The Weekly Encourager – October 21, 2015 – Back to the Future

Today is the day pictured in the famous 1985 film “Back to the Future” as being way far ahead in the future. October 21, 2015 was the day Marty McFly traveled back to, in order to save his future children. It's a great opportunity for journalists to reflect on how far we've come. The same thing happened when we reached the year 1984, the far-future date of George Orwell's classic dystopian novel “1984” written in 1949. Many of us look back fondly when these milestones are reached; it's fun to compare past writers' visions with what has actually happened in real time. In fact, fiction writers can spur on scientific and technological advances. One example is that when personal cell phones were first made available to the masses, people wanted flip-open devices like they saw on the TV series “Star Trek.” The physical design for phones was actually altered to meet the demands of the public.

While some look back with nostalgia, others look forward with anticipation to a time of scientific ascension when society will be practically perfect. Man is evolving, they say, to be better and better. In the future, wars and disease and poverty and racism will be eliminated. Freed from such ills, human society will be devoted to exploring new worlds and gaining new knowledge, perhaps in cooperation with inhabitants of distant planets. But the Bible says things will only get worse here with great natural catastrophes and multiplying wars, especially in the Mid-East. Into a world of growing darkness, Christ will burst forth like the sun, with healing in His wings. It is only in Heaven that our dreams of peace and plenty will come true.

Christians look forward to the Day of Christ's return. Some people try to predict the exact day based on their interpretation of Biblical prophecy. They want to get into a fabulous time machine vehicle (preferably a smokin' DeLorean) and manually set the date of their next trip. However, the Bible clearly states that no one knows the hour of His coming. It will be as unexpected as a thief in the night. I believe that wanting to know what God has not chosen to reveal is a form of pride. Adam and Eve wanted to know what God had not revealed to them, and that desire led to sin. Like them, we want to have special inside knowledge so that we can control our own destiny and be like God. We don't want to have to depend upon the Word of the Lord for our peace.

So how are we to look back, and how are we to look forward? Simply put, no matter what's happening in the world today, we look back upon the Creation of the world by God the Eternal Father, the Cross where Jesus the Sacrificial Son died, the Gift of the Holy Spirit to live within us, and forward to the Crown of Glory we will receive one day in the presence of the Lord. Technology cannot save us; in fact, it can lead to greater problems (from the Tower of Babel to the atom bomb). Our hope rests in Jesus Christ, who once for all time forgave our sins, past, present, and future. If we trust in Him for salvation, we will be ready for His glorious return, whether it's in 2015 or many years in the future.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The trip to Heaven is the greatest time-travel adventure we can experience, for it will take us to a land without time, Infinity. We're ready! Thanks be to God!

Yours in Jesus, the greatest time-traveller of all time,
j