World resources for the good of all
It is a sad commentary on our modern civilisation that despite large deposits of minerals and the abundant potential in the soil for the production of food, man seems unable to feed the ever-growing population. He cannot distribute the resources or organise the labour so that everyone can have satisfying work and lead a prosperous and contented life. But it can be done! The resources have been there since the Creator designed this bountiful earth. What it needs are right-minded people, with the commitment and authority to solve the physical problems and to organise the bounty.
It is worth remembering that Jesus was a great organiser as well as a great teacher. What he could do in feeding thousands of men, women and children in well-ordered groups of fifty or a hundred, with a dozen assistants, he will surely do when he is God’s King on earth among the millions who struggle to find enough food for their families. As the world’s population increases in the twenty-first century, so the problem is getting worse.
The Bible foresees the curse on the ground being removed, and plentiful crops for all who will labour for them. “There will be an abundance of grain in the earth … on the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave like Lebanon”, said king David (Psalm 72:16). “The mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water”, said Joel (3:18; see also Amos 9:13). The farmer’s crops will be abundant, for “the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew” (Zechariah 8:12).
Then there is the prophet lsaiah’s vision of the desert rejoicing and blossoming as the rose (35:1). Think of the vast areas of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where every year the sands are encroaching on fertile ground and millions are dying. Governments seem unable to find the huge sums of money necessary to bring up the water that often lies just below the surface! What a blessing it will be for desert peoples to be engaged in huge irrigation schemes and to benefit from the new fertility of their lands. These are the wonderful things that will be possible in the kingdom of God.
Living life to the full
It seems likely that there will be less concentration of population in large cities: city-dwellers will move out into pasture and woodland areas made available by worldwide conservation schemes. God has never encouraged people to live in large cities, where the worst traits of humanity are expressed and where evil men hide in dark places. On the other hand when, under the improved conditions of Christ’s reign, human fitness reaches its peak and men’s minds are expanded to their full potential, there will be abundant room for utilising those skills, to the tremendous benefit of all the world’s inhabitants. Everyone will achieve job-satisfaction:
“They shall build houses, and inhabit them (a contrast with former times!); they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree so shall be the days of my people, and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” (Isaiah 65:21,22)
Arabs working with Jews
One of the happiest prospects will be the harmony that will exist between ancient enemies. The prophet’s vision of the wolf and the lamb feeding together (Isaiah 11:6-8) is not only a beautiful description of a restored harmony between man and the animal creation, but it also has a special reference to future peace between previously warring nations. Isaiah speaks of the Arabs coming to Jerusalem to “proclaim the praises of the Lord” (Isaiah 60:6). He pictures them helping to build up the walls of the new city, working with their former half-brothers, the Jews, and feeding their flocks and becoming farmers and vine dressers. That will be a wonderful reversal of the present state of affairs in the Middle East: a fulfilment of major promises which God made long ago to the Arab branch of Abraham’s family.
How long will it last?
Will this benevolent state of affairs last for ever? In the sense that God has designed the earth for man to live on for ever, the answer is, Yes. But Christ’s kingdom, controlled by immortal rulers, will still have a predominantly mortal population. That is to say, human propensities and sinfulness will still be there and that is why God has set a time limit on it. By God’s reckoning it will take one thousand years fully to educate the inhabitants of the world to divine standards of behaviour. By then they will have a long-term understanding of the marvellous benefits to be enjoyed by possessing eternal life themselves.
Eventually the Millennium (the 1,000 years) will come to an end. It will be marked by a deliberate easing of the King’s strong reign in order to allow vestiges of rebellion among some of his subjects to come to the surface in a final desperate challenge to his will (see Revelation 20). These disloyal subjects will attack Jerusalem, but will be utterly destroyed. It will be mankind’s last death fling. It will provide the necessary marker, a Millennium-end “sign of the times”, to the people of the world that the finale is about to take place.
When the rebellion is over, Christ’s work as Saviour and King is nearly done. The dead of the thousand years must be raised from their graves, to meet again their King and Judge:
“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened … and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” (Revelation 20:12)
Alongside those raised will stand the millions who are alive at that time. They must now await Christ’s righteous judgement. The rebels and those who represent the worst elements of human nature will die, consigned to the “lake of fire”, the death from which there is no returning. On the other hand, the faithful subjects of Christ’s kingdom on earth will then receive their reward, everlasting life, just as their rulers had done a thousand years before.
“Thy kingdom come”
Following these dramatic events, the earth is to be inhabited only by men and women who possess eternal life. The work of the Lord Jesus as King is done. He has no mortal subjects to reign over and the great destroyers of man’s potential, sin and death, have been conquered. God’s will is now truly done on earth, and the “Lord’s prayer” has been answered. The Apostle Paul summed it up in 1 Corinthians 15:
“Then comes the end, when he (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death … Now when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (verses 24-28)
We may find it difficult to think that far ahead, or to visualise what is meant by God being “all in all”. But it will be the climax of the Creator’s great purpose with the earth – and it will be very wonderful! “As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21).
Don’t let this marvellous future slip away from you! Jesus may be here soon. Please, read your Bible, and pray with all your heart: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
