The Future of the World, what the Bible tells us

A world of trouble

Every day we see the trouble this world is in: TV news and newspapers are full of reports about the state of the world, the environment, the climate and our health, to name a few of the issues we face. It would seem the situation is growing worse. We are using up the planet’s resources at an alarming rate so that some vital elements are becoming scarce. We know the effects of pollution and have seen pictures of some of the world’s cities shrouded in dense clouds of smog. Some countries are trying hard to clean up the air, but others carry on producing toxic clouds. The level of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise. Research reported by the BBC shows that even if the production of CO2 was drastically reduced immediately, it would be too late to halt the effects of global warming.

Plastic has also been in the news recently, with many graphic reports of huge piles of waste polluting land and sea. A plastic bag was even found in the ocean at a depth of seven miles! Most of this waste will take hundreds of years to degrade. The water we drink apparently contains particles of plastic. 

This world is a far from safe place to live. Many lose their lives each year as a result of war or violence. Some countries are ripped apart by conflict with the prospect of a peaceful settlement seemingly impossible. The dreadful acts of terrorism across the globe demonstrate that some people don’t want peace. We hear all too often of mass shootings and other atrocities. 

There is also a great food inequality in the world. According to news reports, the UK wastes millions of tonnes of food a year, whereas in other parts people die for lack of food. Who can forget the harrowing images of people dying because there is not enough for them to eat? 

On a more personal level, many issues affect us today, ranging from depression to the breakdown of relationships. People worry about their future and what it will bring to them and their children. What a dire picture of the world in which we live. We could go on.

 

A better way

 

There is, however, another view: the Bible view. The Bible shows us an alternative to the problems we face, because God has a plan to restore the Earth to a pristine condition. He shows us in the Bible a world to come that will not be spoiled by the effects of humankind. He has promised to send the Lord Jesus Christ back to this world to establish his Kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capital. 

 

Let’s have a look at what the Bible says about the future. This description is from Isaiah 65:19 

“I will rejoice in Jerusalem,

And joy in My people;

The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,

Nor the voice of crying.”

And verses 21 and 22 

“They shall build houses and inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

They shall not build and another inhabit;

They shall not plant and another eat;”

It will be a time of happiness without anxiety or worry. This is God’s way as revealed in the Bible.

 

Peace and safety

It will be a time of peace. We can read what God said about this in Isaiah 2:4,

“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

The Bible shows that humankind will eventually turn its efforts from making weapons of war to making implements for agriculture. There will be no more conflict or terrorism or war, but the world will be at peace under the leadership of Jesus Christ who will rule with justice.

Plenty for all

 

God has said that the future will be one of plenty with enough food for all. In Amos 9:13 we read, 

 

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”

 

There will be no more inequality between those who die of hunger and those with too much.  Everyone will have enough.

 

An end of disease and infirmity

 

Modern day advances in medicine have hugely improved our lives, however health issues continue to affect us all. The Bible shows that the illnesses and infirmities afflicting us today will not be a problem in the future as we are told in Isaiah 25:5 and 6,

 

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then the lame shall leap like a deer,

And the tongue of the dumb sing.”

 

Life – for ever

 

God wants to give us this Kingdom; he wants us to be able to enjoy it and live in it forever.  But, in return, He asks us to believe in Him. We need to believe that God will send His son, the Lord Jesus back to this earth to establish this future, everlasting kingdom. Belief, and baptism, in Him is essential as He tells us in John 3:16 

 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

 

and Mark 16:16,

 

“He that believes and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be condemned.”

 

Belief in God is vital

 

This Kingdom will be full of people who believe in the Lord and follow His ways; a very different situation to the present day. We read in Jeremiah 31:33,34,

 

“I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

What a contrast between the world of today and the future as set out in the Bible. It is a future of peace, of hope and plenty for all in the coming Kingdom of God. The problems that face the world today will be removed. This is the message of the Bible, clearly set out for us to read and believe. God has promised this for us and we know that God always keeps His promises. I John 2:25 says 

 

“..and this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.”

 

[Quotations from the New King James Version]