“Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).

Many people have dreamed of a world without war and, though less so now, the Bible prophecies regarding a world at peace were often quoted. It seems that fewer people than ever are looking for the Lord to bring about a world without war. The dimming of this hope in the eyes of people as they get older is possibly because they have observed what appears to be never ending war in the world.

The “war to end all wars” one hundred years ago did no such thing. It was merely the prelude to a world in continuous war with increasingly devastating means of killing other people. No longer is it sword to sword but now we have weapons of mass destruction with the means to wipe out huge cities with a single bomb or whole regions with biological weapons. Is it any wonder that the younger generation who have never lived in a world without this imminent threat are inclined to end their lives when they see no hope of personal, national or world peace?

The dimming hope that education could solve the ills of the world and bring peace has long been seen to be futile. Education cannot change a person’s heart. Some of the most corrupt people in our world are well educated. Education has allowed them to express their corruption in more deceitful and more destructive ways. Greed and power do not follow the boundaries of education.

All forms of government that leave God out have been revealed as failures to bring peace within their own nation and so could never bring peace to the world. Even so, we do all we can to remove God from the minds of our children.

Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace between men in the manner in which the world seeks a peacemaker. He came to bring peace with God through the gracious gift of forgiveness of sin and changed hearts. There can never be peace on earth without peace with God. When men are at peace with God then they will have peace with one another.

From the day Adam and Eve sinned, God has promised that a day of everlasting peace would come. This is one of those promises: “He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

No person will know peace until he knows peace with God. The world will not know peace until the Prince of Peace reigns. The Bible records many emphatic statements of God to that end. There will be a time when wars will cease and no one will make the horrendous weapons of war that are so prolific today. This is not just wishful thinking or a fading hope; it is the will and word of the living God. He will do what man can never do.

When we lift our eyes to the horizon of that day and we will not be overcome by the fears of this day. Let us tell the younger generation of this glorious day ahead. Let us tell all that this day will come because Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world and is able to do what no education program can do. He is still able to change people from within and is doing so for all who ask.