will there ever be true peace?

It’s a troubling, yet hard to ignore, fact that the world has grown more divided since April 1963, when Pope John made his well-known appeal for ‘a community of peoples based on truth, justice, love and freedom‘. The years since then would have tested even his strong optimism and his deep trust in humanity.

At different points in history, societies have relied on different forces to hold them together. At times it was family ties. At other times it was powerful monarchs, vast empires, or the world’s major religions. In more recent times, political ideologies have played that role. Today, none of these seems strong enough to steady societies or to unite nations and peoples in lasting peace.

As one newspaper put it,

‘This is an era that has lost its bearings, that wanders in a wilderness crying with rage and striking out in its pain.‘ (New York Times, 18 Feb 1965)

As a result, nations and people grow more hostile, while the world edges closer to nuclear disaster. A recent warning from the United States Secretary of Defense set out the scale of the danger. He estimated that a Soviet missile attack on United States cities could cause 149 million deaths. He also said a retaliatory strike against the Soviet Union could kill about 100 million and destroy an estimated 80% of its industrial capacity.

Yet nuclear war is not the only threat to peace. Other countries now have nuclear weapons, including Communist China. In addition, within a decade or two, many smaller nations could gain atomic capability. Without any central restraint, a local dispute could spiral into a global nuclear catastrophe.

The world can feel as if it’s losing control. Peace appears more distant than ever, and rising tensions between nations, alliances, societies, and racial groups make peace seem out of reach.

Is there an answer?

Human history has rarely, if ever, been calm. Instead, it has been marked by conflict and bloodshed. Time after time, nations have risen, attacked their neighbours, and brought suffering to large parts of the inhabited earth. As science produced more lethal weapons, the harm spread wider and hit harder until it became global. Today, the danger has reached a new high…. the survival of the whole human family is at stake!

So why has this kept happening? Why has the earth been soaked in blood, much of it from innocent people? Will real peace ever come?

Clear and satisfying answers exist, but they do not come from human history or human philosophy. If they did, the many plans and reforms tried over the years would have worked by now. They haven’t. Every one has fallen short.

What the Bible says

Under the rule of Jesus Christ, “peace will abound until the moon is no more“, meaning it will never end (Psalm 72:7).

Soon, wicked people will be removed from the earth. As a result, good people will “find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:10, 11).

Also, God will stop all wars (Psalm 46:8, 9).

“Come and witness the activities of Jehovah, How he has done astonishing things on the earth. 9 He is bringing an end to wars throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns 9 He is bringing an end to wars throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the military wagons with fire.”

Psalm 46:8,9

Is real peace of mind possible now?

Many people think real peace of mind is impossible while suffering and injustice continue.

What the Bible says

Even now, those close to God can have “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:6, 7).

What else can we learn from the Bible?

God promises to end suffering and injustice, “making all things new” (Revelation 21:4, 5).

In addition, you can build inner peace by caring for your “spiritual need” (Matthew 5:3).

The answers must come from the One who sees human cruelty, understands why it happens, knows what lies ahead, and holds the cure. That One can only be the Creator, Jehovah God. In the same way that a machine’s maker knows how it works, what goes wrong when it’s misused, and how to fix it, God understands what humans need to live well. He knows why society is breaking down and why conditions keep getting worse. He also explains why peace remains so far from suffering humanity.

Why has peace gone?

The human family began with every reason for peace. God created man and woman perfect and placed them in a paradise without conflict. He gave them satisfying work and a purpose, to extend those peaceful conditions across the whole earth. The earth would provide generously, and even the animals would live without harm. As the record says, ‘God saw everything he had made and, look, it was very good.‘ (Gen. 1—31)

That peace could continue only if the human mind, the key to behaviour, worked as it should. This required filling the mind with good thoughts by listening to the Creator and staying within the limits he set. Those limits meant obedience to God’s laws. When people followed God’s righteous requirements, they would thrive. If they broke them, they would suffer.

This compares with laws that protect peace today. Someone who breaks the law faces punishment from civil authorities, and that protects society. God’s laws work in the same way for those who obey. However, God warned that rebellion would bring the penalty of death, ‘you will positively die‘. (Gen. 2—17)

The Bible, the only reliable history of those earliest times, shows that Adam and Eve, the first parents of the human family, crossed the limits God set. They wanted what they had no right to claim. They sought complete independence from God and his law, and they proved it by disobeying. As a result, the sentence took effect; they would die in time. Their bodies would no longer remain perfect but would slowly fail until death ended their lives.

Once imperfection and death entered the human family, peace also vanished. People began to fight one another. Suspicion and hatred grew, and violence and murder became common, until, more than 1,600 years later, the world reached the state described in the Bible,

“¹¹ But the earth had become ruined in the sight of the true God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² Yes, God looked upon the earth, and it was ruined; all flesh had ruined its way on the earth

(Gen. 6—11, 12)

A peaceful world quickly became an unpeaceful one. Yet God was not to blame. These conditions came from humanity’s push for independence from God. Since God made humans with free will, he allowed this course for a limited time … take a look around … I think the results speak for themselves, don’t you? The last 6,000 years have not brought a peaceful, happy, successful human experience. Instead, people have faced pain, grief, tears, and death through every century. Now many thoughtful people worry about humanity’s survival.

Will peace return?

God has allowed human rebellion, but only for a set period. Because he is loving, he will not permit the earth and its people to be abused forever. That is why wickedness will not continue much longer. Through his prophets and his written Word, God has repeatedly warned that the disobedience of people and nations will end. (2 Thess. 1—8, Heb. 5—9)

God will also stop the reckless march towards nuclear destruction. He has promised, ‘Evildoers themselves will be cut off … And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more, and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will find their exquisite delight

” 9 For evil men will be done away with, But those hoping in Jehovah will possess the earth.10  Just a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more; You will look at where they were, And they will not be there. 11 But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.’

(Ps. 37—9-11)

God has allowed humanity’s experiment in independence long enough that no one can claim he did not give people time to solve their problems. People had that opportunity, and they failed badly. Therefore, as Bible prophecy shows, the time will come for God to step in, end wickedness, and take full control of human affairs. Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul both said that the distress among nations would mark ‘the last days‘ of this system. (Matt. 24—3-14, 2 Tim. 3—1-5) So God’s anger against the present disorder will soon be expressed, while his favour will rest on those who love him. As the Scriptures say about our day, ‘Your own wrath came, and the appointed time for the dead to be judged, and to give their reward to your slaves the prophets and to the holy ones and to those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.‘ (Rev. 11—18)

Peace to return

The end of the present wicked system means that the peace God intended for the earth will return. No longer will the world be filled with hatred and violence. At the same time, God’s right to rule will be firmly established. That issue will be settled for good, and people will never again be allowed full independence to spoil peace through divisive experiments and ideas.

Those who survive the end of this world will enjoy peace. As the psalmist said of God,

‘He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces, the wagons he burns in the fire.‘ Also, ‘To peace there will be no end.‘

(Ps. 46—9) (Isa. 9—7)

People will not live just a brief span and then be taken by death. In God’s new order, his healing power will be directed towards humanity. People will be lifted step by step back to human perfection. That is why Jesus described that future time as ‘the re-creation‘. (Matt. 19—28) Even many who have died will benefit, because those God chooses will be raised in the resurrection. (John 5—28, 29)

When mind and body return to perfection, sickness and death that came through Adam will be gone. That is why the psalmist could say,

‘The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.‘ (Ps. 37—29)

The apostle John added this promise:

” ⁴ And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4