Question:
Should I try to make the world a better place?
Answer:
As close as we are to Christ’s soon return, should I be concerned with trying to make the world a better place to live?
The Bible tells us that the closer we are to the second coming the more wicked the world will become. Goodness comes only from God, and He will one day withdraw His sustaining hand, and evil will come rushing in to the exclusion of everything else.
But what about today? Are we meant to do all we can to make this world better? Or is our mission to tell others of a better land to which all are invited?
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14
How do we prepare to carry out such a great responsibility? We know that change, on our own, is impossible. It is only by the power and grace of God that we are able to be transformed once again into His image, but we must be willing to obey God’s law and receive this transformation. It is only then that we are able to complete the commission we have been given to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to a dying world.
“The law of God is the mirror to show man the defects in his character.” The Review and Herald, March 8, 1870
“What have you been beholding? … Make a decided change, and look to Jesus, that by beholding His perfection, you may become changed into His image. Then His spirit will take possession of your mind and character. By your piety and godliness, by your words and actions, by your spiritual activity for truth and righteousness, you will represent Christ.
“When a man turns away from human imperfections, and beholds Jesus, a divine transformation takes place in his character. He fixes his eye upon Christ as on a mirror which reflects the glory of God, and by beholding, he becomes ‘changed into the same image, from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 3:18). …
“With a contrite heart, study His life and character. … By tasting the good word of life, by feeding on the bread of life, you may see the power of a world to come, and be created anew in Christ Jesus. …
“The Spirit of Christ, working upon the heart conforms it to His image; for Christ is the model upon which the Spirit works. By the ministry of His word, by His providences, by His inward working, God stamps the likeness of Christ upon the soul.
“To possess Christ is your first work, and to reveal Him as One who is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him, is your next work.” This Day With God, 46