World Peace

Cool air filled my lungs while I marched down a dusty trail at a local university. Greeted by a sign reading "May world peace prevail." I pondered, "What exactly would have to happen for peace to prevail all over the world?" Almost immediately, I knew... Freedom and democracy would have to permeate the globe, along with possession, materialism, and monetary security.

 

Wars are fought over necessity. Revolts and uprisings strive against tyrants that withhold from the common people and thus, there is no peace.  Crises such as mass starvation and poverty must be quelled or else, they too, would be grounds for war.  The good news, however, is that if all who had gave some this task could be met within fifty years. The groundwork for world peace would be laid. 

 

The next step would be to arrange a governing body that is not concerned of its own welfare but the welfare of its people. It would be a representative government of altruistic officials who were not aligned to one nation, but all nations. In effect, this would be a global democracy.

 

The nurture of peoples far and wide would be accomplished by an economy that did not compete with other nations. Instead, currency would be free to flourish via communication and technology, through a worldwide market. The value of such currency would not be impeded upon by foreign debts, for all nations have all things common.

 

World peace is simply all people fed, cared for, and secure in a global union that represented all of mankind... Right?

 

Wrong... On paper it seems just wonderful. All people holding hands, singing songs, and loving one another. No wars would break out over necessity and the needs of people would be represented to a government that actually cared about the needs of their people. Unfortunately for us, this is the description of life in heaven not on earth.

 

The Bible does say that world peace will be attained, however, if only a counterfeit peace for a moment. Antichrist will take the world by peace, without a single shot. He will be the world's savior, but enslaves humanity in the process. 

 

Without getting deep into prophecy, let's look at something familiar and why, aside from our best efforts, world peace is an impossibility without God.

 

First, the heart of man is desperately wicked and selfish beyond all measure. The existence of nations as opposed to a global empire is proof that men cannot coexist with one another. Nationalism proves a vivid illustration at just how evil and prideful men can be. By just the mention of the "Aryan Race," horrifying images of racial hygiene and global domination come into view. Hitler's Germany was a social experiment that was applauded by many, even in the United States.

 

Second, greed will always supersede humanitarianism. Another look at the Holocaust will uncover this truth. The American State Department was made aware of the mass extermination of Europe's Jews, but suppressed information by ceasing communication with Poland. All the while, supported by the populous of Americans worried about their jobs, the department all but shut down immigration to refugees leaving them for the death camps. 

 

One cannot ignore history and history proves that men live for themselves. Every so often a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King Jr. comes along, but they themselves are not world peace. 

 

Just as Paul wrote to the Romans, "For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time"{1} he wrote to us. From the celestial universe to the microscopic world of bacteria and insect-life, we all cry out for peace. The good news is that peace is promised. 

 

For the vegans, God promises that no more animals will be slain to sustain human life! The prophet Isaiah wrote of this coming day,

 

"In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;

the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.

The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,

and a little child will lead them all.

 

The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together.

The lion will eat hay like a cow.

The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. 

Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.

 

Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, 

for as the waters fill the sea,

so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord."{2}

 

 

This is world peace.  Peace that can only come with the judgment of the wicked. The heart of man, unless crucified and renewed will not be present here. Jeremiah writes, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"{3}.  Amidst this new peace, no man can stand. There is hope, however, as stated by God through Ezekiel, "I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh"{4}.

 

It is time for men to abandon the idea of world peace at the expense of their own doing. It is impossible. We have seen demonstrated just how unattainable it is. Any honest student of history would say, without bias, that it is outside our grasp to harmonize humanity. We, the people, have not changed. From the Old Hittite Empire, to the Romans, to the Bolsheviks, world peace was a dream, but never a reality.  

 

Our only hope is in Christ who shall one day establish His kingdom on earth. God shall dwell among His people just as in the garden. Sin will have never existed. The universe will be restored from chaos and creation as we know it, including humans, will live in harmony and peace. This is the good news that humanitarian organizations have been seeking for lifetimes; the whales saved and the calves unprocessed. Why aren't we all rushing to receive this peace?  The deceitfulness of our hearts... 

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."{5}

 

 

1.  Romans 8:22

2.  Isaiah 11:6-9

3.  Jeremiah 17:9

4.  Ezekiel 11:19

5.  Romans 10:9-13