Question
“Why is man-kind doomed to self-destruct (why can’t man live in peace forever?
Response
To put it very simply, mankind cannot live in peace forever, or even maintain any form of real lasting peace among themselves, because mankind by nature is ungodly and sinful. And one of the fruits of man’s ungodliness and sin, (especially when it comes to his relationship and dealings with other men), is the issue of men being at odds with other men and not knowing by nature “the way of peace.” As God has the Apostle Paul declare in the first part of “the gospel of Christ” in Romans 1:18-32, mankind being ungodly is “filled with all unrighteousness.” And among the fruits of mankind’s ungodliness and unrighteousness are such enmity and discord producing things like “covetousness,” and “maliciousness,” and “envy” and “murder,” and being “proud” and “inventors of evil things,” as well as being “covenant-breakers” and “implacable.” With these forms of unrighteousness and ungodliness being the natural fruits of man’s sinful nature, enmity and discord not only exist between men on an individual level (despite men’s best attempts at forging peace and accord), they also naturally exist between men on other levels as well, including that of nations of men, (also despite man’s best attempts to the contrary.) Not knowing “the way of peace,” therefore, is a natural part of man’s sinful nature. In fact, when God indicted his nation Israel for being guilty of the same ungodliness that characterized the nations, one of the indictments was “and the way of peace they have not known,” just as Isaiah 59:8 and Romans 3:17, for example, set forth.
You used the word “doomed” in your question. And that is a very appropriate word to use, for it accurately describes the situation in view of man’s ungodly, unrighteous, and sinful nature. Mankind truly is doomed to not being able to walk in “the way of peace.” And this is true not only because of man’s sinful nature, but also because of the implementation and carrying out of Satan’s plan of evil on this earth. Specifically, Satan’s involvement in the discord of men, and of the nations, has been a significant factor from the time sin entered the world until the time that God suspended His program with Israel and brought in this present dispensation of His grace to the nations. Satan’s attempts to thwart God’s plan and purpose for the earth, and in particular His purpose with His nation Israel, naturally necessitated his use of the nations to carry out his opposition. However, during this present dispensation of God’s grace Satan’s involvement in the discord of the nations is marginal compared to his involvement during God’s program with Israel. Nevertheless, in “time past,” (before this present dispensation of God’s grace), and in the time “to come,” (when God resumes His program with Israel upon the conclusion of this present dispensation), Satan’s involvement among the nations needs to be taken into account when it comes to understanding the discord of the nations. His involvement is another reason for mankind being “doomed” to not being able to live in peace.
All of this will only change when following the conclusion of this present dispensation of God’s grace. God resumes and fulfills His program with Israel both on this earth, and for this earth. When God resumes His program with Israel and with the earth. He will have His day of wrath and righteous judgment, which will conclude with the vanquishing of the Adversary, the demolition of his plan of evil on this earth, and the establishment of God’s own kingdom on the earth in fulfillment of His original design for the earth. And in that day, and at that time, passages like Isaiah 2:1-4 will see their fulfillment, where for example it says, “he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” And again, this is all because “The Prince of Peace” will be reigning on this earth, and as Isaiah 9:7 states, “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of host will perform this.”
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries
20020319 B64 V a