

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Man’s space travel depends on the laws governing movements of heavenly bodies. Who is the originator of these laws?

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Light from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air and water from soil combine miraculously to produce food for man

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Humans and animals take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide; plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Man did not devise that cycle

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‘The making of a baby is quite simply a miracle. No scientist can understand the wondrous forces involved’

Has God Forgotten Man?

DESPITE man’s efforts to solve world troubles, conditions continue to grow worse. It is understandable, therefore, that persons might ask: ‘Has God forgotten man?’ Do you ever wonder?

Many persons today believe that God has forgotten. They apparently think that God started humans on earth and then abandoned them, somewhat like a man who fathers illegitimate children and then leaves them. It is understandable that a person would feel no need for a God like that!

But has our Creator really, in effect, done this? Are you sincerely interested in knowing?

Some persons only pretend to want to know. True, they may ask: ‘If there is a God, why does he allow man to suffer so much?’ But instead of searching for an answer, they prefer to believe that there is no God, or, if there is, that he has forgotten man. And such ones often are too proud even to consider the evidence.

In ancient times there were persons like that too. They held personal ideas about God, but they proudly refused to check whether these were correct. King David of Israel said of such ones: “The wicked one according to his superciliousness makes no search; all his ideas are: ‘There is no God.’ He has said in his heart: ‘God has forgotten.’”​—Ps. 10:4, 11.

Since some make this same charge against God today, it is proper that we examine it.

Really, Has God Forgotten?

Is the way in which our bodies function, without human control or direction, not an indication that God still sustains our life processes? We still benefit from the wonderfully complex healing process that soon repairs damage if we should cut ourselves. And what about the marvelous process that transforms the many kinds of foods we eat into flesh, bones, hair, nails and other building materials? Do these processes, which continue to function for our benefit, really indicate that God has forgotten man?

Examine further: Consider how we enjoy the exquisite beauty that has been provided on earth​—the glorious sunsets, snowcapped mountains, sandy beaches, green valleys, rushing rivers and colorful, fragrant flowers. Observe, too, how tiny seeds grow to produce the amazing varieties of delicious foods. Is God not still maintaining the laws that make possible sunsets and pounding surf, food-making processes of plants? And would you not say that all of this is evidence that God remembers man?

Additional search reveals that God has cared for man in more than material ways. He has also provided humans with moral guidance and advice in his Word the Bible. So fine is God’s law contained in the Scriptures that the famous English judge Blackstone once said: “No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original.”

Experience has shown that when humans live in harmony with God’s law it brings satisfaction and improvement to their lives. The early American president Thomas Jefferson wrote: “The studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, better husbands . . . The Bible makes the best people in the world.” This provision of his Word the Bible is also clear evidence that God has not forgotten man!

The Question of Human Suffering

Yet human suffering has been so prevalent that even a righteous man was once moved to ask: “Has God forgotten to be favorable?” This man, however, rather than jumping to a conclusion, made a careful search, which led him to exclaim: “O God, your way is in the holy place. . . . You are the true God, doing marvelously. . . . You have led your people just like a flock.”​—Ps. 77:9-14, 20.

But in the face of all the wickedness and human suffering on earth, some persons may wonder how anyone could reach such a conclusion. ‘How could a good God who is Almighty allow this suffering?’ they ask.

Think about that for a moment. If God really has irresponsibly abandoned his earthly children, he is no longer good, is he? Yet it is obvious, as we have seen, that God has done and continues to do tremendous good for man! So, does this not indicate that God has very good reasons for temporarily permitting human suffering?

One may at first think that nothing could warrant permission of the suffering that mankind has experienced over the centuries. But is it right to jump to such a conclusion? Why, circumstances can arise where a good parent may permit a beloved child to undergo suffering temporarily. A painful operation, for instance, may be permitted because it is considered necessary.

Reasons for Permission of Suffering

First, we need to identify how human troubles actually began. Was it due to some neglect or oversight on God’s part?

To the contrary, God’s Word shows that mankind’s troubles had their start due to the abandoning of God by the first human pair, Adam and Eve. Created as free moral agents, these two deliberately ignored God’s laws, being influenced to do so by the angelic rebel Satan. Thus a number of vital issues or questions were raised. These included:

Was man made with the ability successfully to govern his affairs independent of God? In short, does he really need God’s guidance and direction? And there was the related question of whether any of the offspring of the first couple would be obedient and loyal to their Creator.

