From www.bobrussell.org on November 29, 2015
The Roman poet Horace lived a few years before the birth of Jesus. He was critical of many of the playwrights in his day for resorting too readily to the supernatural to solve the knotty problems which they had developed in the course of their plots. One of the guidelines Horace suggested was, “Do not bring a god onto the stage unless the problem is one that deserves a god to solve it.”
Our world is experiencing some horrific problems. Terrorists create chaos by mass murders. Rogue dictators have access to nuclear weapons. Millions of helpless refugees from ravaged nations have nowhere to live. The world economy is in a funk. Moral values have become so inverted that evil has become good and good evil. Racial strife and political correctness threaten to divide America. Meanwhile environmentalists and liberal politicians insist that climate change is the world’s biggest danger.
Our problems are so complex that we need God to resolve them. Some cavalierly insist, “There have always been problems and these days are no different.” However, the current chaos is worldwide and centuries ago there were no weapons of mass destruction. The Bible predicts, “There will be perilous times in the last days” and “evildoers and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” According to the Bible, history isn’t going in a cycle – it’s going toward a chaotic climax that will only be resolved by Divine intervention.
Billy Graham said, “Everywhere I go I find that people…both leaders and individuals…are asking one basic question,. “‘Is there any hope for the future’? My answer is the same, ‘Yes, through Jesus Christ.’”
Those aren’t just religious talking points. Followers of Jesus Christ are not just saying, “Turn to Christ and He will forgive your sins and save your soul for eternity.” Thankfully, He will do that. But the Bible teaches that Jesus can dramatically save our country, our freedom and preserve our way of life for the future of our children and grandchildren.
How can God come onto the stage of history and resolve our ominous problems?
(1) He could save us through supernatural intervention. Several times in Scripture God miraculously rescued His people from what appeared to be a completely hopeless situation. He parted the waters when Moses and the Israelites were trapped at the Red Sea. He struck 185,000 enemy soldiers down when Hezekiah and His people were under a relentless siege in Jerusalem.
God still promises to save those who repent and trust totally in Him. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Nothing is impossible with God. He can still intervene and spare our land. But He is our only hope. politicians, educators, generals, economists nor environmentalists cannot save us. Our only hope is to go to our knees in humble repentance and cry out for an outpouring of God’s Spirit. His arm is still mighty to save.
(2) There is another way God could save us and that is by the second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. Jesus promised that one day, in a time of great peril, He will suddenly return and make all things new. He said he would come back in power and glory. And in that day every eye will see Him, every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess Him as Lord. That event is called in Scripture, “Our blessed hope,”
Imagine Jesus returning in person and establishing His Kingdom on earth. Envision Him overseeing the economy, the environment, the education system, Wall Street, the entertainment world…and especially the church. Imagine people from every race, every tribe, every tongue united under the banner of Jesus Christ. Wow! What a day that will be!
Some Bible students teach that when Jesus returns that will be the end of the earth’s existence. He takes believers to heaven and consigns unbelievers to hell and that’s it. They contend most prophecy is figurative and shouldn’t be taken literally.
I understand the Bible to predict that Jesus will return to reign on earth. Revelation speaks of, “…a new heaven and a new earth.” Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, ON EARTH, as it is in heaven.”
Wouldn’t it be glorious to have someone in charge of this world who had practical solutions for our problems and a genuine compassion for people? Picture a day when men will lay down their firearms and not make war anymore, a day when children can play in previously dangerous areas without fear of being kidnapped or molested by human snakes slithering in the shrubs? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the cultural war was over and the conservative and the liberal will no longer be at each other’s throats? The Bible says there will come a time when the wolf will lie down with the lamb and the earth will be “filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”? How good is that?
Isaiah promises “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people…and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” (Isaiah 11: 10–12)
No wonder the Apostle Paul said that we should long for the coming of Jesus. The more we witness the inability of human efforts to solve our knotty problems, the more we are eager for our God to come on to the stage. And the more likely we are to plead as did the Apostle John, “Even so Lord Jesus, come quickly!”
Bob Russell is retired Senior Minister of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY