The world is in great turmoil. Nuclear cataclysm is a real and present danger and the talk of a third world war has become all too common even among the most influential personalities. Political instability is shaking the great nations that once claimed to be bastions of democracy and rule of law. Geopolitical rivalry among the superpowers is ripping apart the institutions that ensured relative peace and stability around the globe for the past several decades. Moral decline is destroying the nuclear family and the fabric of society, particularly in the once-Christian West, as more people abandon faith and traditional family values.
Paradoxically we also live in the most technologically advanced age that humanity has ever seen. We have the highest level of material wealth, information and knowledge, governments, global and regional organizations, schools, universities and research centers, hospitals, doctors, and experts in every field of knowledge. We have by far the fastest, efficient, cost-effective and convenient means of communication, travel, production and distribution as well as health care and entertainment than even our most recent progenitors. And yet we are becoming more cruel to each other. Our leaders want to take us somewhere but they themselves do not know the destination. There appears to be a broad realization that the world is not going in the right direction. Many are the calls for change of course and diverse the propositions for direction. Are we humans left to our own devices to extricate ourselves from the quagmire into which we have fallen? Are we condemned to endless failure? Is there a hope for us, as individuals, families, communities, and nations?
The Jewish prophets of old who penned the books of the Bible not only foresaw the storms that would billow throughout the many millennia that followed their times but also assured us of a beautiful and lasting final outcome. Their predictions have proved true time and again. The most intriguing promise of the prophets was the coming of the Messiah who will rule the world with truth and righteousness. The Gospels tell us an even more audacious story, that the predictions of the prophets actually came true in the birth of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. The writers of the New Testament have also penned for us the promises of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son of God, to come back at the end of the age to establish God's kingdom. Could the turmoil we see today be the very birth pangs that will finally usher in the promised kingdom of God?