The Secret Formula for Utopia
What is your idea of utopia? Perhaps a world with no crime, thievery, abuse, rape or prisons. No hunger, suffering, pollution or squalor. No broken homes, cheating or discrimination. Perhaps even no illness or terminal disease. No murder or war of any kind.
Let’s make the image practical. What about a world in which no one ever stole anything? How drastically that would affect every aspect of our lives! Think of all that exists because of thievery around us. Think of all the safes, keys, vaults, combination locks. Think of the security systems many have in their homes or the anti-theft devices in most modern cars. All these would be totally unnecessary!
Imagine shopping and not being under the eye of a security camera, not walking out past a sensor that detects shoplifters: There would be no more shoplifting! Imagine walking down a crowded street or in an airport terminal, not worried about someone ripping your purse off your arm or picking your pocket.
Take it further: What if everyone honored even the intent of this no-stealing idea—instead of the spirit of stealing and greed, each had the spirit of give? People would be generous. No one would try to get money dishonestly—by fraud or slick salesmanship. Business practices would be utterly altered!
What we have done is envisioned the world if it were to keep just one of God’s Ten Commandments—in letter and spirit.
Many believe God’s law to be an outdated code—a done-away set of rules from a brooding, Old Testament Lord to one group of people centuries ago. The Ten Commandments, most modern “Christians” believe, were “nailed to the cross.” Christ kept these commands for us, they say, and all we have to do is believe on Him.
But select any one of those 10 laws and envision what the world would be like if everyone kept it—at all times and in the perfect intent of the law.
Surely those who say God’s law is done away don’t believe that we can all steal and still be righteous. Surely they don’t believe the world would be a better place without the Eighth Commandment. We’ve just seen a short list of the many things that would change if the whole world truly did keep even just that one commandment.
No More Murder
Try this one: Imagine if no one murdered. There would be so many ways in which this world would change—politically, economically. No more need for any country to have a military or weapons of any kind. Global, regional, internal military conflicts would disappear.
Bringing this onto a more personal level, how many in this world fear being a victim of violent crime? How many parents have fear every day when their child enters a public school? Imagine no more drills as to what to do when a gunman enters the school. No more bomb threats.
No fear of others harming you, your family or your friends. No more domestic violence. No more abortions. No fear that anyone close to you would take his or her own life—no more suicide!
The command not to murder, if truly kept, would even affect industry. There would be no life- or environment-endangering pollution. No more smoking; no ash trays; no cigarettes; no more commercials either for or against tobacco. No more harmful food products.
This would cause a huge chain reaction that would lead to greater physical well-being for every human alive.
All of these examples would abolish the need of costly federal and state-run prisons. What a richer world it would be from that fact alone! No jails. No police, except to provide peaceful direction and supervision of communities.
When Jesus Christ came to this Earth around 2,000 years ago in human form, He reinforced the spiritual implications of this Sixth Commandment, making it clear that even an attitude of hate directly violates this command (Matthew 5:21-22). Imagine if there were no more hate, no more prejudice, no more racism! All would have loving, outgoing concern for every other human being.
The world, after just two commandments of that “harsh, old law” being enforced, would be unrecognizable to the world we know today!
A Truthful World
Still not convinced? Add this commandment to the scenario: What if everyone told the truth? How would our lives be different? Our jobs? Our homes? If everything people said were the honest truth. No more false rumors or unfounded accusations. No more deceptive advertisements on television. This policy of honesty would undoubtedly lead to many other law-abiding actions.
There are countless other examples of how the world would change if only a few of God’s Ten Commandments were kept in full.
How difficult it is to envision a world like this. In fact, the world would be so totally different, the natural, human mind would dismiss it as mere fantasy. After all, how could any of this ever happen?
But all of this will happen—and more! The world described above was a picture—inadequate in comparison to the reality—of a peaceful, joyful, utopian World Tomorrow, coming upon the Earth soon. And what made it so joyful was only three of God’s Ten Commandments—those forbidding lying, stealing and killing—being kept.
