Looking For a City

Most people do not find it irrational or unrealistic to believe that there is, or will be one day, a world, a reality, a realm, a state of being in which life will be significantly more interesting and exciting, much more fulfilling, wherein we will experience substantially greater joy and delight, pleasure and satisfaction, free from the intrusions of sickness and disease, conflict and war, suffering and sorrow.

Our modern sociological and psychological theories suggest that man is inherently good and that we will one day conquer all that we judge to be evil, all that creates the inequities that interfere with our peace, prosperity and ultimate freedom to pursue our happiness and wellbeing on our own terms, and thus live happily ever after in a world free from crime and war, disease and injustice, and the related pain, sorrow and suffering these scourges bring.   Thus, we write books and make movies portraying futuristic worlds, utopian societies and civilizations filled with highly advanced, even superhuman beings, involved in extraordinary, exciting and meaningful adventures in exotic and glorious other worlds.

All of this is meant to not only excite our imaginations and entertain our minds, but to instill in us hope, hope in the potential of mankind to bring to pass a great and glorious future, as we place our faith in our own wisdom, intellect and ingenuity, as well as in the inherent goodness and strength of the “human spirit”.    We believe that because we can conceive of or imagine a better world, a just world, a world of sustained happiness, we can build it.  Thus, in our pride, we have deceived ourselves into believing that mankind’s great hope for an exciting, fulfilling and glorious future is found not in the glory, wisdom and power of the God who created this world and declared it, in the beginning, to be good (Genesis 1), but in the mind, imaginations and inventions of fallen mankind, who in our sin have grossly corrupted it.  I would suggest that this is at worst, a universal delusion, and at best a case of misplaced faith.  To be blunt, it aint happenin.

While we have placed our faith and hope in our technology for our comfort, safety and entertainment, and in our scientific and medical discoveries to prolong and improve the quality of our life, many of these inventions that were created for our good (automobiles and planes) end up being instruments of our death.  And despite our renowned medical and healthcare advances, people still suffer grave and awful illnesses, with the death rate continuing at 100%.

I attended a class on pain management at Wayne State University a few years ago and learned that almost one third of the population of the United States live in some type of chronic physical pain, and an almost equal number live in some type of chronic emotional pain, battling depression, anger, anxiety and loneliness. This has led to enormous profits for major pharmaceutical companies, and a tragic number of drug (opioid) related deaths, particularly in young people.

Despite multiple worldwide efforts (Hague International Peace Conference of 1899 and 1907, the League of Nations in 1914, the United Nations in 1945), to establish protocols for settling international conflicts and disputes peacefully and preventing future wars, we have had two World Wars in which over 100 million soldiers died or were gravely wounded in combat, along with an estimated 45 million civilians killed including about 15 million from war related disease and famine.  Since the end of WWII, there have been hundreds of civil and international wars including the latest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  All told, between 1914 through 2018, more people died as a result of war, than in all of the wars recorded in history before that.

Our modern geopolitical philosophies envision a unified world (a one world government if you will) of peaceful coexistence of all culture’s, religions, ethnic groups, and sexual orientations, striving together for the common good.  Yet we have riots in our city streets, mass destruction of businesses, attacks on and calls to defund the police due to alleged police brutality, and the celebrated murder of our unborn children.

You and I live in a country that has probably been the most prosperous nation ever, a nation that provides the most comforts, freedoms and opportunities for personal happiness and fulfillment than any country in the history of the world, causing millions of people from nations throughout the world to immigrate to this country, both legally and illegally, seeking a better quality of life for themselves and their families.  Yet we find ourselves trillions of dollars in debt, deeply divided along racial and political lines, with most states spending over half of their budgets on prisons and social services. Nationally, billions are budgeted each year for defense of our country.

And, if that is not enough to persuade you of the inadequacy of man in our best efforts to build a better world, we have no defense against natural catastrophes (earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, etc.), as they destroy millions in property and indiscriminately kill those who are unable to get out of their destructive paths.

Yet there is hope, a blessed and certain hope of a whole new world, an eternal city (Revelation 21) whose builder and maker is the infinitely glorious God whom we shun; a city promised to all who put their faith in Him (Hebrews 11:1-16).  And it is this city, this whole new world we will begin to look at in our next post

Click on this link to enjoy a humorous musical face off between two amazing tenors who are “Looking For a City”.

Grace and Peace ×