Two Hopes For a Better World

Jesus and Gorbachev. Gorbachev says the world must be restructured. Jesus described the collapse of civilization, followed by a spiritually changed world. It may seem strange to mention Mikhail Gorbachev in the same breath as Jesus Christ. The Soviet president is a very this-worldly leader of an officially atheistic nation while Jesus said his kingdom or nation was not of this world (John 18:36). Yet, the two individuals - even though for different ends - could be said to have something important in common. In their time, both have addressed the dangers to a world threatened with destruction. Both have proposed far-reaching changes in the way humans run their affairs. They both, too, look to a future world - one from the communist point of view, the other from God's point of view. Both have declared society must be quite different from what it is today - if it is to survive.