Love for Fellow Man
In this World Tomorrow, not only will these three commandments be enforced and kept, but the remaining seven will be kept as well. Imagine that!
In addition to no one lying, cheating, stealing, killing and polluting—enforcing the Fifth Commandment would mean no children dishonoring their parents, no juvenile crime, no upside-down families, no gangs. Children, abiding by this critical command, would live longer, healthier lives as God has promised (Ephesians 6:2-3). When children grew older, they would continue to honor their parents—taking care of them in their old age.
The keeping of the Seventh Commandment—which forbids fornication and adultery—though seemingly unfashionable and restrictive to most in our modern world, would have a chain reaction of unbelievably positive events that would affect almost everyone we know, almost every movie or television show, almost every song on the radio. Not one person would be affected by divorce. There would be no unwanted teenage or out-of-wedlock pregnancies. There would be no marital infidelity. Pornography would cease to exist. No need for parental controls on the Internet. Women could walk the streets after dark without the fear of being raped. The horrific aids virus, syphilis, gonorrhea and all other sexually transmitted diseases would be erased!
No strife, competition and envy (as forbidden by the Tenth Commandment). What a difference this would make in the world of sports, business, education, even in the home.
And all these benefits are fundamentally enforced in the last six commandments.
But looking at the first four, which pertain to love and worship of the true God, there would be even moredramatic results!
One World Religion
The First Commandment would ensure that all would accept the existence of the Creator God. No more would the educated cling to their theories of the big bang or of evolution. The world’s scientific geniuses would use their talent to help illustrate in thorough and colorful detail how God created the magnificent universe. Since all scientific effort and thought would be built on this foundation, everything taught would be true knowledge.
This would also mean no more religious bickerings, persecutions or wars. No more sidewalk preachers trying to “save your soul.” All people would have the same foundation of truth in their beliefs.
All would worship God first and foremost, putting all other desires as secondary. All would hold God’s name—and all that His name stands for—in the highest esteem. Blasphemy and persecution would be nonexistent. Swearing and cursing would be erased from the human mind.
Those who claim that the commandments are “nailed to the cross” might admit that the last six most definitely must not be done away, if one is to be a true Christian. Some would even tell you that God certainly could not have meant to delete the first two or three commands—being that no true Christian should ever be able to deny the existence of God or Christ, or resort to idol worship. But almost all mainstream “Christians” fumble around on the Fourth Commandment—the one requiring the observance of the Sabbath as holy time devoted to worship of God among His people. Surely that one must be done away. There is no way we can be expected to keep that law in our modern world!
But how much better the world would be if all kept this commandment. The Bible reveals that, in this World Tomorrow, all will be keeping God’s Sabbath (Isaiah 66:22-23). Jesus told us, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). This commandment was intended to be a great blessing for humanity.
As part of this commandment, God directs us to be efficient and productive for six days of the week. Then we are truly to rest from these labors physically and mentally for one 24-hour period. How much work would man accomplish if he observed this commandment! It would be proper work—no one would overwork, driving themselves into an early retirement or an early grave. Everyone would feel the same refreshing renewal at the end of every week.
Businesses, restaurants, factories would shut down, as some even do for Sunday, but for the seventh day, as God has commanded—as God Himself did after the six days of creation (Genesis 2:1-3). No one would complain about this massive shutdown, because all would have experienced a highly fruitful week just prior.
Understand the chain reaction this would have. Imagine how your job or school would change!
Imagine all people worshiping God on the same day of the week. No longer would there be a myriad of different religions, all claiming a different god and a different day. Imagine the unity among all humankind!
How Will This Come?
The illustration of the world as it would be if everyone kept God’s commandments versus what the world is like today should be enough to prove the utter impossibility of mankind doing this on its own!
But this kind of world is coming!
Isaiah prophesied of a time when “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2). There is coming a time when God’s government will be in full force.
