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there would have been no crime
and no war. But our world is
filled with both!
That's among the reasons why
the Bible condemns those who
say "peace, peace, when there is
no peace." To talk of peace apart
from understanding man's nature
is empty and hollow.
When Adam sin ned in the
Garden of Eden, he caused the
forthcoming human family to be
susceptible to the spiritual in–
fluence of the devil. There is,
then, naturally, a "bit of the dev–
il" present in all mortals to a
lesser or greater degree. Since the
very first war was started by the
devil when he staged an attack on
God's headquarters in heaven
(see lsaiah 14:13-14), it is no
surprise that nations, under bis
influence, also go to war.
~'There
is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked" (lsaiah 57:21 ).
The only thing that stops men
from going to war- like the only
thing that stopped the devil in
lust for conquest and power-is
superior force!
You don't have to believe the
Bible to realize all this. A few
years ago a professor of interna–
tional relations at the University
of Hawaii did a remarkable com–
puter study. For 12 years, Profes–
sor R.
J .
Rummel and his asso–
ciates fed into a computer mil–
lions of bits of information on
hundreds of international activi–
ties. These activities included
such things as exports, treaties,
diplomatic conferences, alliances
and wars. The computer then
mathemat ically compared the re–
lationship of those activities to
various countries' national char–
acteristics, such as their wealth,
kind of government, kind of polit–
ical ideas, power, education, race,
religion and literacy.
What did the computer find?
There was only one national char–
acteristic that is r elated to
peace-power! Not trade, not
education, not the willingness to
negotiate-but power and power
alone.
And what is it about power
that caused peace? The computer
December 1980
revealed that when two countries
have equal power (as do the
Soviet Union and the United
States today- frighteningly
enough!) they are most likely to
go to war.
lt
is only when one
country had much more power
than the other that there was
peace! As Professor Rummel
said,
in
academic language, the
maintenance of peace " requires a
dominance of power; peace is a
condition of power inequality."
The computer confirms what
we know from the Bible about
human nature. The real cause of
peace-harsh as this sounds at a
time of year when even cynics are
allowed to be sentimental-is
superior force. No superior force,
no peace.
But the big question is: Whose
superior force? Given man's na–
ture, superior force may mean
peace, but it also means tyranny.
Europe could have had peace in
the 1940s, for example, if it had
been willing to accept the domi–
nation of Adolf Hitler.
The plain truth is that what
man calls " peace" is not good
enough. The one who wields
superior. force must also have
right character with which to
wield that power for the benefit
of the governed. And that can
only mean a government of God,
not man.
Return of the Klng
Christ's message was nothing so
wimpy (to use a word currently in
vogue) as going around to people
preaching sweet nothings about
peace. Christ knew- and knows
- human nature. He announced
that as long as man is subject to
Satan's attitude, peace can come
only when one party overpowers
another.
And that is the way peace will
be restored to this
e~th.
One who
al ready has the right character
needed to wield superior force
will exercise that force to bring
peace. Christ Himself leading an
army of angels, from heaven, will
literally have to
militarily
subdue
the nations of earth:
"And
1
saw heaven opened, and
beho1d a white horse; and he that
sat upon him was called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness he
doth judge and make war. His
eyes were as a flame of fire, and
on his head were many crowns;
and he had a name written, that
no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a ves–
ture dipped in blood: and his
name is called the Word of God.
And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white
horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean" (Reve1ation
19:11-14).
This is not the weak Christ of
the world's conception who has no
practical, hardheaded way to
peace. . This is the picture of a
military commander who knows
He must put down resistance by
force ifthere is ever to be peace-a
conquering, returning King.
This is why the true Gospel–
the good news of God's soon–
coming government- reflects the
kind of hard-headed realism that
this world's religious leaders do
not reflect in their own state–
ments on peace.
And it is also why the Gospel is
good news. The public-unlike
many religious leaders-knows
that empty platitudes of "peace,
peace" will not bring peace.
Justa few years ago, for exam–
ple, 66 percent of the public told
a Harris poli that it did not fore–
see "lasting peace in my life–
time," and a majority said wars
could not be avoided.
But when the conquering King
returns, wars will be avoided.
They will be avoided because
Christ will have all power, and so
none will be left over to fight
with: "And he [Christ] shall
judge among many people, and
rebuke strong nations afar off,
and they shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks; nation shall
not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any
more" (Isaiah 2:4).
Yes, as David Lawrence wrote
more than 25 years ago, "Someday
there will be peace on earth." It is
prophesied in your Bible.
o
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