At last a peace deal is in sight, with the prospect of an end to the violence between the USA and Iran.
Over the last three months we’ve got used to claims and counter-claims about the progress of the war, which side has the upper hand, and the prospects for the war’s end.
As negotiations progress towards a settlement, both sides insist on conditions which must be met. The Americans expect, among other things, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, an end to Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme, and an end to Iran’s funding of regional terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah. The Iranians expect, among other things, the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian shipping, the lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, and an end to Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both sides may agree the settlement, but will they respect all its conditions?
As is always the case in hostilities, from wars between between nations to feuds between individuals, each side has its own view of the facts, and will work to its own agenda.
For those whose only hope is that humankind will manage to sort out its problems, prospects for the future get ever bleaker. But the Glad Tidings magazine exists to point to an altogether different prospect – the Kingdom of God, which is to be established at the return of Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine a world which is not being fought over by competing agendas, each with their own version of the truth – a world which lives in peace and prosperity under a supremely powerful and entirely just ruler?
Here is one of the Bible’s many descriptions of the future King of the world, Jesus Christ:
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins… (Isaiah 11:2-5).
Want to know more? Visit Glad Tidings of the Kingdom of God
Chris Parkin