Remembering the Legacy of Man

What do you remember when you wear a red poppy each November?

At the start of the 20th century, the world was filled with hope. After the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Western world enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity. As the Industrial Revolution spread, the British Empire brought civilization to the Third World. The new ideas of evolution and moral relativism revolutionized academia. Slavery was abolished, first in the Empire and then in America. It seemed like the world was getting better. It appeared that man’s nature was improving, evolving into a better form.

That delusion was shattered on July 28, 1914. The world descended into violence never seen before.

World War i was the first conflict fought with full industrial ferocity. Each nation devoted its best resources and minds to devising terrible weapons of slaughter to destroy the enemy. Never before had men faced a hailstorm of hot steel, artillery, machine guns, poison gas, mines and grenades. Trench warfare offered a new form of suffering that broke the body and mind. The killing fields of Europe were where the young generations of an old civilization died to the count of 22 million.

Yet in the end, God gave Britain, France and America the victory. The world descended into silence when the armistice began at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918.

In response to the incredible sacrifice, the British Empire established the War Graves Commission and began perhaps the largest war memorial program in history. It created gravesites and cenotaphs at every major battlefield and every little town in the Empire that contributed to the war so that their sacrifices would be remembered. Many cenotaphs have inscribed on them “Their name liveth for evermore.”

Throughout Canada, every community has a small World War i stone memorial etched with the names of those who died from that community. A person can walk up to it, read the names, and touch it. As we travel to different places and see these memorials, it helps us understand the scale of the loss and sacrifice.

The red poppy pin was instituted in America and the British Empire to honor and remember the sacrifices of a previous generation.

For many nations like Canada, the crucible of World War i brought them to maturity; the sacrifice for the common cause became a defining moment in their identity.

It is commonly understood that sacrifice is noble. The legacy of sacrifice invokes powerful emotions and can put our modern lifestyle of prosperity and ease into perspective. The Bible teaches that sacrifice is not only noble but necessary. Jesus Christ said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

When you wear a red poppy, it is important to remember those sacrifices, but there is also a much deeper lesson we should contemplate on this day. As Christians, it is easy to quote one scripture from John 15 and ignore everything else Christ taught about how to have joy, happiness and peace.

A great amount of time, effort and money was placed into creating memorials to the Great War! Europe created the League of Nations to ensure there would never be another world war. But within 30 years, another world conflict killed 85 million people! The Nazi war machine plunged the world into darkness and industrialized murder on a scale that is hard to comprehend. The war only ended when the use of nuclear weapons made cosmicide a real possibility!

How did the world react to the tragedy of World War ii? It created the United Nations, an attempt at a world government to stop all future wars. The world vowed “never again” after the horrors of the Holocaust. The traditions of remembrance started after World War i now include the sacrifices of World War ii. It now also includes Korea, Vietnam and the numerous other conflicts that continue.

What is wrong with mankind? No matter how much we desire peace and seek to remember the sacrifices of war, we sink deeper and deeper into violence!

Now we live in a paradox: As United States President Donald Trump and other world leaders proclaim confidently that peace is spreading around the world, anti-Semitism and violence are becoming mainstream in Western nations. The liberators of the concentration camps agree more with Nazi ideas today than with those they fought for. What is wrong with our heart and nature?

We experience suffering and war because we do not remember God.

The truth is, the legacy of man is war. It is the way of God that brings peace.

No amount of cenotaphs, poppies, peace treaties or alliances will bring peace. It requires a change in the human heart! War is merely the result of the evil within the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7). Mankind does not evolve; our nature does not get better with time. The further we get from God’s truth, the more our nature devolves.

The Bible warns us over and again that man cannot have peace unless he follows God’s way of life.

• “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:11).
• “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” (verse 15).
• “Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly” (Isaiah 33:7).
• “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

God warns us that when we hear our leaders declare peace, war comes quickly. Our history confirms these scriptures are true!

How can we have peace, joy and happiness? Christ answers: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:10-15).

Keep the commandments. Obedience to God’s way of love, which is God’s law in the Ten Commandments, shows us the path to peace! Not only does obeying the commandments govern our actions—telling us not to murder, lie or covet—but living the law is what allows God to begin changing our human heart. God must transform our mind, our heart, through the power of His Holy Spirit. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

God’s way of life requires sacrifice. It requires sacrificing what we want and embracing what God wants! The life of Jesus Christ is the perfect example of how to live God’s way of life. He is the perfect example of sacrifice. This is the sacrifice we should remember every day.

When we wear a poppy, we remember the noble sacrifices of men for their country. Yet it was a sacrifice for their country, their loved ones, their fellow soldiers. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and precious blood far eclipses all of the blood spilled in World War i. Christ died for everyone while we were yet sinners. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

When an individual truly repents of walking contrary to God’s way of life and begins obeying God’s law, having faith in God’s truth, real change occurs. The path to peace begins with the path to repentance. It begins with accepting the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

What do you remember when you wear a poppy? This Remembrance Day, remember the terrible legacy of mankind and begin the path to remembering God. Remember His commandments. Remember Christ’s sacrifice. Remember repentance. Choose to follow the path to peace in your life. This choice leads not only to physical blessings but to eternal blessings. This is how God can ensure that our name “liveth for evermore.”

To learn more about the path to peace, read our free booklet The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like.