World Without War

7/1/2009

Isaiah 2:4 4 And He will judge between the nations,

And will render decisions for many peoples;

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they learn war.

New American Standard Bible

Isaiah speaks of a time when peace will truly be established and enduring upon the earth. I must admit, in these times in which we live, I have huge difficulty seeing our world without war. When I think about the titanic struggles of men with each other and nation against nation, and the enormity of sin in the world, I can’t imagine a time when people will turn their tanks into tractors and melt down their M-!6’s and AK-47’s into lopping shears. Nowadays I sometimes wonder who is really in charge of our planet and our times.

But God has made these present times in order for faith to grow and flourish. God has made these times to show us the futility of life on our own without Him. Just as the days of the Mosaic Law were days in which He showed His own people just how impossible it was to keep the Law and to earn one’s way into heaven; so these days are days of choosing: God or government – and which one will truly deliver and make good in the world? Isaiah pointed to a future time when God would rule in righteousness and no longer would we men settle our differences with armed conflict but according to the justice and wisdom of God – the way He originally intended for it to be…

In order for faith to grow and flourish there must be a people in whom there is faith and through whom others may see and believe. That is what I am called to and that is how I will live – according to faith in God Who will bring this world together someday without war. Until then my calling and purpose is to display the faith I have, in the One who loved me and gave Himself for me, to my fellow man.

Father in Heaven,

Make me wholly Thine; create in me Thy love divine.

Work in me that men may see Thy love, Thine heart and purity.

A work in me Thou hast begun that I and the others, in You may be one;

That our world might put away the spear and the sword, and forever trust in Thee, the Living Lord.

Thou art the Lord, age to age the same; and hearest prayers prayed in Jesus’ Name, Amen.