Can there be peace on earth?

Due to humanity's spiritual bankruptcy (i.e., brokenness) and the resulting inclination to first take care of "number one" (self), there will never be a complete utopia in this life - the goal of ¹all  economic and political systems.

To have a true utopia, the individual parts must be sound. You cannot have a system working properly if the individual parts are not whole and working properly.  If you build a wooden structure with boards infested with termites, the structure is unsound and must be artificially propped up, or it will collapse under any sustained weight or pressure.

This does not mean we should abandon living a ²productive life and loving God and our neighbor as He has called and designed us to. However, the only way we can do this is when we are fully plugged into the Source of life, love, and all things. If we are not in union with the Source of life, we are empty vessels at best, looking to fill the void, which results in us being takers, not givers. The emptiness must be filled if we are to be givers. 

The solution isn't ¹externally imposing or enforcing a particular economic or political system on others, but being fully connected and plugged into God himself, which is an internal solution that creates wholeness, resulting in things working outwardly as designed. 

If all the individual parts of a system - i.e., you and I - are broken, the system will not work, no matter how perfect the intended design of that system may be. Any system composed of flawed individuals can only be flawed and result in flawed outcomes. 

For this reason, there can never be a perfect system, only perfect values and people willing to pursue them. Ultimately, this can only occur through people who recognize the greatness, worth, beauty, and glory of the Creator, and their dependence on Him and accountability to Him if the desired outcome is to succeed. 

The solution ultimately is spiritual, not political or economic. It is in first knowing God and then making him known (the first and second greatest commandments); not just in word but in deed. 

For a discussion on giving as you have received, click here.  

For a discussion on obedience as the fruit of abiding, click here.

For a discussion on being fruitful, i.e., sewing and reaping, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹I am referring to economic systems - such as socialism or communism - externally imposed on us by the state and not developed organically. We are social-relational creatures, and as God's image-bearers, we are designed to receive and give love. 

However, we are also broken - i.e., unplugged bearers of God's image made to be in union with their Creator.

For more on our brokenness, click here.  

²We are clearly instructed in many places within the bible to be "fruitful." Most of these verses address spiritual fruit. However, spiritual fruit translates into actions that often produce material fruit. In fact, any action that produces material fruit should be driven spiritually i.e. by the Spirit. If it is, it is valid. It is spiritual in motivation (i.e. for God's glory) with a material outcome.  

For several posts addressing operating in the Spirit, click here. 

³There is nothing wrong with personal consumption. If we do not consume vital resources -- water, food, shelter etc. -- we die. Consumption is not just necessary but vital. 

A pursuit that is solely driven by personal and excessive consumption as a substitute for God (i.e. an idol) is our challenge, not consumption. 

*Private ownership of property and the opportunity to acquire property through diligence is assumed throughout the bible. The founding fathers who penned America's Constitution and the Declaration of Independence acknowledged this when they declared we had a "right" to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What most don't know is that the pursuit of happiness is the right to the fruits of our labor, i.e., property.  

Christ instructs us to pray for his rule and reign to come on earth as it is in heaven. 

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." - Matt 6:10 

Is this a prayer to usher in the Kingdom now or in the future? Both. 

For a discussion on the kingdom of God, click here.