So the issues were moral ones, involving the rightness of God’s way of ruling, and whether man’s success and happiness really depend upon submitting to God’s rule. The issues did not concern whether God had greater strength or power. And they were not just local issues, affecting only humans, but they are ones in which even the heavenly angels are interested.

God, of course, could have immediately destroyed Adam and Eve, as well as Satan. That would have wiped out all opposition to Him; it also would have put an end to the human family, of which you are a member. But it would not have really settled the issues.

For example, it would not have answered the question as to whether any of Adam and Eve’s offspring would choose to remain loyal to God’s rulership. Nor would it answer whether any of these offspring could remain faithful to God if subjected to tests by Satan. Wiping out opposition immediately, therefore, might have left doubts in the minds of onlookers as to whether there was any truth to the charges by Satan.

So since the issues are of such importance, challenging God’s way of ruling and affecting the confidence of his creatures in him, God decided that they should be settled once and for all.

What has been the outcome? Have Satan’s charges against God been upheld, or proved false?

Settling the Issues

Well, what would you say? Have the past 6,000 years of human history indicated that man has been successful in governing his affairs by himself, apart from God? Has man provided good government for the blessing and happiness of all? Or does the record of history indicate that man needs God’s guidance, as God said he does?​—Jer. 10:23.

The evidence should be clear to all. Man’s record of governing himself independent of God has been a dismal failure! It has resulted in untold human suffering. “Man has dominated man to his injury,” as the Bible says.​—Eccl. 8:9.

How opposite human endeavors have been to the order and precision found in the universe guided by God’s laws! Clearly, man needs God’s guidance in governing his affairs, because ignoring God’s laws has resulted in chaos. Yes, man was created with this need to depend upon God’s laws just as surely as fish were made with a need for water and other creatures were made with a need for air to breathe.

And what about Satan’s charge that, if given the opportunity, he could successfully turn all human creatures away from God? This claim too has been proved a lie, for down through history there have always been some persons who have remained loyal to God, regardless of the circumstances.​—Job chapters 1 and 2.

Why So Long?

However, a person might ask, Why has God permitted so much time, nearly 6,000 years now, to settle these issues? Could they not have been settled satisfactorily long ago?

If God had intervened long ago, the charge could have been made that man was not given enough time to develop a workable government and the necessary technology to bring prosperity to all. But now man has had the time to try every conceivable form of human rule and make tremendous technological advances, including harnessing the atom and traveling to the moon. What has been the result? A grand new system for the blessing of humanity?

Far from it! Instead there are more unhappiness and trouble on earth than ever before. In fact, crime, pollution, war, family breakdown and other problems have reached such a crisis stage that scientists believe man’s very existence is threatened! Science magazine of November 28, 1969, observed:

“In the continued absence of better ways of heading off these multiple crises, our half-life may no longer be 10 or 20 years, but more like 5 to 10 years, or less. We may have even less than a 50-50 chance of living until 1980.

“This statement may seem uncertain and excessively dramatic. But is there any scientist who would make a much more optimistic estimate after considering all the different sources of danger and how they are increasing? The shortness of the time is due to the exponential and multiplying character of our problems.”

Yes, after nearly 6,000 years of experience in self-rule and after reaching the ultimate in scientific “progress” mankind is on the brink of catastrophe! How clear it is that man cannot successfully govern himself, apart from God! Nor can anyone now complain that God did not allow enough time to settle these issues.

Yet during these past 6,000 years, what has God been doing to bring an end to man’s troubles? Has he just been sitting idly by, watching mankind flounder and suffer? True, God has wonderfully sustained the laws and processes that make life on earth possible. But will he do anything to satisfy man’s need for peace, health and happiness?

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The provision of God’s Word the Bible is clear evidence that God has not forgotten man. The Bible gives wise guidance that brings satisfaction and improvement to humans, young and old

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A parent with good reason will permit a beloved child to undergo an operation despite some suffering; God also has good reasons for temporarily permitting suffering

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As fish were created with the need for water, and land animals with a need for air, so man was created with a need for God’s guidance

How God Satisfies Man’s Needs

ALMOST daily now we are reminded of man’s need of help in solving his problems. “The problems of the day,” observed U.S. News & World Report, “seem at present to be beyond the power of any government to solve.”

Pointing to the desperateness of the world situation, medical editor Dr. Frank J. Ayd said: “It is frightening that so many foresighted people believe we may not survive to see the 21st century,” less than thirty years away.

Mankind’s plight has been Compared to that of passengers on a floundering ship in a stormy sea. “We’re directionless, rudderless and not sure where we’re going,” lamented Dr. Wilson Head, Canadian social science professor. The editor of Intelligence Digest said: “Only God can settle world affairs.”