And what will God’s government be enforcing? Verse 3: “[F]or out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Again, it is God’s perfect, righteous law—His Ten Commandments—which, when observed, yield this time of unimaginable peace and abundance over all the Earth. It is this law, which mankind refuses to accept, that will bring the world the joy and abundant living it so desperately seeks!
All the effects of keeping God’s law, as stated in detail above, will be amply evident. But a number of other fantastic occurrences, as a result of Christ’s direct rulership of planet Earth, will be seen as well.
Notice these miraculous events. Isaiah foretold a time when the “desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1). He states that the “parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (verse 7). Other scriptures also show that God will miraculously turn the deserts of the world into lush, thriving, cultivatable, fertile farmland.
“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:9). Notice that! All will speak the same, pure language. This communication phenomenon will further unify the world. Illiteracy will be eradicated and all people will be properly educated.
The Scriptures indicate many other ways in which the world will be changed dramatically—the ways the cities and nations will be built, the way they will be ruled, the way the economy will be drastically restructured.
God’s Word also indicates that marvelous tools and machines will be created to level some of the mountains and reduce the size of some of the world’s large oceans (Isaiah 41:15-20). This will increase the livable surface area of the Earth—so everyone will have enough space to live comfortably. No more high-rise apartments or crowded subdivisions that cram as many people as possible into small areas—contributing to increased crime, violence and disease.
Safety for All People
As God has set in motion a spiritual law that produces wonderful blessings for man, so has He set in motion physical laws to operate our minds and bodies. That means, in addition to enforcing spiritual laws, God will enforce these physical laws of healthful living upon the masses. Sickness, disease and terminal illness will all be wiped out. No more obesity; no more eating disorders. No more drunkenness; no more drug abuse.
There will be no more famine (Ezekiel 36:29-30). The “Third World” will be no more. Even in what are now developed countries, there are ghetto and slum portions that rival Third World conditions. Not in tomorrow’s world! Every neighborhood will be clean and safe for everyone.
The enforcement of physical laws of health will mean there will be no more hospitals as we know them. (Imagine never hearing another siren in the distance.) The Bible reveals that blindness, deafness and other major ailments will be a thing of the past (Isaiah 29:17-18; 35:5-6). Ultimate protection by God and His saints will ensure that mankind is free from harm of any kind.
Even harm from what once were dangerous animals will not be a concern anymore. Read these astounding word-pictures from Isaiah 11: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (verse 6). Imagine a neighborhood child you know leading his pet “cat” around by the mane!
“And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox” (verse 7). The nature of the ferocious animals, even some of their biological makeup, will be changed miraculously by God. Otherwise, could you imagine a lion—which today is equipped with teeth and stomach and bodily form to hunt and kill other animals for meat—eating grass from the same field as a cow?
Notice verse 9: “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.” The animals will not be allowed to cause any harm, because God’s knowledge will be everywhere!
This knowledge will also turn man into a peaceful being. All men and women will be required to “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks” (Isaiah 2:4). The end of this verse states, “[N]either shall they learn war any more.”
Our Part Today
This is the world as it will be!
Beginning very soon, God’s government will be restored to Earth! God’s magnificent law will be in full force. Satan will be gone—not able to deceive or influence man. What a combination of wondrous results this will create! Can you picture how different this world will be? Can you imagine all the wonderful ways this world will be utterly transformed into a thriving paradise?
If the world will change this much from the keeping of God’s laws, then how much can our lives change now by obeying God’s Ten Commandments more perfectly? God gave us these commands for our benefit. If we keep them, God promises super-rich blessings: We can experience a personal utopia! Our lives can be filled with peace and joy and abundance on an individual level.
God plans to put those called out now, who learn these lessons now, on the front lines of leadership in this coming Millennium of peace, when this utopia is expanded to the entire planet.
Let this vision stir your imagination! Let it fill your life with excitement and anticipation! This is no storybook fantasy. It is the real, coming World Tomorrow!
For more, request our free booklet The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like!