The horrors of the war in the Ukraine have reminded us of the depravity to which people can sink. We’ve witnessed great evil. But do you realise that the whole history of humankind is full of man’s inhumanity to man? And it stems from rebellion against God’s laws.
The very first sin was that of Eve and Adam in breaking God’s one law of not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3). The very first crime was murder when Cain killed his brother, Abel (Genesis 4), and ever since then hatred, jealousy and wars have plagued our history.
Should we then accept that this is inevitable and that wars will always be with us? For the answer we have to turn to the Bible, where we read of God’s promises of a world without war:
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4).
Who is going to be the ruler over this new world, the king who will bring about a new world order of peace? God’s perfect Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). And we can be there too, if we are baptized and commit ourselves to following him:
The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father (Revelation 2:26-27).
In the Kingdom of God, it will not only be human nature that is tamed but nature itself:
“The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD (Isaiah 65 v 25).
May all these prophecies soon be fulfilled and may we see the end of war.
Marion Buckler
Photo credit – iStock photo/Diy13