But can God be depended upon to solve the problems that men have been unable to solve? Is there reason to expect him to?

What God Has Been Doing

Well, what would you expect of a good God, one who has provided the sun and rain and all the beautiful living things that make this earth such a delightful place to live? Would you not expect him to do something to satisfy man’s needs for lasting peace and happiness? Has he been making any preparations to do this?

The Bible shows that he has. It was God’s original purpose for humans to live in perfect health and happiness on a paradise earth, and he has never changed this purpose. Thus, immediately after Satan turned Adam and Eve away from God, God promised to raise up a deliverer or seed to annihilate Satan and establish a righteous new order of peace for the benefit of all of Adam and Eve’s offspring who would choose to be loyal to God. God explained in prophetic language how this Deliverer would destroy Satan, saying: “He [the seed] will bruise you [Satan] in the head.”​—Gen. 3:15.

In time God revealed through which family line the “Seed” would come, telling his faithful servant Abraham: “By means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” (Gen. 22:18) Later, God promised regarding King David of Israel: “I shall certainly set up his seed forever and his throne as the days of heaven. His seed itself will prove to be even to time indefinite, and his throne as the sun in front of me.”​—Ps. 89:29, 36.

Over the centuries God also indicated in his Word many of the blessings the righteous rule of this promised “seed” would bring to mankind. He foretold, for example, that all evildoers would be cut off, that only righteous ones would get to live forever on earth, and that humans would enjoy perfect health and peace in the restored earthly paradise. (Ps. 37:9-11, 29; Isa. 11:1-9; 25:6-8) So rather than forgetting man, God was for all those years making preparations for the eternal blessing of mankind.

However, a necessary step in the development of God’s purposes was the sending to the earth of his promised Deliverer and Ruler. Why?

The Promised One Arrives

When he arrived, this one was properly identified as the “‘seed,’ who is Christ.” (Gal. 3:16; 4:4) At his birth an announcement was made: “This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High . . . and he will rule as king . . . and there will be no end of his kingdom.”​—Luke 1:30-33.

Yet this one, Jesus Christ, did not take up his rulership while he was on earth. Was he supposed to? No, not then. What he did was to demonstrate what a desirable ruler he would be by providing the needs of people in miraculous ways. For example, on two occasions he fed thousands of hungry persons with just a few loaves of bread and some fishes.​—Matt. 14:19-21; 15:34-37.

Also, Jesus miraculously cured the sick. In fact, he healed all those that were brought to him! (Matt. 15:30, 31) Even more remarkable was Jesus’ raising to life of the dead! For example, there was a widow who was mourning at the funeral of her only child. Jesus happened to come upon this pathetic scene, and told her: “Stop weeping.” Then he went over to her son’s dead body and said: “Young man, I say to you, Get up!” And the man did come to life, and Jesus “gave him to his mother.”​—Luke 7:11-16.

However, Jesus brought more than material benefits to people. He also showed them how to live together in peace and happiness, demonstrating to them how to exercise genuine love. He said: “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”​—John 13:34, 35.

Then Jesus was killed by opposers. But his death served a vital purpose, providing a means of deliverance from death for Adam’s offspring. How so?

Well, humans die because of inheriting sin and death from their forefather Adam. (Rom. 5:12) Jesus, however, did not have his life transmitted to him from sinner Adam, since Jesus had been an angel in heaven, and his life force was transferred from there to earth. Thus Jesus’ perfect human life could be given as a ransom to purchase the life right lost for all Adam’s descendants by his sin against God.​—Matt. 20:28; John 3:16.

So, then, Jesus’ death was not something really unexpected. In fact, God’s prophecy had foretold that the “seed” would be bruised in the heel. (Gen. 3:15) Like a heel wound, Jesus’ death was painful but not permanently disabling. This is because God raised him to life again. Many eyewitnesses testified to his resurrection.​—Matt. 28:1-10; Acts 1:8-11; 2:32.

Significance Today

‘But how do all those things said in the Bible help me?’ someone may ask. ‘Even if Jesus really did those miracles and God did resurrect him, how does it benefit the hungry, sick and dying today?’

We and the rest of mankind can benefit in a very important way. How so? Well, since Jesus did all those wonderful things for people in times past on a limited scale, this is God’s assurance to us that Jesus can do them on a larger, earth-wide scale now that he has been raised to heavenly life! And God promises us that he will do all these things for mankind!

