| Highlights of Dawn | June 1965 |
Man’s Dilemma Solved
WE ARE surely living in a very chaotic world! Due to scientific achievements man now has the technical ability to provide ample food, clothing, and housing for every man, woman, and child on earth—but this is not being done. Instead, three-quarters of the earth’s population is underfed, ill clad; and millions are either living in unsanitary huts, or have no roof at all over their heads. Such is the sad lot of untold millions in India and other backward countries of the world.
As recently as the nineteenth century science and invention commenced to make extremely rapid strides forward, so that the way of life for millions began to be changed. Philosophers announced that the human race had reached “the brain age,” and certainly those unacquainted with the plan of God appeared to have some justification for this claim. In many countries education became compulsory. The printed page began to flood the world, conveying new incentives for ingenuity and progress.
The speed and comfort of travel were increased, so that people ventured farther away from the areas in which they were born. This, it was hoped, would lead to an increasingly better understanding among the nations. The introduction of the railroad replaced the horse-drawn stage coach, and with the turn of the new century the automobile supplanted the horse and buggy. The steamship replaced the slow-moving sailing vessels, thus greatly reducing the time needed to cross the oceans.
But this was only the beginning. Within the twentieth century man’s scientific ability has continued to increase, and that very rapidly. Today he is able to travel through the air at almost unbelievable speeds. He is even projecting himself into outer space, and is convinced that soon he will be able to travel to the moon, and perhaps even to Mars.
In Other Ways
Increasing speed and comfort of travel reflects but one of the areas of scientific progress. Communication is another. In the field of communication, think of the world today as compared with the beginning of the nineteenth century. Then, news events sufficiently important to be communicated to other cities or countries depended upon the horseback rider, the stage coach, or the sailing vessel. Now the whole world knows what is happening in every other part of the world within seconds, and in many instances it is simultaneous, as we watch the events on television. It seems that transistor radios are now being provided in huge quantities to the backward peoples of Africa, Asia, and South America, so that millions, although unable to read, are becoming acquainted with the world in which they live.
For the housewife there are the modern stoves, the dish-washers, the vacuum cleaners, the automatic clothes washers, and other aids, and for some, the electronic cooker. For the business man there are the electric typewriters, and the electronic computers. For the manufacturer there is automation. We are truly living in a changed world! For some it is a prosperous world, and it should be a prosperous and happy world for all, but this is not so.
Man’s Failure
The great increase of knowledge now being experienced by man has not changed the human heart. While there are noble-minded people everywhere, selfishness is so dominant that the great advantages being enjoyed by so many are being misused to implement exploitation. The desire to conquer and rule that put soldiers into chariots two and more thousands of years ago is today threatening to destroy the human race by the use of hydrogen bombs.
The enlightenment being attained through modern communications, instead of producing in men’s hearts the desire to live for one another, is stirring up hatred and jealousies throughout every continent of earth and the isles of the seas. In every country workmen are demanding ever higher wages and increasing benefits, except those behind the iron and bamboo curtains, where they are ruled by dictators, and even in these countries there is discontent. The increase of knowledge has not brought contentment, but the opposite.
There are race riots and protesting parades almost everywhere, even here in the United States. There are ugly demonstrations for and against varying ideas in essentially every country of the world. Crime, especially among the youth, is rapidly increasing. In many American cities it has become unsafe for women to be on the streets after dark. There is a deterioration in moral values and standards. There has come almost a complete breakdown of faith in a higher power, and the idea that there is a God who has established standards of right and wrong is frowned upon by the vast majority. Right, to many people, is that which they decide they would like to do.
Nations Also
What is true of individuals generally of every country is also true on national levels. Here the advancement of science has likewise failed to change the human heart. The result is that there are festering spots of discontent almost everywhere. In a general way the world is divided into two great camps—the communists and the non-communists. But this division is not as “clear cut” as most people would like to think it is. It is a chaotic situation in which diplomats and rulers of the world are making day by day decisions as to what is best to do, and meanwhile the situation is getting worse instead of better.
Some of the wisest statesmen of the world are predicting that the “cold war” will continue for another twenty years. They have no assurance that it will end even then. Meanwhile, on both sides of the world line-up all the negotiations and sporadic brush-fire fighting is carried on under constant fear of an all-out attack by hydrogen weapons. In such an attack the United States would be only a few minutes away from Russia.
