1 Corinthians 15:24
Following World War I (1914-1918), the League of Nations was established to promote international cooperation and peace. Because the League was essentially without power, it was dissolved in 1946 and succeeded by the United Nations (U.N.). The member nations of the U.N. pledge themselves to settle international disputes without force and to coexist with other nations in non-threatening ways.
As the League of Nations was brought into existence amidst the ruins of World War I, so the United Nations was formed on the heels of the world’s second great conflict, World War II. In addition to peacekeeping activities since World War II, the U.N. has addressed the growing proliferation of nuclear weapons among member nations and other horrific possibilities such as biological warfare. All of these efforts are aimed at preventing another worldwide conflict which, in a nuclear age, could lead to the near extinction of the human race. While the U.N.’s goals are commendable, God has even more dramatic plans for the nations of the earth. One verse written by the apostle Paul summarizes exactly what will happen to them when Jesus Christ returns.
Despite the U.N.’s best efforts, there will be an armed conflict among nations on (what appears to be) a worldwide scale. But then the nations will be reunited, only not in a way the U.N. ever dreamed of. First, it appears from prophecies in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation that many nations will gather together in conflict at the end of the age. That conflict is stopped when Jesus Christ unleashes the power of his kingdom upon all the kings of the earth and defeats them. Then, Paul says, when Christ has subjugated all rulers to himself and destroyed all their authority (both in heaven and earth), he will deliver up his kingdom, and the defeated “united nations” (united in their subservience to the kingdom of Christ; Phil. 2:10) to God.
It’s interesting that Christ’s kingdom, because it is not an earthly kingdom (John 18:36), cannot join the United Nations—yet it will rule over all earthly nations in the future. For nations, as well as for individuals, one way to get in step with tomorrow is to submit to the Lordship of Christ today.
God’s Promise to You: “Christians are members of the only kingdom that will last forever.”
