Wallace G. Smith

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

What Is a Family?

Modern man seems determined to reshape, revise, and redefine the family as God made it until it is unrecognizable.

Philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels declared the family as God designed it to be a tool of oppression, suggesting that the march toward communism would erase the roles God designed and make the rearing of children a function of the communal state.

Many feminists adopted a similar point of view, casting the biblical family structure as a means of suppressing women and robbing them of their rights.

All of these philosophies and their advocates pretend that the family is simply a social construction that can be taken apart and reassembled however we might see fit.

But this is a lie.

God Designed Family Structure

God created the family. It belongs to Him, and He has designed it to serve His own divine purposes. We suffer when we ignore those purposes, and we are blessed as we embrace them.

Now let’s dive into some of God’s divine purposes for the family. First:

1. The family supports the fulfillment of human design.

It Is Not Good for Man to Be Alone (Genesis 2:18)

Western Civilization can focus so much on the individual that we can fail to recognize mankind was never designed to live in isolation—focused on our own individual needs, determining our own individual paths, concerned about our own individual rights. Our natural, carnal inclination is to think this way, to focus on ourselves, but this is not the way toward healthy fulfillment.

It is one thing when we desire a family and simply aren’t yet ready for one or are in circumstances that make having a family difficult. None of us are fully in control of our lives in this life—and faith in God is built on turning that level of control over to Him where it belongs.

Overcome Selfishness by Serving Others

Yet, sadly, there are many who could build a family who are increasingly putting off marriage for years, even decades—and putting off children until much later in life, if not indefinitely—out of a desire to pursue their individual careers or dreams of personal accomplishment.

Ironically, such individuals are putting off one of the greatest and most fulfilling adventures they could ever know: building a God-honoring marriage and family and learning to put the needs of their own spouse and children ahead of their own.

And when it comes to children, there is no greater environment for their development and nurturing than a loving family, with their own father and mother. Nothing else even comes close.

Parents Teach and Uphold Family Values

Look at God’s instruction to the parents in ancient Israel, recorded in Deuteronomy 6:7—instruction that all parents would do well to heed today. Speaking of His laws, commandments, and way of life, God tells them:

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:7).

More so than in a school room or daycare, it is in the day-to-day, common interactions of life that God’s commands and the teachings of Jesus Christ are made to come to life for our children. It’s commonly said that “values are caught, more than they are taught,” and there is some truth to that.

And it is the environment of family—having meals together, doing chores together, relaxing, laughing, struggling, and working together—it is that environment where children develop in the most important of ways. And, frankly, so do their parents.

Family Guides Interpersonal Relationships

One key way in which we develop is our next divine purpose of family:

2. The family teaches us how to interact with the rest of society.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but if you look around, it is beginning to look like society is forgetting how to be a society. Civilization is forgetting how to be civilized. And such times were not only prophesied to come but, frankly, to get worse.

We see this in many places in Scripture, but for now let’s just look in 2 Timothy 3, starting in verse 1.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away (2 Timothy 3:1–5)!

Pretty bleak! But there is a direct connection with this divine purpose of the family. Did you notice what it mentioned in verse 2? “Disobedient to parents.”

Relationship Skills Start in the Family

Keep that in mind as we turn to Paul’s earlier letter to Timothy and read about the connection between family and the broader culture. In 1 Timothy 5, Paul is instructing the young evangelist about how he should conduct himself as the leader of his congregation.

Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger [women] as sisters, with all purity.

It’s very easy to read that too quickly and miss the lesson. Timothy had many different types of people to deal with, and Paul told him to learn from his interactions in the family to know how to handle himself.

Treat older men as fathers, older women as mothers, and peers as siblings.

Broken Families Destabilize Society

The family is where we all learn to treat everyone else in society with the level of respect, honor, and compassion that is due to them. It’s where we learn how to respectfully interact with those in authority, even when we disagree with them, and serve those weaker than we are.

My friends, it is not a coincidence that we see civilization unraveling around us after decades of media programming in which disrespectful children and dysfunctional families are held up as sources of entertainment and the God-ordained structure of the family has been under sustained attack.

When you dismantle the family—the very schoolroom God Himself designed for each society how to function—then you should expect an increasingly dysfunctional society.

Family Is the Foundation of Civilization

3. The family is the building block of civilization.

Not only does God use families to teach us how to live with others in society, families—themselves—are the foundational building blocks of society. Like God builds matter out of atoms, He builds civilization out of families.

