Future of Planet Earth

 The future of humanity and our planet has been a burning issue for over a hundred years.

For the Bolsheviks in Russia, the coming glorious age of communism was the salvation of humanity.

During the Cold War, there was a terrible fear that nuclear war would destroy us all.

In our time, the Greens are fighting desperately to save the planet.

The staunchly devout Muslims firmly believe in a golden age, Dar Es Salaam, ‘’House of Peace.‘’ In this fulfilment of their hopes, Islam is to rule the whole world.

In the ‘’New Age‘’ movement, they sing of a marvellous new age.

‘’This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.‘’

‘’This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust are in abundance
No more lies or mockery
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystical crystal revelation
And the true liberation of the spirit.‘’

Such thoughts have been increasingly common for over a hundred years, but 150 years ago the American poet Walt Whitman wrote a beautiful poem.

I DREAM'D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the
attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;
I dream'd that was the new City of Friends;
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust
love-it led the rest;
It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of
that city,
And in all their looks and words.

These thoughts come from the depth of human hearts. Where do they come from?
 
King Solomon pondered the deep questions of life for a long time. He wrote about God:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ec 3:11 NIV

God did not just create us humans as biological machines, as Karl Marx and other philosophers of the 19th and 20th centuries taught.

In our time, we recognise the emptiness in our hearts to which these lifeless philosophies have led.
About a hundred years ago, German poets felt the deep loneliness of a life without a relationship with a dear Heavenly Father.

Strange to wander in the fog!
Life is loneliness.
No one knows anyone else, everyone is alone. (Herman Hesse 1905)

But 2000 years ago, God's Son came into this world to reconcile us with Father God.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Jn 3:16–17 NRSV

Jesus wants to give you a new life with God the Father.
Why?

So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 1 Jn 4:16 NRSV

But God's plans are even more far-reaching.

God wants to save this planet and restore everything, and He will bring this about irresistibly.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Re 21:1 NRSV

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Re 21:5 NRSV