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Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:7
What does the future hold for this world? Will evil continue increasing until humanity is overwhelmed by darkness, or will the kingdom of God continue advancing throughout the earth?
For generations, Christians have been taught to expect the world to become increasingly wicked. Every war, disaster, outbreak of disease, and act of violence is presented as evidence that the world is approaching its final days. But I want us to consider something. Are we viewing the future through the promises of God or through the headlines of the evening news?
We have spent so much time looking for the end of the world that we have almost forgotten to envision the future of the world!
What if our expectations have been shaped more by fear than by the teachings of Jesus concerning His kingdom? What if we have become so focused on the present that we can barely imagine what His kingdom might accomplish over the next hundred, five hundred, or even a thousand years?
Before we look into the future, I want us to look into the past.
LOOK BACK BEFORE YOU LOOK FORWARD
Imagine living five hundred years ago. There were no antibiotics, no modern hospitals, no reliable anesthesia, no advanced surgical procedures, and no understanding of disease comparable to what we possess today. A simple infection could become a death sentence. Childbirth carried far greater risks, and parents often buried several of their children before they reached adulthood.
The Black Death devastated Europe during the fourteenth century, killing an estimated one-third to one-half of its population. Entire communities were devastated. Families watched helplessly as loved ones died, often without understanding what was causing the disease.
Sanitation was primitive by modern standards. Contaminated drinking water spread disease. Famine repeatedly devastated populations. The poor frequently lived in crowded and unhealthy conditions, with little access to medical care.
And consider the violence of those centuries. Public executions, torture, slavery, religious persecution, brutal warfare, and severe punishments were familiar realities in many societies. Conquering armies destroyed communities, and ordinary people often had few protections against those who held power.
Now consider something even more astonishing. Historical demographic research indicates that for much of human history, approximately half of all children died before reaching adulthood.
According to Our World in Data, global life expectancy at birth was approximately 32 years in 1900. By 2023, that figure had risen to approximately 73 years. The earlier average was heavily affected by infant and childhood deaths, but survival improved among adults as well.
Think about that! In a relatively short period of human history, average life expectancy more than doubled.
Smallpox, a disease that terrorized humanity for thousands of years, was officially declared eradicated in 1980. Medical discoveries, improved sanitation, clean water, vaccinations, better nutrition, and advances in surgery have saved countless lives.
This does not mean humanity has conquered suffering. It certainly does not mean every century has been better than the one before it. We have witnessed world wars, genocide, devastating epidemics, and terrible human cruelty even in modern times.
But how can we look honestly at the suffering of the past and conclude that everything has simply become worse?
And here is something else to consider. Today, television, the internet, and social media bring the suffering of the entire world into our homes every day. We witness wars thousands of miles away, crimes committed in distant cities, and tragedies involving people we have never met.
Previous generations often knew little about what was happening beyond their own region. We carry the tragedies of the entire world in our pockets.
Could it be that our constant exposure to evil has blinded us to the extraordinary good taking place around us?
THE KINGDOM IS ALREADY HERE
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:13
Notice Paul’s language. He did not say believers would someday be translated into Christ’s kingdom. He said they had already been translated into it.
The kingdom is not merely something we are waiting to enter in the distant future. We are living in it now!
Jesus taught that the kingdom was among His hearers, and Paul described believers as already belonging to Christ’s kingdom. This is not simply about the kingdom being within us. We are citizens of an established kingdom under the present reign of Jesus Christ.
And that kingdom is much bigger than a church service!
We need a kingdom mentality that reaches beyond Sunday morning worship and into every aspect of human life.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 14:17
The kingdom advances through righteousness, peace, love, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, and transformed human hearts.
And when hearts are transformed, lives are transformed. When lives are transformed, families are influenced. When families are influenced, communities begin to change. And when these principles continue spreading through generations, their influence can reach entire societies and nations.
Think about what that means.
A physician who values human life works to relieve suffering. A scientist seeks discoveries that preserve life rather than destroy it. A parent raises children with love, patience, and compassion rather than cruelty. A teacher influences generations through knowledge and truth. A business owner practices honesty and fairness. A judge pursues justice rather than corruption.
The same kingdom principles can influence medicine, agriculture, education, government, entertainment, technology, economics, family relationships, and the treatment of the poor and vulnerable.
Not every good discovery is made by a Christian, and human progress has many contributing causes. But wherever righteousness, mercy, justice, and love are practiced, we can recognize values consistent with the character of Christ’s kingdom.
The kingdom begins its transforming work in human hearts, but its influence does not have to remain confined there.
THE KINGDOM WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO GROW
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Matthew 13:33
Jesus compared His kingdom to leaven. It begins working quietly, almost unnoticed, but its influence continues spreading throughout the meal.
Consider the significance of that illustration. Jesus did not describe a kingdom that would begin growing and then gradually surrender its influence to darkness. He described leaven continuing its work until the whole was affected.
He also compared the kingdom to a mustard seed in Matthew 13:31–32. Something beginning very small eventually grows into something far greater.
These are pictures of expansion, influence, and continuing growth.
And Isaiah had already declared that there would be no end to the increase of Christ’s government and peace.
Why, then, have we developed an expectation that evil must continually advance while righteousness retreats?
WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT THOUSAND YEARS?
Now I want you to use your imagination.
Imagine someone living five hundred years ago trying to picture the world we live in today.
Could they have imagined airplanes carrying hundreds of people across oceans? Could they have imagined surgeons transplanting human organs, families speaking face-to-face across continents through electronic devices, or scientists developing treatments for diseases that once killed millions?
The world we inhabit would have seemed almost unbelievable to them.
And yet we have the same limitations when trying to imagine the distant future.
