The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world (Rev. 13:5-8).

This will be the last commentary in my series on questions Christians commonly ask about environmental issues.  With global environmental crises increasing rapidly, it’s almost certain that many Christians are asking this question:

Question: Couldn’t global concern about the environment lead eventually to a one-world government?

Answer: Christians understand that it is God who ultimately establishes and topples governments. And from biblical prophecy many also understand that a one-world government will indeed come about—first, negatively, under the Antichrist and then, positively, under the reigning Messiah. Further we know that under Christ the creation, which now “groans” beneath the burden of human sin, will be restored to grandeur even greater than its former state (Rom. 8:18-23). The paradise our souls long to regain will one day become a wonderful reality. Whatever we do today to care for creation is but a rehearsal for that coming kingdom we petition for in “The Lord’s Prayer.” Mankind’s present attempts to deal with global environmental problems are only marginally related to that prophetic future.

N.T. Wright in his powerful book, “Surprised By Hope” reminds us of the significance of our present behavior to our future hope:

What you do in the Lord is not in vain.  You are not oiling the wheels of a machine that’s shortly going to be thrown on the fire.  You are not planting roses in a garden that’s about to be dug up for a building site.  You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard as to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world.  Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of His creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or walk; every act of care and nurture, comfort and support for one’s fellow human beings and, for that matter, one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make.

That is the logic of the mission of God.  God’s recreation of His wonderful world, which began with the resurrection of Jesus and continues mysteriously as God’s people live in the risen Christ and in the power of His Spirit, means that what we do in Christ and by the Spirit in the present is not wasted.  It will last all the way into God’s new world.  In fact, it will be enhanced there .

Regarding the increasing number of environmental crises worldwide, we need to keep in mind that God’s creation has no political boundaries. Harmful emissions from America’s smokestacks drift into Canada’s forests. Deforestation in the mountains of Nepal affects the delta of the Ganges in Bangladesh. Timber cutting in America’s Pacific Northwest affects rain and snowfall in the Rockies. Pollution of the Danube or the Rhine impacts life in every European nation the rivers touch. Increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in every nation affect the atmosphere of the entire globe.

Responsible attempts to deal with these problems are clearly sanctioned by Scripture as part of our stewardship requirement. One thing is absolutely certain: Carrying out God’s stewardship obligation will not bring about the reign of the Antichrist. It is disobedience and rebellion against God that will culminate in that first godless, one-world government (which looks ominously close). Environmental crises like global climate change, fisheries collapse, deforestation, and pollution may indeed help compel unbelievers to yield their governance and their wills to a Godless world leader who promises false security. The more Christians act like Christians, the less likely it is that unbelievers would look for such a one-world leader.

Could it not be possible that it’s not only the sin of unbelievers, but also the failure of believers to act as believers should that will hasten the coming reign of the Antichrist? But in God’s Kingdom that is to come (the one we anticipate in singing our “Doxology”), followers of Christ will have a restored earth to celebrate and care for—in the process of worshiping the true, loving, righteous, and final one-world Governor: Messiah Jesus.