A Glimpse of the World to Come
Part 3
What will a world under his rule be like?
“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”
(I Corinthians 15:24)
Ask almost any Christian if Jesus is going to return and you will get a very positive ‘yes’, almost every time. Ask what he will do, when he does return, and you will get vague generalities about the Rapture, the defeat of Satan, or bringing the Kingdom, but, almost nothing specific. Why is the most important future event imaginable, the rule of Jesus over the world, which hundreds of millions believe will occur, almost never discussed or written about it? Millions of sermons, thousands of books, and hundreds of movies abound on the horror of the end times, but nothing about what happens after. Some vaguely speculate about a strict, ritualistic, harsh, and Spartan existence, but little else. The concept of a free, happy, healthy, peaceful, progressive, and vibrant world community is almost never considered.
Prophecy is not what we intend by these words; this is only a look at a future world headed by a being, who taught love for humanity as his prime edict. Also, very strongly considered, is that Jesus teaches that freedom is the ultimate result of knowing the truth.
· “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
This concept contradicts what we know about human nature. If mankind is given freedom of thought and action, it is presumed that the strong will rapidly dominate the weak and we will be back to the old way. But, there is one factor not considered in coming to such a conclusion. Many know the oft-quoted verse “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32), but few consider the preface to this verse, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (John 8:31). The word “word”, was translated from the Greek word logos, pronounced log’-os, meaning; something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse). What Jesus is saying is that if one stays within the things he taught, it will reveal the truth about life and at the same time free the individual’s mind. There is little doubt that Jesus was speaking of freedom from the outside control of those forces dominating human existence, through the manipulation of truth.
No doubt, mankind, and the world it inhabits, will be at its lowest point in history. This will mean basic needs must be met first; a global rescue operation. Considering that Jesus died for those he will now begin to lead; how much compassion can we speculate he will show? Jesus, and those with him, know what will happen, must certainly be aware what the end result will be after the world passes through such catastrophe, and must have completely planned for dealing with those conditions. Those injured and suffering will be healed and comforted. Starvation and thirst will be the norm and we know Jesus will serve those needs immediately. Humans must be clothed and housed, and that need must be filled rapidly.
It is logical to assume that the first thing mankind will see from this new leader will be a flurry of activity to; first save those in immediate danger, and then serve those in need. Not, until humanity can catch its breath from the trauma it has just been through can it consider what it is facing. The whole world has been taught to fear the beings that now control the planet, and many, if not most, will probably believe they are under the domination of an alien force that has invaded the planet. Many will be hiding, and many will fervently resist this new power over humanity. It will probably be a difficult task to bring many into a social setting, but the most powerful and benevolent being in the universe will be guiding the transition. With powers that can move mountains, raise the dead, and change the rotation of the planet, dealing with defeated, weak, terrified, suspicious, powerless, and confused humans will not require lethal force. And, no doubt, the very obvious and powerful presence of Jesus on the planet, and the utter defeat humanity has experienced, will testify to the futility of aggressive resistance to all but the hardcore hold outs. Eventually all will be confronted and made aware of the truth of what they have been through, not only with the coming of Jesus, but throughout mankind’s turbulent history.
Jesus told John in the Revelation three different times that he will “rule” the nations of the Earth. (Revelation 2:27, 12:5, and 19:15) The word ‘rule’ is taken from the Greek word poimaino, pronounced poy-mah’-ee-no, meaning; to tend as a shepherd of. People will still be here and he will lead and feed the nations, as a world ruler. It is the nature of that rule which must be considered in constructing any scenario about what the world will be like under that rule. We will take a look at all major aspects of society, as we now know it, and consider the impact of the return of Jesus and his absolute rule will have on those areas.
Food
Jesus, by his actions and edicts, taught that all should have it, but we doubt he feels that the chemical industry can create a more desirable or nutritious product from nature than he first created. The dangerous artificial methods that are used to grow the bulk of our food must be eliminated. Natural methods of growing food, which will nourish and not endanger its consumers, will replace our “modern” methods. And, no doubt, many small farmers working healthy land is preferable to a few big businesses controlling most of the land, which is regularly bathed in a chemical soup to make up for the completely depleted and sick mega-farms they work. The danger of the chemical pollution will not only be stopped, it must be removed from the planet. There will obviously be an immediate project to regenerate the soil, produce abundant food stocks, and bring back the wide diversity of plant species that have been destroyed by the agricultural industry. Genetically modified crops will be eliminated, and natural habitats changed by social “progress” will be restored.
Hunger is a crime of collective neglect. Food is a basic necessity, a foundation of social life, and must be available to all, in full measure. It should come from the land to the table; not, from the lab, to the land, to the commodity market, to the processor, to the packager, to the distributor, to the store, and then finally, to the table. The average meal, in the U.S. for example, has traveled over a thousand miles before it gets to the plate. This adds great cost, pollution from transportation, and several unnecessary tasks to the process. Food will be grown as close to the source of need as possible.
Anthropologists are beginning to realize that the indigenous peoples of the world, especially in the Americas, did not make farms in the natural environment. They were “taught” that method of European farming; the practice clearing land and growing only needed or commercially viable crops. The method of “farming” before this consisted not of making farms, but making the entire environment a farm. They not only gathered the food from the wild, they gently managed the areas where the food grew. Food will become everybody’s responsibility and everybody’s right.
The only thing common to farming in our modern society is the presence of lawns; a completely useless status symbol having its origins in wealth, and its place in our society through tradition. A few people create diversity in these private patches of land, but the vast majority of the 8 out of 10 U.S. households that have lawns have flat single species grass lawns. This reduces local biodiversity over a large area and replaces it with a single plant, very often, not common to the area they are grown. They are “cared for” by using pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals which can be harmful to the environment. Lawns, by their nature, require tremendous amounts of water on plants unsuited for their environment and put unnecessary strains on dwindling water supplies. In the US and some other areas, lawn heights are generally maintained by poorly maintained gasoline powered lawnmowers, which create added poisoning of the environment already made biologically sterile. Ironically, lawns often are found in vast suburban areas on land, which was formerly farm land.
Patrick Cooke, was the beloved the editor and author of