Is There Hope for World Peace...Continued from page 4

Britain’s courageous war-time leader Winston Churchill was once invited to present the graduation address at a certain high school. He gave the shortest address on record, just three words, repeated three times. “Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!” That is also God’s word to us as we labor for his kingdom.

The Bible’s final word on world peace is this:

World Peace Will Finally Come Through God's Massive Intervention.

God will write the final chapter of world history.

When Jesus was on trial before the Jewish High Priest, he made a prediction that so horrified the High Priest that he ripped his clothes. Jesus said, “I am the Christ and one day you will see me sitting at the right hand of God and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62) History is moving toward a single, final, God-planed goal?the creation of a new earth and a new Kingdom of God.

King David, writing 1000 years before the birth of Jesus, told us where history is going. He wrote, “The Lord says to my Lord (that is, God the Father says to God the Son), ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” (Ps. 110:1) This means that Jesus Christ will prevail over all opposition. This means that anyone who is an enemy of Christ is on the wrong side of history. That includes Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and Muslim extremists.

At the final moment of history, God’s mighty trumpet shall blast and the Lord Jesus will appear in the skies for the entire world to see. Then “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10-11)

Then and only then will there be world peace.

My friend, the late Dr. Bill Hinson, had a plaque on the wall in his study that brought him comfort. The sign read: “Bill, I have everything under control. (signed) God.”

But you might ask, “What can we do to promote peace?” You can do three things. First, pray for peace continually. Secondly, participate in the political process as an informed Christian citizen. Thirdly, be a peace distributor by standing against prejudice and discord and by spreading forgiveness, understanding, and reconciliation. Each of us sends out ripples every day. These may be negative ripples, ripples of prejudice, anger, and discord. Or, we can send out positive ripples, of forgiveness, understanding, and reconciliation. If enough Christians send out positive ripples, God can fashion them into mighty waves that can cleanse portions of his world.

Perhaps you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart this morning, urging you to be more of a peacemaker. If so, I invite you to repeat silently after me, line by line, the first part of a great prayer of St. Francis.

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
Amen.”

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Bill Bouknight is Senior Pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, TN.

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NOTES:
1. Dobson, James, When God Doesn’t Make Sense (Tyndale House: Wheaton, 1993), p. 64.
2. USA Today, December 26, 2006 edition, p. A1.
3. Brickner, David, Future Hope (Purple Pomegranate Productions: San Francisco, 1999), p. 5.