In former days one country could declare war on another with the knowledge that the rulers would be safe; that it would be the soldiers who would be sent out to die. Now the situation is different, for when hydrogen bombs start to fall no one will be safe. This is another phase of the dilemma into which man has been led by science and invention—another evidence of “the brain age” phase of human existence.
What Is Man?
The confusion in which the world finds itself today is good cause for wondering what man is, why is he here, and what is his final destiny. Increasing millions of people throughout the earth today are reaching the conclusion that death is the end of human existence. They say, in effect, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die, and that is the end. And because of the breaking down of moral values, making merry today for many is a tragically sordid thing.
Centuries before the coming of Christ the Prophet David wrote, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet.”—Ps. 8:3-6
Here David reminds us that man is the creation of God, and that he was made “a little lower than the angels.” We do not know very much about angels except that the Bible assures us they exist, and that they are much more intelligent and powerful than man, and in every way superior to him. Even apart from scriptural evidence it would be reasonable to suppose that man is not the highest order of being in all the Creator’s vast universe. To suppose otherwise would seem foolish to those who are not overburdened with the weight of their own importance. Imagine, if you can, a human being, even a scientist—peering through a telescope into the vast universe of worlds which its powerful lenses bring within the reach of his mystified view—saying to himself, “I am the most intelligent, the most powerful, and most important of all beings that exist.”
How unreasonable for man to take such a view of things when he doesn’t even know how the universe came into existence, nor fully understand the laws which govern the countless millions of heavenly bodies he can see through his telescope—laws which prevent them from crashing into one another. Man has no idea how far the universe extends beyond his puny telescope. He has discovered that every world in the universe moves at such a fixed speed that he can calculate where it will be hundreds of years in advance; but he doesn’t understand why that speed never varies from the norm.
The scientist has learned that all matter is made up of atoms. He can even split the atom. But he can’t make one! The fact that so many things exist of which we have little or no understanding—either as to how they were created, or the laws which govern them—should be ample proof that somewhere in this universe there exists intelligence and power far superior to his own.
Starting from this foundation of belief in a Creator, we find that David’s question, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” and his answer, “Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, … and madest him to have dominion over the work of thy hands,” is very revealing. Man was, in other words, created an earthly being, and given dominion over the earth. This is in agreement with Genesis 1:27,28, where we are told that man was commissioned to fill the earth, to subdue it, and have dominion over it.
Man was also created in the image of God, and was thus set apart from the lower animals. He was given superior intelligence. In view of this, one might well wonder why man today, despite his scientific attainments, has sunk into such a low state, and why he has so miserably failed in the governing of himself. The Bible furnishes the answer to this question, for it reveals that man, early in his experience, disobeyed divine law and was condemned to death. Ever since that time man has been traveling over what the Scriptures describe as a “broad way” which leads to destruction. (Matt. 7:13) Throughout the ages the end of each individual has been destruction, and now destruction is threatening the race as a whole.
However, while man did disobey the divine law, the Creator still loved him, and in his love made a provision whereby he could escape the terrible results of his own sin and selfishness. Were it not for this the human race could one day become as extinct as the mastodons of the ancient past. But this will not happen, for we are informed that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—John 3:16
Jesus, this only begotten of the Heavenly Father, said that he would give his flesh, his humanity, for the life of the world. (John 6:51) Paul speaks of this provision of divine love as “a ransom,” a corresponding price. He explained that Jesus gave himself “a ransom for all,” and assures us that this will be made known to all “in due time.” (I Tim. 2:3-6) Jesus took the sinner’s place in death, and thus provided a way of escape from condemnation and death.