In Genesis 10, for example, we see what is often called the “Table of Nations”—a detailed listing of how the different nations and civilizations of men have descended from ancient families of the past, many often taking their name from an ancient patriarch or forebearer.

“Be Fruitful and Multiply” (Genesis 1:28)

In the beginning, God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply; [and] fill the earth….” This was God’s intention for families from the beginning—such that when families of mankind refused to spread out at the Tower of Babel, He confused their languages and forced them to do so.

Of course, as always, mankind has his own ideas. And we tend to define nations and states on purely political grounds and boundaries, with no thought to family or heritage. And, of course, that is going as well as ignoring God’s desires, designs, and plans has ever gone!

Large Families Became Nations

God’s own plan for the world sees nations as families grown large. Even in the Millennium, when God speaks of Egypt’s possible refusal to come to Jerusalem and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, He calls them “the family of Egypt” and refers to the nations of the world as “the families of the earth” (Zechariah 14:17–18).

In fact, let’s look in Genesis 18:19, where God explains part of why He called the famous patriarch Abraham.

For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.

This is how God thinks. God’s calling of Abraham was never just about Abraham. It was about the family—and, eventually, civilization—He would found through Abraham.

That is how God builds nations—as families grown large—and it is how He continues to see humanity. In fact, one of the keys to understanding prophecy is to be able to recognize the modern peoples of the world in the families that are mentioned in prophecy.

Yet, the divine purposes of family are not limited to the physical world around us.

Family Structure Helps Us Understand God

4. Let’s next examine how the family teaches us about our relationship with God.

Some wonder when we use words or phrases like “Father,” “Family of God,” or “children of God” if we are forcing human terms onto God where they don’t belong—as if we are trying to force God to fit human social structures.

In fact, the opposite is true.

God Created Family Roles in His Image

God explains in Scripture that He has created the world to reflect Him, not the other way around. Paul writes of this principle in Romans 1:20.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

God intends that we learn about Him through the things He has made—and about Jesus Christ, through whom He made them. And the family is a vital part of that Creation that teaches us about God.

For instance, in marriage and in the God-ordained roles in marriage, we learn profoundly about our relationship to Jesus Christ. Read that in Ephesians 5.

Marriage Shows How to Love Like Jesus Loves Us

After explaining there that a husband is to love His wife selflessly, as Jesus Christ loves His Church, and how a wife is to submit to her husband in the same way that the Church submits to the authority of Christ, he summarizes all of this in verses 31 and 32. Quoting what Genesis says about husband and wife, he writes:

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31–32).

The husband-wife relationship is literally designed by God to teach us about this profound divine relationship between Jesus Christ and the people called together to form His Church.

Becoming Parents Shows How God Cares for Us

And turn to Matthew 7 where we see Christ’s instruction about how to understand God’s willingness to give to us and care for us. After telling us to ask, seek, and knock, He explains:

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:8–11)!

Jesus isn’t “forcing” on God the attributes of fatherhood. Rather, God is the ultimate Father, and human fatherhood is designed as a reflection of His eternal qualities—the love, care, and compassion He has for His own children.

Yes, if we will pursue building families as God designed them, and learn to see them that way, then lessons about God and Jesus Christ Themselves and Their relationship with us begun to unfold before our eyes.

God’s Plan Is the Ultimate Family Plan

This last purpose of the family concerns, perhaps, the greatest truth mankind can come to comprehend.

5. The family points us to our eternal purpose and destiny.

This beautiful, divine purpose of the family becomes obvious when you learn just what the purpose of your life really is. And that purpose is to become a part of the Family of God, itself, for all eternity—knowing life as God and Jesus Christ now know it and experiencing reality and existence as They now do.

The Family of God is not a metaphor, though many have a hard time realizing this, and many who do refuse to accept it. Again, we aren’t imposing our own ideas on God, but recognizing that He created the universe to reveal truths about Him, and the family itself is another example of this very thing.

Paul alludes to the Family of God that the Father and Christ are building in Ephesians 3:14–15.

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

There is a reason that the Bible calls converted Christians “sons and daughters.” It is not merely a metaphor.

Read for yourself the emphasis the Apostle John places on this fact, and how He describes our eventual birth at Jesus Christ’s return. His description is in 1 John chapter 3.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:1–2).

