© 2023 United Church of God Australia
All correspondence and questions should be sent to . Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to .
Written by Reg Wright
We live in a world of awesome progress in technology, scientific research, in computing power, and in communications technology. We can pick up the phone and in a matter of seconds be speaking with a person on the other side of the world. We send an email message to a friend or business associate in a country thousands of kilometres away and a reply can be sent back to us within moments. The world is connected more than anytime in human history. We are connected to the internet via our laptops or handheld devices more hours than we aren't and we can access information on any subject of our choice at lightning speed. A vast storage of information is at our finger tips. Planes fly faster and further, moving people from place to place in vastly increasing numbers.
In many countries, like Australia, the standard of living is quite high. We enjoy comfortable homes; we have efficient transport systems; we have plenty to eat and drink; most people have employment, and regular opportunities for leisure. However this is not the case for a large portion of humanity. Most people go to sleep with hunger gnawing at their stomachs. They have barely enough income to buy enough food to keep themselves and their families alive. Do you know that if you ate breakfast this morning you are better off than the 800 million people worldwide who will go hungry today. Every day tens of thousands of children die of starvation or disorders related to chronic malnutrition. And this is just one of our global concerns.
With all our wonderful progress, the world is perhaps in the biggest mess it has ever been in human history. We have more crime, more suffering, more disease, more discontent, more death, more hunger, more suicides, more broken homes, more unhappiness, than ever before.
Why? Because our world is held captive – held captive by a being who generates from his own personality, attitude and power -- contention, confusion, division, hostility, violence, destruction, war and death.
The very technology which is used for the wonderful benefit of mankind is turned against us. For example, the technology which produces the giant passenger jets which daily circle the earth loaded with people travelling from place to place -- that same technology also produces the giant bombers which carry weapons of mass destruction or can be used in acts of terror.
Our world is indeed a paradox – on the one hand there is tremendous good, but on the other hand there is tremendous evil.
The vast majority of people on this planet earth cannot explain why the world is the way it is. The vast majority of people do not know that this world is held captive by a being called in Scripture, Satan the Devil.
Revelation 12:9 states: "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (emphasis added).
Satan is also called the "prince of the power of the air" in Ephesians 2:2. He is the "ruler of this world" in John 12:31.
The vast majority of people do not realise that they themselves are in captivity. And the vast majority of people do not realise that the time is coming when they will be freed from this captivity. The plan to free them from this captivity has already been determined, and it will take place.
One of God's annual Holy Days, the Day of Atonement, pictures the time when the earth will no longer be held captive. It pictures the time when the real source of evil will be removed.
For more information on this important annual Holy Day, please request a copy of our free booklet: God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind.
Is it possible to know what the future holds for us? The Creator of mankind does have a plan for us, and He reveals it to us through an annual cycle of festivals described in the Scriptures. It is an astounding plan offering an incredible future to every man, woman, and child who has ever lived. This booklet will help you understand the incredible truth about what lies ahead for all humanity.
Many people are shocked to discover the origins of our most popular religious holidays. They are also surprised to find that the days God commands us to observe in the Bible-the same days Jesus Christ and the apostles kept-are almost universally ignored. Why? Also, why are today's supposedly Christian holidays observed with so many rituals and customs that are not sanctioned anywhere in the Bible? In this booklet you'll discover detailed answers to these questions.
The Bible reveals much about an unseen power that works behind the scenes, shaping our world to its will and agenda. Are you being taken in?
In this study guide you will discover the real source behind so many of the world's problems. Learn about the being who is determined to bend your thinking to his own. — "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).
If Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Prince of Peace, why does the world see so little of it? What part of the picture are we missing? If He truly is the Prince of Peace, how will peace come? Where is that hope in a world so devoid of hope?
The answer to these questions lies in a series of little-known festivals revealed long ago in the world's best-selling book—the Bible. God doesn't leave us in the dark about the solution to our many seemingly unsolvable problems. He has given us the key to understanding—though most have ignored or lived in ignorance of it!
The world changed forever in 1945. That year, with the detonations of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, man for the first time demonstrated the frightening potential to destroy all human life. Since then our weapons have grown far more powerful and threatening. As we will see in this lesson, many of these threats to human survival play prominent roles in prophecies in the Bible.
It’s obvious that our world is plagued with serious problems. Look around at the devastating wars, civil unrest, violent crime, rampant theft, corrupt governments, grinding poverty, hunger, spreading substance abuse, broken homes and families, natural disasters, failing educational systems and much more. These things aren’t new; they’re the sad legacy of human history. Is there any hope that these problems will ever be solved? Believe it or not, there is indeed great hope, and it’s found in the pages of your Bible. It’s called the gospel, a word that means “good news.” And it truly is good news, the message of Jesus Christ’s coming reign over the earth and God’s divine solution to our problems! Learn much more about this wonderful hope and news in the pages of this issue of Beyond Today. Download this issue in PDF. Individual articles will be posted in the upcoming days.