However, nearly two thousand years have passed since Jesus died to make it possible for the human race to live, and still death reigns throughout the earth. Paul reminds us of this situation. He quotes David’s statement that man was made a little lower than the angels, and given dominion over the earth, and then adds, “But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”—Heb. 2:6-9
“We see Jesus”; that is, we see that he died as a part of the divine program for rescuing mankind from sin and death. This means that the divine plan of salvation is moving forward. However, the Bible reveals that ere the due time would arrive for the actual restoration of the human race to life another important feature of the plan of salvation was to be carried out; namely, the selection from the world of mankind of a little group of people willing to follow Jesus in his footsteps of suffering and death, with the assurance that if they were faithful they would live and reign with him.—II Tim. 2:12,13
World Conversion in the Kingdom
It has been generally believed that when Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all the world to preach the Gospel he wanted them to convert the world. The thought has been that this world-wide preaching would continue until the second coming of Christ, and that then the earth would be burned up, and all the unconverted consigned to eternal torture in a fiery hell. The supposition has been that in this life only could anyone have an opportunity to accept Christ, and through him have life. But these views are not taught in the Bible. The conversion of the world will not be accomplished until the age of Christ’s kingdom.—Acts 17:31
The Gospel was to be preached world-wide as a witness to all nations. (Matt. 24:14) In the divine providence the hearts of some were to be reached by the message, and these, through the Gospel, have been called to suffer and to die with Jesus. They are admonished to present their bodies a living sacrifice, with the assurance that their sacrifice will be acceptable to the Lord because of the merit of Christ.—Rom. 12:1,2
By faith these actually receive life, but they are invited to lay down their human lives in sacrifice. The world sees no difference between their death and the death of unbelievers. But the Heavenly Father knows the difference, and through his Son has promised that those who are faithful unto death shall receive the crown of life. (Rev. 2:10) These are also promised that they will be brought forth in “the first resurrection” to live and “reign with Christ.” (Rev. 20:4,6) To these Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”—Luke 12:32
Another wrong conception of the plan of God is that Christ established his kingdom at the beginning of the present age, and that with each new convert the kingdom expands. This is not according to the Scriptures. God’s work of the present age has been, as we have seen, the selection of those who will reign with Jesus when his kingdom is established at the beginning of the kingdom or Millennial Age. It will be through the reign of Christ that man, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, will be restored to human life here on earth, and receive again that dominion over earth which he also lost because of disobedience.
And so, while, as Paul says, “we see not yet all things put under” man, we do see that the plan of God toward this end is progressing. We believe that the work of selecting those who will live and reign with Christ is nearly completed, because the chaotic conditions in the world today are undoubtedly those described in the Bible as taking place at the end of the age. This indicates that the messianic kingdom is at the door, which in turn means that the promised uplift of mankind from sin and death is soon to commence.
World to Be Enlightened
First the living generation will need to be enlightened concerning God and his law. Think of the millions today who know little or nothing about the true God, the Creator of the universe! In a symbolic description of the kingdom, Micah wrote that “the Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Micah 4:1-4) We understand that in this prophecy “Zion” symbolizes the heavenly phase of the Messianic kingdom, composed of Christ and his faithful followers exalted to heavenly glory; and that “Jerusalem” represents the visible, human phase of the kingdom. This will be made up of the ancient servants of God who proved their loyalty to him prior to the first advent of Jesus.—Ps. 45:16; Heb. 11:13,35-40
In Micah’s prophecy cited foregoing we are told that in Messiah’s kingdom the Lord “shall judge among many people,” and in Revelation 20:12 we are informed that in this judging work the books of divine revelation will be opened. In Isaiah 26:9 we are informed that when the Lord’s judgments are abroad in the earth, “the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” In Psalm 96:13 we read that the Lord will judge the people with his truth. The result of this will be that the knowledge of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.—Isa. 11:9
With the people fully enlightened concerning God and his will for them, they will have an unbiased and fair opportunity to accept of his loving provision through Christ, and upon this basis, continue to live. This great blessing of knowledge and opportunity will not be limited to the living generation when the work of judgment begins, for Revelation 20:12 informs us that then “the dead, small and great, [will] stand before God.” This does not mean that all the billions of the dead will be awakened from the sleep of death at one time. It is simply reminding us that throughout the thousand years of the judgment and kingdom period the whole dead world of mankind will come into remembrance before God, and that the books of divine revelation will be opened for all of them.
When those “books” are opened, mankind will learn that the great Creator of the universe is not a God of torture. They will learn, instead, that he is a God of love, a God of such great love that he gave his only directly created Son to die for them, and that now they are receiving an opportunity of believing on him, obeying the laws of his kingdom, and upon the basis of this belief and obedience, of living forever on this fruitful and plenteous made earth as perfect humans.
