Ramon Arias | April 17, 2017
The world has always been in social turmoil, and it goes through cycles from bad to worse and even to armed conflicts, which produces a significant loss of life. The more weapons of war are perfected, the greater devastation they cause.
The 20th century alone produced two world wars and the murderous Communist ideology.
According to Stéphane Courtois’ editor of The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, and Repression, she documents the horrors that resulted of mass murders including the human-made famines. According to the records stated in the book, no less than 94 million people lost their lives. Political ideas founded in misconceptions of how life should be, always lead to horrifying outcomes.
People are beginning to pay more attention to the unavoidable reality of the world’s turbulent condition. The news recently reported the ongoing massacres of Christians by the Islamist Supremacists on Palm Sunday in Egypt where they bombed two Coptic Christian churches. The Islamists claim they will dominate the world, so they continue their attacks in Europe. Iran, with its brand of Islam, sees itself as the one who will usher in the destruction of the world that will make way for their long awaited Shiite messiah, the 12th Imam, who will implement peace and prosperity. We must not take our eyes off of Iran who is the leading sponsor of terrorism in the world.
North Korea’s leadership is obsessed with their nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that will make them relevant in the world. Now, with the third member of the family dynasty of dictators who wants to outdo his grandfather and father in the atrocities they committed, has become more dangerous. Kim Jong-un threatens to attack the U.S.A., South Korea, and Japan. He has made everyone nervous, and the Chinese are no longer silent bystanders.
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, sees his world stage leadership threatened by Trump after the missile attacks on the Syrian air force base. What is Putin’s next move? Will he bluff his way by threatening nuclear war with the United States and Europe? Or, is he willing to show the Russian people and the world what a tough guy he is and make a move that consolidates his desire to be crowned the next Czar by going to war?
People will continue to ask if the apocalyptic worldview is going to blow us all up. Some are already condemning Trump for retracting his campaign rejection of war intervention as they see him siding with the Washington establishment. Now their question is “we didn’t vote for a president of the world,” can we just have a President of the United States? The concern is valid, except that unless people understand it is one thing to give campaign promises and express the desires that a candidate hopes to accomplish and quite another thing to be seated in that Executive Office and see the world from another perspective other than from a distance. A person needs to develop the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) to know what to do with precision and avoid costly mistakes. No, I’m not joking it is a proven fact to those who have learned that truth.
For anyone affirming that the outcome of the present climate of war cannot be predicted, they are missing a key ingredient: HISTORY! There is no better guideline to reveal what we can expect. Should the current world’s moral and spiritual decay continue to increase, it is not difficult to know what is on the horizon. It is as sure as the change of the seasons, and we know what to expect, so it is with human behavior. We should not pay attention to just the belligerent nations; rather we should focus on understanding what leads to wars.
For those Christians who are waiting for the world to go up in flames so Jesus can return, they need to take a good look and understand how the God of the Bible deals with nations that reach the permitted level of moral corruption before His righteous judgment manifests in full. Misreading what the Bible says about the “end times” sends “Bible prophecy experts” scrambling to forcefully fit world events to the “end of the world.” Misjudging God’s plans for humanity causes many believers to mistrust the Bible, others overlook the mistakes of “experts” and wait for their next book about the “end times;” then the next and the next, hoping some day they will hit the bull’s eye. Christians should question what was in the minds and beliefs of the Christians that did not understand the cultural times, which led them to First World War, then the Second World War. Are Christians better off now than those of the World War generations? Or, are most of them ignoring the symptoms and causes that lead to the judgment of nations for a reset of societies to build a better world?
The specter of WWIII is real, not only because the world has mentally derailed leaders and vultures that prey on the wealth of the nations. The God who judicially sanctioned the immoral cultural behavior of Noah’s generation, Sodom and Gomorrah, Old Egypt, the nations that were dispossessed of their land to give it to old Israel, as well as the many times the chosen people of Israel were severely judged for abandoning God’s moral law has not changed. God is the Sovereign Ruler of the nations, and His ethics are non-negotiable, what that means is that He is in control of history and not man. The God of the Bible is the only source of power, and authority, even though men fool themselves into thinking they are.
Christ’s Resurrection reminds us the earth and the universe are under God’s authority, and not man’s. Let us consider the following Scriptures:
“The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 103:19 (ESV)
“‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17 (ESV)
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “ Romans 11:33 (ESV)
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 (ESV)
It is not up to God if we will have WWIII. So, if it is not up to Him, then who determines if we will see that destruction? There are only two types of people that occupy the world generation after generation: those who don’t know the God of the Bible and those who profess to know Him. The first group cannot be expected to do anything according to God’s moral standards as revealed in His Word. Therefore they are always doomed to act wrong and have bad outcomes. The second group has the greatest responsibility for what happens in the world; if they misinterpret God’s will, it’s never God’s fault. Scripture must agree with Scripture. If we want to understand everything that unfolds before us, then it is only the Scriptures that reveal the perfect blueprint for restoring all things under God’s government and Christ is our example to follow after. Our goal should be fulfilling our call to make the difference in a world that needs to know the Good News of the Kingdom of God. When professing Christians fail in their commission, they have no one else to blame but themselves.
Two thousand years ago, when the Jews and Gentiles began to accept the new life in Christ they could no longer blame the social conditions on the Roman Empire or the Jewish religious leadership or anyone else. Christ came to do a game change in world affairs. Peter told the early believers:
“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17 (ESV)
Therefore, Bible believers must lead in all areas of society and show people the way out of cultural darkness, failure to do so will have detrimental consequences like a WWIII. It is up to God’s people to determine this, no kidding.