But when? When will the promised “seed” crush Satan and bless obedient mankind? It has been nearly 6,000 years since Satan induced the first human pair to rebel against God. How do we know that God’s time for ending Satan’s wicked system is finally near?

For one reason, it is because the unusually troublous conditions now existing were foretold by Jesus to mark the ‘conclusion of the system of things.’ He said that there would be widespread food shortages, pestilences, wars, lawlessness and other conditions that are now clearly in evidence.​—Matt. 24:3-14.

And for another reason, by now sufficient time has been allowed for settling all the issues raised by the rebellion. It has been shown clearly that Satan has been unable to turn all mankind away from God, as he evidently claimed he could. (Job chapters 1 and 2) The past 6,000 years of history have also shown that humans, independent of God, have been completely incapable of establishing a government to bring peace and happiness to its subjects.

Time to Satisfy Man’s Needs

Thus the time has arrived for God’s promised “seed” to deliver the fatal “head” blow to Satan, and clear out this corrupt system of things. (Gen. 3:15) Is not a corruption-free world something mankind so much needs? Yet it is now generally acknowledged that man cannot create such a government. Editorial writer David Lawrence observed: “The more we search for an alibi, the more we discover that unhappiness on earth is man-made. Our key weakness is that we have not solved the problem of self-government.”

Should we not rejoice, then, that God will satisfy this need of man for a desirable government? Under the rule of His appointed King, Jesus Christ, the whole earth really will enjoy a righteous administration of its affairs. A prophecy concerning the promised “seed” says:

“He must judge the lowly ones, and with uprightness he must give reproof in behalf of the meek ones of the earth. And he must strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the spirit of his lips he will put the wicked one to death. And righteousness must prove to be the belt of his hips, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”​—Isa. 11:1-5.

Today even the basic needs of hundreds of millions of persons go unfulfilled under unjust human rule. For example, governments pay farmers to plow crops under and store food away in granaries while daily thousands starve to death. The situation is so critical that Dr. G. Borgstrom, food expert at Michigan State University, said: “We simply don’t realize the dimensions of our difficulties. Because of our attitude, with more than half the human family desperately short of life’s necessities, I think we’re already in a disaster.”

At the same time, people the world over also are in desperate need of a decent place to live. This is true even under the most ‘advanced’ human governments. Saturday Review observed: “In 1972, at least ten million American families​—one out of every six in the nation—​are still living in housing that is badly deteriorating, grossly unhealthy, or utterly wretched.”

Also, disease, aging and death continue to plague the human family. There is an utter helplessness to satisfy man’s need for health and youthful vigor. Dr. Nathan W. Shock admitted: “We do not have the faintest idea what causes aging.” And it is even a greater mystery to man how to cure or prevent aging and death.

Is it not obvious, then, that modern man needs God? We depend upon Him to sustain the life processes of our bodies, for the miraculous food making of green plants and for all the earth’s other resources. But we also need God’s guidance on how to use these things properly. And especially do we need God to adjust our bodies so that they do not become sick, grow old and die.

Yet can we be sure that God will do these things for man? Well, what would you expect of a good God? If you had the power, would you not satisfy man’s needs, blessing him with life in peace and happiness? Then should we expect that the loving Creator of man will do any less?

In his Word God promises to create a “new heavens,” that is, a righteous government with Christ at its head, and a “new earth,” or a completely righteous new earthly society. After speaking of that new system as though it were already operating, God’s spokesman says:

“Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.

Do such promises sound too good to be true? Yet you can trust them. Almighty God assures that we can, for he himself goes on to say: “Look! I am making all things new. . . . Write, because these words are faithful and true.”​—Rev. 21:1-5.

Is it not marvelous how God purposes to satisfy man’s need for genuine peace, health and happiness? Do you feel grateful for his provisions? Jesus showed how we can show God our appreciation. In his Sermon on the Mount he said: “Keep on, then, seeking first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness.”​—Matt. 6:33.

God’s kingdom is the government in the hands of his promised “seed.” This is God’s instrument for satisfying man’s needs. We seek that kingdom government of God by doing all that we can to inform ourselves of it. We thus develop confidence in its reality. And then we advocate that kingdom to others, advertising it as man’s only hope for peace and happiness, as Jesus did when he was on earth.

This is the work that Jehovah’s witnesses are doing by going to the homes of people and freely discussing the Bible with them. Also, they regularly meet to study about God’s provisions in their Kingdom Halls. They there consider information that builds faith in God and his kingdom. You are cordially invited to attend their meetings and enjoy this valuable instruction with them.

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Soon God will fulfill his promise to create a completely righteous human society