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While America again celebrates its independence, for many it is with sighs of melancholy over what once was -- and with pangs of unease and foreboding about what's to come. Confidence in the continued prosperity and success of the nation at home and on the world scene is waning. Against the aspirations at the nation's founding and the struggles to preserve it, serious cracks have formed throughout society. The upcoming elections in the country will likely strain cohesion even more. With growing cultural and political division, many have expressed worry that widening fragmentation may eventually lead to civil war.
There is certainly cause for concern. More and more are remarking that Americans are on the brink of losing the country. How sad is this thought that America, the great bastion of freedom -- a positive influence in history in spite of its flaws -- could be lost. Yet the tragic reality is that, according to Scripture, the country will ultimately be lost -- brought to judgment for widespread sinful rebellion against God's laws (see our free study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy). But where would that leave us?
During the American Civil War in the 1860s, President Abraham Lincoln warned of losing the country, calling America the "last best hope of earth." But it wasn't -- nor is it today. The actual last best hope for the world is yet to come -- in a new government God will bring to the world, the rule of the Kingdom of God.
When Thomas Jefferson, who had written America's Declaration of Independence, became the country's third president, he referred in his 1801 inaugural address to the new republic as "the world's best hope," seeing it as the pathway out of the tyranny of past human governments. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, altered that phrase a bit during the dark days of the Civil War.
Lincoln gave a message to Congress on Dec. 1, 1862 that was mostly a list of government initiatives and management issues -- showing that governance continued uninterrupted. But he then proceeded to deeper matters, outlining some plans for freeing the slaves, this coming the month before the Emancipation Proclamation. And he then said this:
"Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth."
Lincoln saw the American experiment in republican self-government as mankind's ultimate hope for freedom -- with the freeing of the slaves as a major part of this. Yet while there was high value in the contribution of America to human liberty, particularly as part of God's blessings in this age, the nation's exaltation as the last best hope of earth was misplaced. That distinction truly applies to what Jesus Christ announced in His gospel or good news message -- the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15). And He further sent His disciples to proclaim the same message (Mark 16:15).
The Kingdom is not some ethereal imagining in men's hearts. Rather, it is the actual rule of God through Christ that will be established over all nations when Jesus returns -- when it will be announced that "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, English Standard Version).
The Scriptures had promised of the Messiah that "the government will be upon His shoulder . . . Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:6-7; compare Luke 1:31-33).
From chains of physical bondage and oppression to the captivity of spiritual darkness under Satan and sin, humanity has yearned for deliverance. Amid this longing the promise of the Kingdom of God shines forth as the ultimate beacon of hope.
Yet things will darken before the new dawn breaks. The world will be plunged into the worst time ever as we approach Christ's second coming. America and other nations will eventually suffer terrible devastation. We must keep the vision of the Kingdom of God firmly before us to endure until its arrival -- and submit to its rule in our own lives now.
In God's Kingdom, the world will learn to live by God's law -- His way of life: "Many people shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). He will thereby lead the world into peace: "Neither shall they learn war anymore" (verse 4).
God's law is a law of liberty (James 1:25; Psalm 119:45) and of love, or outflowing concern toward others (Romans 13:10; 1 John 5:3; 1 Corinthians 13:4-5). In His Kingdom His calls for compassion will be met -- the oppressed finding solace, the downtrodden finding refuge, and the broken finding healing. There will be no place for oppression or injustice. And we should also be learning to reflect that in our lives today as we submit to God.
Moreover, God's Kingdom will bring reconciliation and unity, breaking down the barriers that divide humanity and fostering a world of mutual respect and understanding even between former enemies, with all learning the truth of God and helped to live by it (Isaiah 11:9; 19:23-25; Jeremiah 31:31-34) -- receiving Christ's sacrifice for forgiveness and the Spirit of God for empowerment and transformation.
As we navigate our present wayward world and the calamitous times to come, let us hold fast to the true last best hope of earth -- the Kingdom of God. This hope transcends the limitations of human endeavor, trusting in the future God has promised of the time when justice will reign and peace will prevail.
Again, in embracing the vision of the Kingdom, we are called to embody its values of love, mercy and faithfulness in our daily lives. Through exemplifying God's way of life today, we can become agents of transformation, heralding the dawn of the new era when the promise of liberty and justice for all is fully realized.
Seeing the decline of America -- or whatever nation we call home -- is heartrending. And we are right to mourn over it. But we need not despair. For that is not the end.
Ultimately, the Kingdom of God stands as the true last best hope of earth -- a beacon of light shining amid the darkness, guiding us toward a future of freedom and redemption for all nations. As we press on toward that light, let us hold fast to this wonderful truth, knowing that in God's Kingdom, all shall be set free, and mankind shall be saved.
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