We Are Made in the Image of God (Genesis 1:27)

Just as a child grows and develops in the womb until he is born, fully formed and in the presence of his father and mother, so, too, do true Christians develop in the body of Christ, the Church, until that day when they, too, will fully develop and see the face of their Creator. At that time, they will reflect His glory with their own, as fully formed children of God.

It is an astonishing truth of Scripture that is hinted at from the very beginning in Genesis, where we read that, while all the animals were made after their own kind, man is made after the God kind.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26–27).

God Is Creating a Family Through Us

Yes, one of the greatest truths the human mind can possibly grasp is that God the Father and Jesus Christ are expanding Their own family to include more members, nurturing thousands of others in this life who will one day step into eternity to join Them—forever. And the God-ordained design of the family points us to this beautiful and life-changing truth.

My friends, if we will reject the ill-conceived and vainglorious attempts to take what God has created—the family—and reshape it based on humanly devised, devil-inspired philosophies and ideologies and simply embrace God’s own design for it and His divine purposes for it, then the family becomes a source of wonder, instruction, humility, and blessings.

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[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Which Version of Christianity Is Right?

As our world spirals into chaos, many are beginning to seek the stability, reassurance, and peace of mind they rightly believe the word of God and Christianity can bring.

But it doesn’t take much searching to realize that Christianity itself is a confusing and chaotic mess of competing beliefs, practices, and organizations.

Yet Jesus Christ never meant it to be so. And the true faith established by the Son of God 2,000 years ago is worth finding amidst the cacophony of counterfeits claiming today to be the real thing.

Join us right now on Tomorrow’s World as we show you how to find true Christianity.

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible. And the world today is hard to make sense of!

Look for the Real Jesus and True Faith

In fact, the social, political, and moral confusion in today’s world is prompting many to look for answers in the Bible and Christianity. But as we’ll see, “Christianity” means different things to different people. The world is filled with counterfeit Christianities, but what the world needs is true Christianity—the faith established by Jesus Christ Himself 2,000 years ago.

Yet needing it and finding it are two different things.

And many are looking these days for the stability and hope that only the real Jesus Christ can offer.

In December of 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Sales of Bibles Are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions.” In the article, columnist Jeffrey Trachtenburg quotes the president of a publishing association as observing this:

People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren… It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles… and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.

Start With the Bible, Our Anchor of Hope

Tractenburg reports the comments of a 38-year-old mother of two that will likely resonate with many of you.

She started to read the Bible this year after feeling unfulfilled by years of advice on self-care, staying healthy and pursuing a career. She said she also sought stability as “things just went off the rails a little too quickly” throughout society. “We’re kind of holding on to the edge of the ship, like, we’re not sure what’s happening here.”

Credit to all who are seeking the stability they need in the word of God and the teachings of Christ! That truly is the only place to find lasting peace, truth, and understanding in a world of sin, sorrow, and confusion.

But what about the confusion in Christianity itself?

Where Is One Body, One Hope, One Spirit (Ephesians 4)?

Let’s be honest with ourselves—if you told someone that the world needs Christianity, they might rightly ask you, “Which Christianity are you talking about?”

The faith that goes by the name “Christianity” is a writhing mass of confusing beliefs, practices, and traditions. Wars have been fought in which both sides claimed Christ as their Savior—so-called Christian killing so-called Christian, even killing each other about differences in their beliefs.

And the collection of so-called “Christian” beliefs differs wildly from sect to sect.

For instance:

• What happens to believers when they die? What about non-believers?
• How should a person be baptized and when? Or does he or she even need to be baptized at all?
• Should we obey the Ten Commandments? Or were they “done away at the cross”?
• Should we worship on Sunday, or Saturday, or does it make no difference at all?
• Does going to church even matter?
• How do you build a successful family, and what’s the best way to raise your children?
• Should Christians be separate from the world—not voting or participating in politics—or should they be all the more engaged, fighting for social causes and legislation they desire?
• Why did God create man in the first place?
• What is the purpose of the Church?
• What is the purpose of human life itself?

Grab five “Christians” off the street, and you can get five different answers to each of these questions.

Now compare this to the Apostle Paul’s admonition to the first-century Church in 1 Corinthians 1.

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Corinthians 1:10).

God Is Not the Author of Confusion

Later in that same letter, Paul writes something very important that sheds light on the confusion we see in the Christianity of this world.

For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33).

No, the confusion we see in the religion called “Christianity” in this world is not of God, but is of the devil, who has confused and twisted the teachings of Christ and the apostles for 2,000 years—presenting, as Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, “another Jesus,” a “different spirit,” and a “different gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4).

