For many years I’ve been an avid consumer of the daily news – interested in what’s happening in my country and throughout the world. But lately I’ve found it impossible at times to look at it – it’s so awful and completely devoid of hope.
Brexit! The evils being done in the Middle East and Africa. Superpowers jockeying for position with a rivalry that makes the world a much more dangerous place for all of us. And it’s the poor and needy of the world who suffer so that desperate people seek to flee to countries where they and their families can feel safe.
Perhaps the most alarming thing is the environmental threat. It is possible that we have damaged our earth beyond repair by our greed and misuse of its resources.
When I think of these things and look at the those who govern the nations I cannot see any man or woman who can take control and begin to put things right.
Two thousand years ago these things were written about in the Bible. They are amazingly accurate about the world today and they tell us not just about our problems but about the solution. It speaks of a creation that groans and suffers, of distressed nations being perplexed at what is happening, of a time when people’s hearts will faint with foreboding about what is happening in the world.
These words were spoken by Jesus to his disciples just before his crucifixion and he went on to tell them that it would be a time for disciples not to worry but to look up because they would be delivered from all of these problems. I will come back, said Jesus and put the world right. He will come to look after the poor and needy, to solve the environmental crisis, to break the power of oppressing rulers and to reign as king over all the earth.
Late in his life the Apostle Peter wrote of these things. This world is going to change radically, he said. The present order is going to be swept away and replaced by a better one. He went on to ask a question. What sort of people should we be if we believe in this? The answer – people who are looking for and waiting for the return of Jesus Christ.