What will the world look like fifty years from now? What about one hundred years? Five hundred years? A thousand years?
We can barely imagine it!
What diseases might be cured? What medical discoveries might extend human life? What new methods of growing food might eliminate hunger in regions where people now suffer? What advances might provide clean drinking water, safe housing, and medical care to populations that presently lack these necessities?
But let’s think beyond technology.
What if the principles of Christ’s kingdom continue influencing humanity generation after generation?
Could there come a time when war becomes increasingly rare? When nations settle their differences through peace rather than violence? When crime diminishes dramatically because people have learned to value their neighbors? When poverty and hunger are reduced to conditions that future generations can hardly imagine?
What if children grow up in a world where cruelty, hatred, and violence are far less common than they are today?
What if the next thousand years bring advances in mercy, justice, generosity, and human dignity that make our present world appear primitive by comparison?
We do not know the timetable. There may be terrible setbacks along the way. But why should we assume that those setbacks must always increase?
Why not envision a world increasingly influenced by the righteousness and peace of Christ’s kingdom?
COULD HUMAN LIFE BECOME MUCH LONGER?
There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
Isaiah 65:20
This passage belongs to Isaiah’s description of the new heavens and new earth. Within that prophetic picture, premature death gives way to extraordinary longevity. A person dying at one hundred years old is described as a child.
Consider that imagery in light of what we have already witnessed in human history.
There was a time when parents commonly buried children before their fifth birthday. Today, medical advances have made such tragedies far less common in many parts of the world.
What might another five hundred years bring? Could future generations routinely live beyond one hundred years? Could diseases that shorten our lives today become treatable or even disappear?
Isaiah’s prophecy is not a scientific prediction specifying the average lifespan of future generations. Its language belongs to the prophetic vision of life and blessing in God’s new creation.
Nevertheless, the picture invites us to think beyond the limitations of the present. In a world where human longevity has already increased dramatically, we should not assume that the possibilities of preserving life have been exhausted.
THE HUMAN HEART IS THE GREATER TRANSFORMATION
Medical advances can extend life, but they cannot, by themselves, make humanity righteous.
Technology can improve living conditions, but it can also create more destructive weapons. Scientific knowledge can be used for healing or for harm.
The greater transformation must take place within the human heart.
Imagine a world where people increasingly choose reconciliation over revenge, generosity over greed, kindness over cruelty, and love over hatred.
Imagine nations becoming more concerned with preserving human life than demonstrating military power. Imagine communities where children are valued, the elderly are cared for, the poor are not forgotten, and the vulnerable are protected.
This is why kingdom advancement must be understood as more than human technological progress.
It is the increasing influence of righteousness, peace, and love.
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.
Isaiah 11:9
What a remarkable picture! The knowledge of the Lord filling the earth, accompanied by the language of peace rather than destruction.
Why should we be afraid to imagine that righteousness might become more widespread, violence less common, and compassion more deeply rooted in human society?
TAKE OFF THE BLINDERS!
We have become so accustomed to looking at the present that we have almost forgotten how to envision the future.
We look at today’s wars and assume there will always be greater wars. We look at crime and assume there will always be more crime. We look at hatred and assume humanity must become increasingly hateful.
But where did Jesus teach that His kingdom would ultimately be overwhelmed by these things?
We must stop measuring Christ’s reign by the worst headline of the day.
The news rarely tells us about every act of forgiveness, every family restored, every child rescued, every disease prevented, every life saved, or every person whose heart has been changed through the love of Christ.
Darkness attracts attention, but the kingdom often works quietly, just like leaven.
And imagine what that leaven might accomplish through another thousand years of human history!
There will undoubtedly be challenges. Civilizations can experience moral decline. Nations can wage war. Generations can make terrible mistakes.
But temporary setbacks do not mean the kingdom has failed.
And what if, as the centuries continue, those setbacks become fewer? What if future generations learn lessons that previous generations failed to learn? What if righteousness and peace become increasingly influential in the affairs of humanity?
We must begin thinking beyond our own lifetimes.
We need to become kingdom-minded!
THERE SHALL BE NO END!
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
Isaiah 9:7
There shall be no end!
No end to His kingdom. No end to His reign. No end to the increase of His government and peace. No end to the possibilities of righteousness, mercy, justice, reconciliation, and love spreading throughout the earth.
We are not waiting for Jesus to return and establish a political kingdom in Jerusalem. We are already living in His kingdom, and His reign is not confined to a church building or a Sunday morning service.
The kingdom is greater than our generation. Greater than our present circumstances. Greater than the limitations of what we can presently imagine.
And its future is not measured by the fear that fills our headlines.
I am not suggesting that every generation will be more righteous than the previous one or that we can predict exactly when suffering and violence will diminish. I am saying that Christ’s kingdom is not destined to fail, and we should not make the continuing triumph of evil the foundation of our expectations.
Light can overcome darkness. Good can overcome evil. Mercy can overcome cruelty. Peace can overcome violence.
And these are not blessings we must wait until after physical death to experience. The kingdom is present now, working through human hearts and influencing the world in which we live.
Perhaps a thousand years from now, future generations will look back upon our century with the same astonishment with which we look upon the suffering and brutality of the distant past.
We can only begin to imagine what that future might look like.
And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.
Psalm 72:19
The whole earth!
Not merely our churches. Not merely our families. Not merely our generation.
The whole earth filled with His glory!
Let us take off the blinders, look beyond the present, and begin living with a kingdom mentality.
THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD DOES NOT BELONG TO DARKNESS. LIGHT OVERCOMES DARKNESS. CHRIST IS REIGNING, AND OF THE INCREASE OF HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE THERE SHALL BE NO END!
