Imagine

Peace on Earth!  Isn’t that what we long for?  Yet, it sure seems like we are just constantly farther away from world peace, and closer to world war!   This is a time of year when the world tries really hard to close its eyes just for a moment and imagine or pretend that world peace can exist, even if just for a moment.  John Lennon’s “Imagine” gives a recipe for peace, but tragically has it all wrong.  What a fatal delusion it is for the fallen and sinful race of mankind to have a theme song that says  there simply is no heaven or hell, no Creator, no Savior, and “above us only sky!”  Yet, because it is a beautiful song, millions (including Christians!) love to hear it and sing it.  In 1999 BMI named “Imagine” as one of the top 100 most performed songs of the 20th century.  In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine voted it the third greatest song of all time.  In 2005 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named it the greatest song in the past 100 years, as voted by listeners.  2006 The song was voted the greatest song of all time by Australia's Channel Nine 20 to 1 show.   In an interview with John Lennon the year he was killed he said, " ....Give Peace a Chance - we're not being unreasonable, just saying give it a chance. With Imagine we're saying can you imagine a world without countries or religions? It's the same message over and over. And it's positive."  His plea for world peace sounds tempting, doesn’t it?  Come on, just give it a chance! 

But the idea that we can create a one-nation-world, apart from God, where supposedly no one is selfish, lustful, sinful, perverted or deranged and everybody just loves everybody and lives together in harmony is the absolute epitome of foolish thinking. 

The Bible tells us that the heart of man is selfish, evil, dark, depraved and deceitfully wicked.  Without the forgiveness and life-transforming power that can only come through the One that was sent to this earth in Bethlehem, namely Jesus the Lamb of God who died for us, this world is utterly doomed and lost in its sin and will be judged for its rebellion against God.  I pray that you will find and know the true peace that can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus, God’s only Son.

So, here is my rewrite:

Imagine

by Dan Williams

Imagine there’s a heaven,

It’s easy if you try,
A place called hell below us,
And God’s throne beyond the sky.
Imagine all the people
Seeking the Lord today!
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one;
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one!

Now this is something that will become a reality and not just something to imagine.  Philippians 2:10-11 says that one day, “Every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is the world that the prophet Isaiah spoke about:

 

Isaiah 2:2-5

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that 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. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

And we are not that far from the day when Jesus will come again to judge this world and establish his Kingdom here on earth—just as it is in heaven!

Shalom,

Dan