"Look! I Am Making All Things New"

The Perfect Government of Peace

Because  our first parents rejected God's law, human government came under the control of Satan.  Appropriately the Bible calls Satan "the god of this system of things."  (2 Corinthians 4:4) The wars, the cruelties, the corruption, and the instability of man's governments prove that he is.  The League of Nations and the United Nations have failed to bring peace out of the confusion. Mankind cries out for a government of peace. Is it not reasonable that the Creator, who purposes to restore Paradise to earth, would also provide a perfect government for that Paradise?  That is exactly what Jehovah has purposed to do.  The King representing Him in this government is his "Prince of Peace," Christ Jesus, and "to the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end." -Isaiah 9:6, 7. 

The Bible shows that the perfect government will be in heaven.  From this vantage point, the King Jesus Christ will effectively rule all the earth in righteousness.  Moreover, he will have associate rulers in that invisible, heavenly government.  These are chosen from among faithful humans, followers of Jesus who stuck with him through trials and to whom he says:  "I make a covenant with you, just as my Father has made a covenant with me, for a kingdom."  (Luke 22:28, 29) It is only a few from humankind who are taken to heaven to rule with Christ Jesus.  It is similar to the nations today,  where only a few are chosen to rule in the diet or parliament. The Bible shows that Jesus Christ will have just 144,000 associate rulers. So God's Kingdom, or heavenly government, consists of Christ Jesus and 144,000 people taken from the earth to heaven. (Revelation 14:1-4; 5:9, 10) And what about the earth?  Psalm 45:16 mentions that the King will appoint  "princes in all the earth."  Human "princes," or governmental overseers, will be appointed from heaven because of their deep devotion to principles of righteousness. -Compare Isaiah 32:1. 

When and how is the perfect government established? When Jesus was on earth this Kingdom was the main theme of his preaching.  (Matthew 4:17; Luke 8:1) However, he did not establish the Kingdom at that time, nor at his resurrection. (Act 1:6-8) Even when he ascended into the heavens, he still had to wait for Jehovah's appointed time.  (110:1, 2; Hebrews 1:13)  Bible prophecy shows that appointed time came in 1014 C.E. However, someone will ask, 'Rather than perfect government, did not 1914 mark the start of increased world woes?' That is exactly the point!  There is a close connection between the coming of God's Kingdom and the catastrophic events of recent years, as we shall now see. 

For some 35 years prior to 1914, The Watchtower (now the most widely distributed religious magazine on earth) had been calling attention to 1914 as a year marked in Bible prophecy.  These prophecies began to have a remarkable fulfillment in 1914.  One  of these was Jesus' own prophecy, uttered some 1900 years ago, concerning "the sign" that would appear  at the end of this system of things and that would prove that he was invisibly present with kingly power.  In answer to his disciples' questions about this "sign," he said:  "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress."  (Matthew 24:3, 7, 8)  In striking fulfillment, the first of the world wars started in 1914, bringing destruction seven times greater than all the 900 wars of the preceding 2,500 years!  Pangs of distress have continued ever since.  Have you experienced the war destruction, the food shortages, or any of the great earthquakes  that have plagued the earth since 1914?  If so, you have been an eyewitness  of "the sign" of "the time of the end." of this system of things. -Daniel 12:4. 

Next time: "Look! I Am Making All Things New"

From the Awake! magazine