Yet, Jesus promised us 2,000 years ago in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His Church, and the grave would never prevail against it.

So somewhere, here on this earth, we should be able to find true Christianity—a faith that is not part of the confusion that is the modern Christian world, but the true faith, beliefs, and practices of Jesus Christ and the Church He founded two millennia ago. And that is the faith we need.

Is there a way to find true Christianity?

Yes, there is.

Follow Jesus’ Teachings

If we want to find the real Christianity, then we simply need to look to the teachings of the founder of Christianity Himself, Jesus Christ.

Jesus didn’t ascend into heaven and then call it a day. He left Himself a witness to His message and teachings and a record of the practices of His Church written by those He taught face-to-face.

That witness and record is the key. If we want to cut through the confusion and find the true Christianity, we need to let Jesus Christ and His disciples speak for themselves.

Let’s do just that. Let’s dive into the Bible and examine Christ’s own teachings. Let the Founder of Christianity tell us what it truly is, what its doctrines and beliefs are, and what its practices and observances should be.

In fact, a great place to start is what the Bible says about itself.

The Bible Shows How to Be a Christian

For instance, what is the ultimate source of authority in Christianity?

Some say the Bible is that perfect, ultimate authority—the word of God. But among those who consider themselves “Christian,” attitudes and teachings differ. Some believe the Bible is a great book, but just a human book, and that Christians need to ignore parts of the Bible that don’t fit the times—such as teachings on sexual purity before marriage, or the roles of man and woman in marriage.

Others believe that the Bible is incomplete, and they attach the writings or teachings of their own leaders or supposed prophets. Still others believe that Jesus instilled ultimate authority over beliefs and practices in certain men whose decisions are assumed to be perfectly inspired by God—even if their teachings completely contradict what is recorded in the Bible.

Again, confusion. So let’s resolve the confusion and ask ourselves what Jesus Christ Himself taught about the Bible’s authority.

Speaking of God’s written word in John 10:35, Jesus made a plain declaration.

“The Scripture cannot be broken!”

According to Christ, the Scriptures do not contradict themselves. In fact, in John 17:17 while praying aloud to God about His followers, Jesus asks His Father in heaven:

Sanctify them by Your truth. YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.

His first disciples and Apostles were just as clear.

In 2 Timothy 3, we see the Apostle Paul, writing to the young evangelist, speaking of the word of God, commending him and encouraging him to remain true to:

…the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:15).

And how did Jesus regard the idea of men being able to “overrule” the Bible with their own, man-made commandments and traditions?

We see His own answer in Mark 7. There, Jesus is having a discussion with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the Jews in His day who, in Jesus’ own words, sat in Moses’ seat. His words to them concerning what He thought of those who believe their authority and traditions trump God’s written word is plain.

He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Mark 7:6).

In verse 9, He continues His condemnation.

He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:9)

For those who desire to find true Christianity, the teachings of Jesus Christ make the answer plain.

No, the Bible is not filled with values that become out of date, like milk that has passed its expiration date. Instead, He says that “the Scripture cannot be broken.”

And to those who believe their human authority can override the word of God, He condemns setting aside God’s commandments for the sake of their own traditions and creeds—and condemns those who set them aside.

Again, if we’re looking for true Christianity, then looking to the recorded teachings of Jesus and His disciples reveals how it differs with those that are Christian in name only.

His inspired word is our standard for navigating through the confusion to find true Christianity. Not the traditions or creeds of men, not our own personal ideas and preferences, but His own teachings and inspired instruction.

Keeping the Ten Commandments

Let’s look at an example to illustrate how relying on the standard of God’s word helps us to sort through the confusion and find true Christianity.

For instance, what does true Christianity teach about the Ten Commandments?

Many denominations teach that the Ten Commandments are a matter of “legalism” and “works,” and are no longer required of Christians—they were “done away with” at the cross of Christ. They will rightly say that Christians are under grace, but then claim that being “under grace” means that God’s law and His commandments are no longer required of us by God.

Yet, when pressed, many of them will still agree that Christians are commanded not to murder, or commit adultery, or steal. Some will say you shouldn’t worship idols, while cloaking their idol worship by calling it something else.

In reality, what most mean when they say that the law and the commandments are “done away” is that you don’t have to keep the fourth commandment and observe the seventh-day Sabbath.

All of this double talk about God’s law and picking and choosing among His commandments is a big part of what helped to create the confusion we see in global Christianity in the first place.

