Will a cure for cancer ever be found? Will there ever be a time when little children don't go to bed hungry? Is there a way to end crime?
Don't you just wish that someday, some way, the abuse of the very young and the very old would stop? Will anyone ever find a way to disarm all armies, to melt down all weapons of warfare—to beat swords into plowshares, as the Hebrew prophets foresaw?
We all long for peace for the entire world. We all want solutions to the misery and suffering of our world. We want the hatred and violence to end. Of course, you're way ahead of me—but don't get too far ahead—because what I want to talk about may surprise you. You may be thinking that one day Jesus will do all of this.
Well, yes, he will.
But when desperate situations confront those who are living in Christ, there is more hope and comfort and real help available than just waiting for some future time when the entire world will be magically turned into a utopian la-la land. The fifth chapter of the book of Revelation provides some interesting and inspiring perspectives.
History tells us that when a huge problem confronts a society and culture, there are normally three institutions that attempt to provide a solution:
