It’s often assumed that as history unfolds it’s destined to get worse and worse. Many will even say that our own declining times prove the point. In fact, I’ve stopped counting the number of people who have told me in depressed tones, ‘the end is near.?
But is it really? Is the end of history at hand? Does the decline of our nation necessarily mean that Christ’s return is right around the corner?
I don’t think so. For a number of reasons.
First, we’re reaping what we’ve sown. The reason for the breakdown we’re experiencing as a nation is not mysterious.
We’ve turned our backs on God, and He will not be mocked. In our self-sufficiency, we no longer see a need for Him. We’ve sown to the wind, now we’re reaping the whirlwind.
Once we see this, we can see that the worsening of our present conditions is not so much a sign of the end as it is God’s truth being vindicated. God honors those who honor Him. Those who refuse to honor Him, watch out.
Also, it needs to be remembered that the future of God’s kingdom does not hinge on the fortunes of America. Over the long haul of history, nations rise and fall according to His purpose. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes them? (Dan.2:21).
America could be changed in ways that we would find hard to recognize over the coming years. But that doesn’t mean history is about to end. God’s kingdom endures.
More likely, what it means is that the center of God’s most powerful work is shifting. For years that center has been in America, where for decades the application of Christian principles has brought good not just to our own people, but people around the world.
But now that is changing, as the most powerful movements of God’s Spirit are not here but other places in the world, like the southern hemisphere ? and even China.
Finally, the greatest reason to believe that the end of all things is not at hand is God’s Word itself. God’s Word does not present to us a defeated kingdom, but a victorious one. One where the knowledge of God fills the earth and His ways are followed.
The Bible tells us that ‘All the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before Him. . .? (Ps.22:27-28). Further, ‘The earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea? (Is.11:9).
Verses could be multiplied, but they all point to the same thing. God’s kingdom is expansive, and we have not arrived at what it will one day be.
God’s victorious kingdom has implications for how we live each day. It means that instead of hunkering down, we’re to do all we can to advance His kingdom in our time in history.
And that begins by praying, ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven? (Mt.6:10).
The Rev. David Bostrom is pastor of Seeds for the Harvest ministy.