Again, if we want to find true Christianity, then we need to look at what Jesus Christ and His disciples say on the matter.

Jesus Did Not Come to Destroy the Law

We’ve already seen how Christ condemned the religious leaders of His day for rejecting God’s commandments to keep their own traditions. And those words clearly apply here.

But let’s look even further at Christ’s teachings on the law of God and the Ten Commandments. Did He plan to do away with them on the cross?

For instance, notice in Matthew 19 what Jesus said to a wealthy young man who asked Him what he should do to have eternal life. Christ’s words were plain, and He told the young man, “if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17), and followed up with several of the Ten Commandments, lest we imagine He was speaking of anything else.

And look earlier in Matthew 5:17.

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

Here Jesus says directly, do not think that my teachings destroy the Law or the Prophets! Do not say that Christianity teaches that God’s law is done away.

True Christianity will agree with Christ. He says that He came to fulfill the law—to fill it to the full.

In the famous Sermon on the Mount, did Jesus say it was OK to commit adultery now?

No, He said rather that you should even obey God’s commandment in your heart by not even lusting after someone (Matthew 5:27-30).

Those who say that Jesus “did away” with the law but that somehow that’s not the same as destroying the law are playing the devil’s word games to confuse the truth.

If He wasn’t clear enough, Jesus Christ makes it remarkably plain in the very next passage.

“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18–19).

Friends, I guarantee you that, if you go outside, you will see that heaven and earth are still there. They have not passed away and—according to the Son of God—God’s law is not done away.

In fact, notice the words of His faithful Apostle John, written long after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:3–4).

Even in the very last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, notice how the body of believers, the saints are described.

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).

You would read the same thing in Revelation 12:17. Even in the end times, the Bible describes true Christians as faithfully keeping the commandments of God—including the Fourth Commandment about the Sabbath!

True Christianity Teaches from the Bible

Nominal Christianity may be confused, but the Bible and true Christianity are not.

In fact, as the prophet Isaiah proclaimed:

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them (Isaiah 8:20).

Our topic today is finding true Christianity, and God’s word tells us that, in our search, we should turn away from preachers, teachers, and others who do not honor and teach observance to the laws and commandments of God, because “there is no light in them.”

Let God be true but every man a liar (Romans 3:4).

We do need ministers and guides to teach the word of God, but no man on earth has the authority to supersede God’s word and supplant it with his own judgment. And we saw that Jesus Christ condemns those who seek to do so.

And, as an example, we compared the popular teachings of many churches and faiths that claim the name of Christ concerning what they teach about the law of God and His commandments. When we did so, we saw that Jesus’ own teaching and those of His disciples flew in the face of standard, so-called Christian teaching—that Christ taught obedience to the laws and commandments of God, not that they were done away at His crucifixion.

Build True Christian Character

The more you make a practice of making God’s word your guiding light, the more true Christianity begins to reveal itself—in contrast to what is called “Christianity” all over the world.

But that is where we come to a place where more than knowledge is needed.

Finding true Christianity is not just about what you know—it is about what you are willing to do. And we need more than knowledge.

We need courage—because true Christianity makes demands of us.

• When the world says to worship Christ one way, true Christianity tells us to do something else.
• When the world says that Christians no longer need to obey the commandments of God, true Christianity tells us that Christ does want us to keep those commands—even that it plays a role in the very purpose of our lives.
• When the world says that Christians need to focus on fixing this world by participating in the politics of our day and getting the right people elected, true Christianity tells us that Christians’ commitment to the coming Kingdom of God transforms both their relation to the world around them and their role in it.

Frankly, true Christianity involves a commitment of one’s whole life to following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ—and that involves change.

Be Strong and of Good Courage

Many, after working to find true Christianity, discover that they prefer the comforts of false Christianity, prefer the easy promises of the false, counterfeit Jesus they are used to, instead of the commands of the true Jesus who is the Son of God reigning in Heaven, and soon to intervene in the affairs of the world. They discover that they don’t have the courage it takes to let go of the comfortable and embrace the truth.

But for those who do have that courage—and those who may not at first, but are humble enough to let Jesus Christ grow that courage within them—there is no greater reward than finding—and embracing—true Christianity.

Thanks so much for watching. All of us here at Tomorrow’s World work very hard to help you understand your world through the pages of the Bible.

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Thanks so much.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The Spirit World Is Real

Our world today is not the world God wants it to be.

