Whose World is it Anyway?

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

I’ve been following national and international news lately, and frankly, I find it worse than depressing. The price of gold is higher than it’s ever been, unemployment rates are in double digits. The cost of everything is rising rapidly. Yesterday, I walked into a local store to buy something that just two days before had cost $0.82. It was now $1.50. I questioned the cashier, and she said, “I wondered why everyone stopped buying that.”

Our government is passing legislation that 10 years ago most of the population would have opposed. Our nation is engaged in multiple wars in the Middle East. And let’s not forget tyranny, death and destruction across the globe. The church is weak. Professing Christians act more like pagans than a lot of the pagans. All of this makes my heart ache. I am tempted to fall down in despair and wonder who’s in charge.
To look around, it appears that the enemy of our souls is completely in charge. It looks like the Church is being defeated, and that evil will win the day. But when we read Revelation 11, we find that God knew about this all along. Here the 24 elders cry out in worship--

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,who is and who was,

for you have taken your great powerand begun to reign.

The nations raged,but your wrath came,

and the time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants,

the prophets and saints,and those who fear your name,

both small and great,

and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

For some reason, and in God’s large and grand purpose, He is going to allow the enemy freedom to destroy the earth. That however, is not the last chapter. It is the chapter before the last chapter. These things must come to pass before the judgment. We ought not to fear, but to take heart. The kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ will come, and He will reign for ever and ever. The scriptures also teach us that we will reign with Him.

So, take heart, the last chapter is already written. The enemy of our souls has already lost. We must go forward, pray, share the Gospel and live like children of the Great King whom we serve.