Then man’s dilemma will be solved! It is the dilemma caused by the transgression of divine law, and of an ever deepening selfishness in the hearts of the people. It has manifested itself in crime, in war, and in other ways which contribute to human unhappiness. Today the symptoms of sin and selfishness are more manifest throughout the earth than ever before. In Psalm 30:5 the whole period of sin and death is described as a nighttime of weeping, but we are told that while “weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning.” The Psalmist indicates that humanity’s nighttime of weeping has been due to the withdrawal of divine favor because of transgression. This has caused a pall of darkness to settle down over the race to “black out” human peace and happiness. The return of divine favor will bring the promised “joy” in the “morning.”
God is to cause his face to shine upon all mankind. This will dispel the darkness of the world’s night of weeping; and the light of his countenance will refresh and bless all who accept the provisions of God’s grace in that daytime of divine favor, and obey the laws of the kingdom of Christ then operating throughout the earth.
The wilderness of sin and death has been as arid as the night has been dark. David calls it “the valley of the shadow of death.” (Ps. 23:4) Groping through the darkness in an endeavor to find some words of comfort, some assurance that out of all this welter of uncertainty and affliction, sometime, somewhere, there will come a happy tomorrow, many have laid hold upon the poisoned waters of error and superstition, the drinking of which, instead of refreshing their souls, has filled their minds with hallucinations which plague them all the days of their unhappy lives. Satan, the great deceiver, has ever been ready to offer the unsuspecting one or another of his concoctions, mixed for the express purpose of poisoning the mind against the good God of love.—II Cor. 4:4; I Pet. 5:8
The return of God’s favor will result in what Peter described as “times of restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:19-10) Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) His first visit to earth prepared the way for actual restoration—the restitution which Peter said had been foretold by all God’s holy prophets. Each of the prophets contributes to the glorious melody of hope and inspiration which this divine purpose for man is bound to engender in the hearts of those who hear and believe.
Moses recorded God’s promise to Abraham that through his seed all the families of the earth were to be blessed.—Gen. 12:3; 22:18
David foretold the coming kingdom of righteousness and described the abundance of its blessings.—Psalm 72:1-20
Isaiah told of the time when death would be swallowed up in victory, and when God would wipe away tears from all faces. He also forecast that in the kingdom the people would build houses, and inhabit them, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.—Isa. 25:6-9; 65:20-22
Jeremiah describes the great change that will come about in human experience, assuring us that it no longer will be true that men and women will die because of inherited sins and weaknesses. He declares that the people will not then say, “The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”—Jer. 31:29
Ezekiel assures us that both Jews and Gentiles will be restored to life, returning to their former estate.—Ezek. 16:53-63
Daniel describes the permanence of Christ’s kingdom, and says that those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.—Dan. 2:44; 12:2
Hosea assures us that God will plague death until its prisoners are released, and that death itself will be destroyed.—Hosea 13:14
Obadiah assures us that when the kingdom of God is operating in the earth “saviors” shall come up on mount Zion. (Obadiah 21) Jesus is the great Savior of the people, and, as we have seen, associated with him will be those who have suffered and died with him during the present age.
In Malachi 4:2 we read that “the Sun of Righteousness” shall arise with healing in his wings.” What a beautiful illustration of the enlightening and healing powers of Christ’s kingdom! From the time these healing powers of “the Sun of Righteousness” first begin to manifest themselves, those who respond will not need to die. And, as we have seen, in due time those who are asleep in death will begin to be awakened.
The work of the kingdom will continue for a thousand years. Not until the end of that age of warming and healing sunshine will all the mists of darkness be scattered, and all the desert conditions of the past made fruitful and plenteous. (Isa. 35) It will require the entire thousand-year “day” of Christ’s kingdom before all the dark corners of the earth and of human minds and hearts and bodies are reached and blessed.
Even then, the only ones to be blessed eternally by the life-giving rays of “the Sun of Righteousness” will be those who respond in belief and loving obedience. Those who close their minds and shut up their hearts to the light, refusing to respond in obedience to the divine will then made known, “shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23) With the destruction of these incorrigibles, the earth will have been cleansed from sin, and man’s great dilemma of sin and death will have been solved. Then again, as before sin entered the world, God will “be all in all.”—I Cor. 15:25-28