One of the reasons, which will surprise many, is that our planet, its governments, and its peoples are all living under the weight of Satan’s rule. From the beginning of mankind’s existence to today, human history is the written record of what it means to live under the rule of the devil.

Yet that rule is coming to an end—and what a difference that will make.

Join us here on Tomorrow’s World as we dive into God’s word and see the coming end of Satan’s rule.

Satan the Devil Is the Ruler of This World

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible.

Have you ever heard the old Protestant hymn, “This Is My Father’s World”? Its poetic praise of the created, natural world around us is beautiful.

Yet, when we look more broadly, it seems very apparent that this world is not our Father’s world. It is filled with suffering, misery, conflict, and heartache—surely not His desire for this beautiful place He created or for the people He fashioned in His own image.

That’s because the world around us, in a very real way, is under the authority and control of Satan the Devil.

That might be hard to believe. Maybe you’ve never heard it before. But I assure you, based on God’s own word, it is true.

Again, it might seem odd to say that Satan rules the world—maybe even a little overdramatic. But we don’t want you to just take our word for it. Don’t just believe us—believe your Bible. In fact, in this case, you can take Jesus’ word for it.

Jesus Did Not Refute Satan’s Authority

In John 14:30, we read something Jesus said to His disciples as His crucifixion was drawing near.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

That “ruler of this world” Jesus talked about was Satan the Devil, and He calls him this in two additional passages: John 12:31 and John 16:11.

Now, you might wonder about how that meshes with other statements in the Bible. For instance, in Matthew 28:18, we read Jesus’ comment, after His resurrection, that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

We see the answer to this question reflected in the temptation of Jesus Christ, early in his ministry.

Satan Tempts Jesus Christ

At that time, 3½ years before His crucifixion, Jesus had been fasting, 40 days and 40 nights, drawing near to His Father before launching His ministry.

At that time, Satan appeared to the Son of God and tempted Him—and among the devil’s temptations was an offer of power. We read about it in Luke 4, starting in verse 5.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Luke 4:5–8).

Of course, Jesus did not take the bait. If He had, He wouldn’t be our Savior.

But notice what Jesus didn’t say—He didn’t say Satan was lying about having that authority. He didn’t say that the kingdoms of the world had not been delivered to the devil.

In fact, the kingdoms of the world have been given to Satan. Again, as Jesus said, the devil is the “ruler of this world.” And why? Because rulership of the nations had been given to Satan, as he says to Jesus in the passage.

“All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me…” (Luke 4:6).

Satan Is “the God of This Age”

Yes, God reigns supreme in all things but, for this time, in this age, He has given Satan a certain amount of authority and freedom to act. That’s why even after Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostle Paul still refers to Satan as “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Now, you might think, why in the world would God do that?

But the short story is that Satan wasn’t always Satan.

Satan Deceives the Whole World (Revelation 12:9)

Responsibility for the world had been given to him when he was the archangel Lucifer, before his sin and descent into darkness.

However, mankind had an opportunity to replace him—to take the reins of the world and bring it back into line with the will and desire of God. But if you’ve read Genesis 1 through 3, then you know the story.

Given the choice between following Satan’s lead or God’s—between disobeying their Creator and deciding right and wrong for themselves, or obeying their Creator and choosing His guidance over their own desires—they chose to follow Satan’s lead.

And frankly, each of us at various times in our own lives have made the exact same choice as Adam and Eve. Romans 3:23 is plain.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So Satan remains, as Christ called him, the “ruler of this world.”

Results of Satan’s Deception

And what have been the results of following the devil’s lead?

We’ve had thousands of years—generation after generation after generation—to figure out how to build the world while deciding right and wrong for ourselves instead of obeying our Creator.

What have we achieved in all this time? What does a world under the rule of the devil look like?

Consider these four facts.

A World of Confusion

1. First, our world is filled with confusion.

Humanity has thousands upon thousands of different religions, philosophies, worldviews, ideologies, and belief systems. Right and wrong differ from culture to culture—even family to family and person to person.

In fact, many today believe there is no right or wrong—that life is a matter of what you can get away with, so long as no one catches you.

In some of our most scientifically advanced societies, the most astonishing ignorance is on the rise, where even the most basic questions—such as what is a family? What is a man or a woman? What is a boy or a girl?—generate blank stares and stammering, babbling nonsense. We are becoming, simultaneously, the most educated and the most stupid generation in human history.

