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T
HROUGHOUT
much of human
history, men
have envisioned
utopías of peace and plen-
ty- and, on occasion,
leaders have attempted to
implement their visionary
utopías. All such experi–
ments havs: failed.
But why shouldn't man
live in a better world?
The forecast for today
is gloomy. Granted, there
are sorne isolated pockets
of comparative freedom
WORLD'S
MOST
ACCURATE
NEWSCAST
from somewhere takes
charge of the human
scene and provides new
hope.
Someone did come
along with the answer.
It
was in the form of a fore–
cast. Jesus Christ-near–
ly two millennia
ag~
carne with an announce–
ment about a marvelous
future age in which the
Kingdom of God would
rule the earth, and peace
would break out every–
where.
Jeft on earth. But real
freedom is on the run in
our world. The light of
creative liberty is about to be snuffed
out if world trends are allowed to
continue. The shadow of a technolog–
ical and spiritual tyranny looms large
over planet Earth.
Men's drcams of utopía are being
shattercd . What is needed is a totally
new age, ushered in this time by
supernatural power.
Jt
is so hard to envision a world
radically different from the one in
which we now live, or from the ones
in which man has lived in the past.
Could you envision a world, for
instance, in which the chief law was
called "the law of love"? A world in
which individual human beings and
whole nations selflessly try to fill
anothcr's need?
Can you picture a world in which
even the very nature of animals-of
carnivores- is changed so they "eat
straw like an ox"? A little farfetched,
you say? The drcams of ancient
visionaries who could not face the
terrible realities of their world?
Not at all- these divine visions
given to prophets of old are a coming
reality.
Such a world is coming-and
perhaps sooner than we expect!
Can you envision a world in which
prejudice is banished? Can you pic–
ture in your mind's eye a time when
men will dwell together in peace for
the first time in human experience?
Such a world is coming.
Can you encompass in your pres–
ent thinking a world in which all
human beings will be treated justly
by a God Ruler who is "not a
respecter of pcrsons" whether that
person is rich or poor, young or old,
mate or female, black, brown, white
March 1980
or yellow? That's the kind of world
God promises mankind.
Can you feature a world in which
all people would have
dignity?
That
secms to be the one thing so many are
denied in our world-simple dignity.
For multitudes, each day is filled
with hunger, poverty, humiliations
and embarrassments. Our over–
crowded, competitive, dog-eat-dog
world is not the place to find digríity
among men.
Today we are preoccupied with the
business of survival. God's world–
the new age-will be different. We
will no longer have to strive for every
mouthful of food and wonder where
the next meal is coming from. There
will be plenty for all.
In a sedse, the nations deserve
everything they are getting today.
We've all missed the mark in terms
of moral and spiritual perfection.
Human beings are tragically imper–
fect in their conduct. "Man's inhu–
manity to man" is sickeningly true.
Nations have behaved like brute
beasts toward each other throughout
most of history. What people have
never killed, plundered, raped, pil–
laged, burned, tortured and warred,
all in the name of political power, or
religion or ideology?
Yet, in another sense, humanity
deserves a millennium of peace and
plenty. The pain is becoming, inevi–
tably, too much. Humanity has been
to tbe well too many times and it's
running dry. The human spirit is
shriveled and the light of hope is
about to go out. Humankind would
soon destroy itself in one last, bloody,
global battle unless a strong Hand
Jesus foresaw a world
of peace-a world where
every man and woman
would have dignity, no matter their
color or ethnic background. This
coming world will have no racial
bigotry.
It
will have no tyranny, no
sexual prejudice.
lt
will
be a beauti–
ful
new
age in every sense of the
term.
In that new age, Jesus Himself
announced that He will be "King of
kings" and "Lord of lords." Instead
of abusive human rule, He will
administer
''justice
for all." The only
laws that will exist will be God's
laws-designed from the beginning
to bring about love and justice.
Survival will no longer be the chief
occupation of the majority of man–
kind. Each human being will be free
to strive for fulfillment of his or her
maximum potential. The purpose for
which God put man on earth! Each
person will be enabled to rise to the
highest level of achievement of which
he or she is capable in a spi ritual
atmosphere conducive to growth.
We, too, foresee, with Jesus, in the
pages of
The Plain Truth,
this new
age coming in our lifetime. We pray,
"Thy kingdom come." We yeam for
the true utopía. We convey to our
readers hope-for God will soon
establish His Kingdom on this good
earth, and peace will break out
everywhere.
Those of us who entertain this
hope teach our children the values of
the new age-the world tomorrow.
We teach them the
real
meaning of
love. You, too, can participate with
us in reaping now in advance a
foretaste of the harvest of joy that is
someday to be shared by all!
-Brian Knowles
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