What Kind of World Do You Want?
IF YOU had the power, would you create a new world, a world free from all the problems afflicting humans today? If you would, is it not logical to expect that our loving Creator, Jehovah God, who does have the power, will create a new world of righteousness?
The Bible says: “Jehovah is good to all, and his mercies are over all his works. You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:9, 16) What are some of your desires? What kind of world do you long for?
In their book A Sane and Happy Life: A Family Guide, Abraham and Rose Franzblau wrote: “If we were to take a poll of the world population and consult humanity on the kind of world we would all like to live in, it is very likely that we could all agree on certain minimum requirements.”
Let’s examine the requirements listed by these doctors and see if they aren’t the same things you want. As we do this, we will also see if our loving Creator has promised to provide these very things.
The First Requirement
The doctors listed first “a world without war.” After suffering a number of horrible wars, many long for a world in which people will never again fight and kill one another. Their hope is expressed in an inscription on the wall of the United Nations Plaza in New York City, which reads: THEY SHALL BEAT THEIR SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES. AND THEIR SPEARS INTO PRUNING HOOKS: NATION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST NATION. NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR ANY MORE.
Did you know that those words are part of a promise made by Jehovah God? The words are recorded in the Holy Bible at Isaiah chapter 2, verse 4, in the King James Version. By also reading Psalm 46:8, 9, you will see that it is God’s purpose to destroy all weapons and to make “wars to cease to the extremity of the earth.” In the peaceful, warless world of God’s making, this delightful Bible prophecy will be fulfilled: “They will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble.”—Micah 4:4.
Would you not list “a world without war” as a basic requirement for the kind of world that you want? And just think, our Grand Creator has promised it!
A World of Plenty
What would be your second requirement? Would it be the same as the next given, “a world without hunger, from which famine and want would be banished forever”? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was never again a starving child? Surely you would like to live in a world of plenty. But who can guarantee this?
Consider what God promises: “The earth itself will certainly give its produce.” “There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth.” (Psalm 67:6; 72:16) Yes, in God’s new world, fine food will be abundant. The Bible assures us that Jehovah “will certainly make for all the peoples . . . a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine kept on the dregs, of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow.”—Isaiah 25:6.
While a world without hunger is beyond the capacity of men to provide, it is not beyond the power of God to bring about. His Son, Jesus Christ, demonstrated that providing food for all will be no problem under God’s Kingdom. When he was on earth, Jesus fed thousands by miraculously multiplying a few loaves of bread and a few fishes.—Matthew 14:14-21; 15:32-38.
A World Without Sickness
You wouldn’t find a sick person anywhere in the kind of world all of us want. So the third requirement is not surprising. “It would be a world without disease,” the doctors wrote, “a world in which all would have the chance to grow up in health and live out their days free of preventable and curable illnesses.”
Think of the relief if no one ever got a cold or any other affliction! Humans cannot wipe out sickness, but Jehovah God can. And he promises that in his new world “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” Instead, “at that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness.” (Isaiah 33:24; 35:5, 6) Yes, God will “wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”—Revelation 21:4.
When Jesus Christ was on earth, he demonstrated what we can expect on a grand scale in God’s new world. He restored sight to the blind, opened the ears of the deaf, loosed the tongues of the speechless, enabled the lame to walk, and even restored the dead to life.—Matthew 15:30, 31; Luke 7:21, 22.
Satisfying Work and Justice for All
No doubt, satisfying work and justice for all would exist in the world that you and almost everyone else would want. So the doctors wrote: “Fourth, it would be a world with work for those who wish to earn a livelihood to provide for themselves and their families.” And they added: “Fifth, it would be a world in which every man would enjoy freedom under law, with justice for all.”
Human rule has never been able to fulfill these requirements for happy living. But God’s new world will. The Bible promises regarding the beneficial work that people will do at that time: “They will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. . . . The work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full. They will not toil for nothing.”—Isaiah 65:21-23.
What about freedom and justice for all? No matter how earnestly human rulers have tried, they have failed to provide these for everyone. Injustice and oppression continue to reign worldwide. So humans can never satisfy this need. But Almighty God can. His appointed Ruler is the resurrected Jesus Christ, and of him Jehovah says: “My chosen one, whom my soul has approved! . . . Justice to the nations is what he will bring forth.”—Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18.
Yes, the Bible promises that under God’s Kingdom “the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21) What a happy new world it will be when there is freedom and justice for all!
Opportunities and Leisure
Surely in the kind of world you want, all citizens would enjoy equal opportunities regardless of race or nationality. Not surprising, therefore, a sixth minimum requirement listed by the doctors is: “It would be a world in which every human being would have the opportunity to develop his capacities and talents to the full, and be rewarded for his endeavors, without prejudice.”
Humans have never been able to establish a world in which all people enjoyed fair treatment. Prejudice and even persecution of unpopular minorities continue unabated. Yet, the King of God’s new world, Jesus Christ, will copy the example of Jehovah, his Father, who “treats none with partiality nor accepts a bribe.” (Deuteronomy 10:17; Romans 2:11) What will make the coming new world so marvelous is that not only will all people be taught to imitate the impartiality of Jehovah God but they will practice it.—Isaiah 54:13.
Often people’s lives have been devoted to grinding labor with little or no relief. So you will surely agree with the next minimum requirement, namely: “Seventh, it would be a world in which all men would have ample leisure to enjoy those things they regard as the good things in life.”
Knowing man’s need for periods of rest and relaxation, Jehovah God in his ancient Law provided for a weekly rest day. (Exodus 20:8-11) Therefore, we can be sure that in his new world, God will see to it that our need for relaxation and wholesome forms of recreation are fulfilled.
The Kind of Inhabitants
The last essential given by the doctors describes qualities possessed by those who would inhabit “the kind of world we would all like to live in.” See if you don’t consider vital the qualities they list. “Eighth, it would be a world in which the highest premium would be placed upon those qualities which distinguish man from the lower orders of life, such as intelligence and creativity, honor and integrity, love and loyalty, self-respect and unselfishness, and concern for his fellow men.”
Would you not enjoy living in a world in which everyone exhibited the moral qualities of integrity, love, loyalty, unselfishness, and concern for fellow humans? Surely this is the kind of world you want! No human rulers could ever provide this. Only Jehovah God can. And he will because his new world is not an unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky dream.—Psalm 85:10, 11.
When Will It Come?
As noted in the preceding article, a close companion of Jesus Christ wrote: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to [God’s] promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Peter 3:13) The time for the fulfillment of this promise will be, as Jesus noted, “in the re-creation, when the Son of man sits down upon his glorious throne.”—Matthew 19:28.
God originally instructed Adam and Eve, the first human pair, to enlarge the Paradise garden in which He placed them. He wanted them to bear children and with them to make the entire earth a beautiful garden of Eden. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7-9, 15) Although Adam and Eve failed to carry out this purpose, there will be a restoration of the earthly Paradise in the re-creation, with Christ ruling in the Kingdom. Eventually, Edenic conditions will be extended earth wide. Thus our loving Creator will fulfill his original purpose to have a peaceful, righteous world. But when will it come?
Do you think like many who say, ‘Oh, it will come sometime but not in our lifetime.’ Yet, how do you know? Could our time of unprecedented world distress be a sign that God’s new world is at hand? How can we know?
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In the new world, there will be peace, perfect health, and prosperity
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Cubs: Courtesy of Hartebeespoortdam Snake and Animal Park
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In the new world, people will enjoy productive work
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In the new world, there will be time for leisure activities