Endless War

2. And under Satan’s rule our world is one of near-constant warfare.

John Arquilla, professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, wrote on this fact at the end of 2012 for Foreign Policy magazine.

Writing their Lessons of History in the tumultuous year 1968, Will and Ariel Durant observed that in “the last 3,421 years of recorded history, only 268 have seen no war.” The 44 years since they made this observation have added not a single year of peace to that meager total (“The Big Kill,” Foreign Policy, December 3, 2012).

That’s less than eight years of peace for every century of recorded history. Of course, he wrote that in 2012, a little more than a decade ago. How do you think we’ve fared since then?

As I record this program, right now, Israel is at war in Gaza; Russia and Ukraine are trading dead bodies at an astonishing rate; and nations around the world are arming as if they see World War III dawning on the horizon like an apocalyptic sunrise.

And our current arsenal of weaponry is like nothing history has ever seen, capable of fulfilling the end-time conditions Jesus described in Matthew 24:22—warfare in which “no flesh would be saved” apart from God’s own intervention.

Humanity cries out for peace, but the truth of our existence under Satan’s rule has consistently matched the declaration of God in Isaiah 59.

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace (Isaiah 59:7-8).

Famine

3. Also under the devil’s rule, our world is one of FAMINE and want.

I’m blessed to live in the United States—a nation blessed with wealth and almost embarrassing access to food (at least for now). But my life is not the norm.

In its “State of Food Security and Nutrition” report for 2023, the United Nations noted that after years of decline, hunger and food insecurity is on the increase, with more than 700 million people globally facing hunger at some point in the year—roughly one out of every 11 human beings (“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024”, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2024).

Global poverty, as well, has been on the increase in recent years. And who hasn’t seen the growing waves of homelessness and illegal immigration, as millions seek an escape from the turmoil, danger, and want in their home nations?

Disease and Pestilence

4. Further, the devil’s reign as “ruler of this world” has given us a world of disease and pestilence.

COVID-19 frightened Western nations who are used to feeling that rampant disease was a part of other countries’ lives—not theirs. And, indeed, the constant threat of disease and infection is a way of life for people in so many nations around the world.

And in nations with enough wealth to push back against those diseases that ravage impoverished countries, the specter of “diseases of affluence” rears its head. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, obesity-related and respiratory diseases, sexually transmitted diseases. In Satan’s world, it seems as if humanity is determined not to be healthy.

As much as we cry to the heavens that we want to understand how life is supposed to work, that we want peace, plenty, and good health, mankind proves generation after generation that we cannot achieve those things—because we continue to seek our own ways, our own paths, our own ideas and values apart from the authority of a loving God.

We seek to continue imagining that we can rule ourselves, the way we want to live. And in doing so, we continue to support Satan on his throne, as the “ruler of this world,” just as Jesus Christ said he was.

In fact, Revelation chapter 6 says that each of these conditions—ideological and religious confusion, warfare, famine, and pestilence—will eventually come to a dramatic climax in the end-times, symbolized by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse holding life-or-death sway over a fourth of the entire world.

But, my friends, there really is good news ahead.

Because while six millennia of human history has proven mankind simply cannot solve the problem of Satan’s rule, Almighty God can solve that problem, and He will. The time is coming when God the Father will send His Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to end the reign of the devil on this planet.

God Gives Jesus Christ All Authority

Where Adam failed to remain faithful to God and failed to replace Satan on his throne, Jesus Christ succeeded. The sinless Son of God has earned the right to reign over this world to the glory of His Father and for the fulfillment of their plan of salvation.

Recall that earlier in our program, we mentioned that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said after His resurrection that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Satan’s Kingdom Ends

But the time when He will act on that authority and take control of the kingdoms of the world lies just ahead. When it comes, it will be the greatest news mankind could ever hope to hear.

Let’s read about it, starting in Revelation 11:15.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned” (Revelation 11:15–17).

That same trumpet blast, the last trumpet, will also herald the resurrection and glorification of His saints, who will begin their reign alongside Him.

Jesus Christ Will Destroy the Works of the Devil

And the first order of business will be the destruction of the assembled armies of the devil and the banishing of Satan for 1,000 years. We read of that in Revelation 20.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while (Revelation 20:1–3).

That “little while” would be the focus of a completely different program.

For today’s purposes, we can’t fail to miss that at the beginning of Jesus Christ’s reign on this earth, Satan the Devil and his influence will be utterly removed from this world for the entire 1,000-year period. His rule on this earth will end, [as] the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:8.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

And destroy the works of the devil He will!

God’s Way of Life Will Replace Satan’s Lies

Today’s world may be shaped by the character of the devil, but tomorrow’s world will be shaped by the character of Jesus Christ—and what a difference that will make.

For instance, instead of confusion, Christ will bring understanding and knowledge.

The world will know that there is a God. They will know—and believe—that Jesus Christ is His Son. And they will know the way of life that we were created to live.

No More Sorrow or Pain

In fact, look in Isaiah 11:9, which describes the world during the Millennium under Christ. There it says,

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Way of Peace

Notice that statement: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.” That’s because the Bible says that the rule of Jesus Christ will replace our world of warfare with one of true peace. Not a peace built on pretense—based on a delicate-but-fragile balance of nuclear stockpiles or treaties that are made in one generation but broken in the next. But a real peace, founded on the laws of God and a way of life that is built on loving your neighbor, instead of seeing him as means to get what you want.

The millennial reign of Christ will see peace between nations, yes, but also peace between families and between people. He will show us how to live in peace—and once they have experienced the joy of living in a world governed by His laws and way of life, Isaiah 9:6 tells us they will call Jesus Christ, the “Prince of Peace.”

The Abundant Life

And in that land of peace there will be plenty for all. Prophecy contains a beautiful picture of this in Amos 9. There, God speaks of a world overflowing with produce.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it” (Amos 9:13).

And finally, in a world where the knowledge of God permeates all of life, peace and safety reign, and food is not only plentiful but is grown properly according to divine guidance and biblical principles, we will also experience a world of abundant health.

The Kingdom of God: God’s Laws, God’s Blessings

With Satan’s rule ended, the laws of God will be enforced, including the many laws He established for man’s good—laws of agriculture, of hygiene, and of distinguishing between the clean and the unclean.

Just as He did during His ministry 2,000 years ago, but on a much grander scale, Jesus Christ will intervene and heal the sick.

The prophet Isaiah writes of this coming time in chapter 35 of his book.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert (Isaiah 35:5–6).

Instead of the confusion, war, famine, and disease of today’s world, tomorrow’s world will be filled with understanding, peace, plenty, and abundant health.

For millennia, man has been struggling and failing to turn the world into a paradise his way, following the pattern of Satan the Devil, who refused to do things his Creator’s way.

But Jesus Christ is returning, and when He does, He will end Satan’s rule and begin His own.

And man will finally experience that paradise he’s always longed for—once he finally gives up for good the idea of doing it his way and submits, totally and completely, to be ruled by the Son of God.

Pray for God’s Kingdom to Come

Today, we’ve discussed the fact that the tragic history and present condition of our world is due to the fact that it reflects the character of its true ruler, Satan the Devil. And the fruit of his reign is exactly what you would imagine it to be—resulting in thousands of years of misery, heartbreak, and human suffering.

But the good news is that Satan’s rule is coming to an end.

In the days just ahead of us, and none too soon, Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds, ready to end the reign of the devil and inaugurate the Kingdom of God—replacing every sorrow of this world with a joy and happiness that can only come from the Son of God who loves us and who longs to make us a part of His family forever.

No wonder Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10).

The True Christian Walk: Life More Abundantly Now

Yet, there is even better news. That news is that you do not have to wait until the return of Jesus Christ to begin ending the reign of Satan. That’s because God the Father is calling some now, in this age, to begin taking ground from the devil by submitting to the reign of Jesus Christ now—in their lives now and in their family’s lives now.

In John 10:10, Jesus says that He came that those who follow Him may have life, and have it more abundantly.

And Hebrews 6:5 speaks of those who have the opportunity now, today, before Christ’s return, to taste “the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5).

No, you can’t end the world’s confusion, but you can begin knowing the true God of Scripture better yourself.

And, no, you can’t end wars, no matter who you vote for. But you can find a peace that surpasses understanding in your own life and your own relationships with others.

And you can’t feed every starving child in this world, nor heal every suffering person. But you can learn the miraculous way of give instead of get, and get to know the One who does provide His children’s every need.

Reject Satan’s Way of Life

You can end the devil’s rule in your life and begin personally experiencing the blessings of the reign of Jesus Christ.

In fact, those who are willing to allow Christ to end Satan’s rule in their own lives in today’s world are the very ones He will use to bring an end to Satan’s rule over all mankind in tomorrow’s world.

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