How fast the days go by!

We wish that we could hold on to this exquisite moment, but before we know it, poof, it is gone. Come to think of it, “This present moment” does not actually exist. It was the future a moment ago, and then it instantly becomes the past. And so mysterious is this thing called time that, even with all our research, no one really understands what it is. The poet said, “Time, like an ever widening stream, bears all her sons away.”

Because we are moving inexorably into the future, it seems to me that we should be concentrating on tomorrow quite a bit more than yesterday. Questions concerning the future are most relevant because the future is where we are destined to live the balance of our lives.

In thinking about this, I asked myself the question, “What will the critical concerns of tomorrow be?” “Are there basic issues, questions that must be faced by today’s thoughtful young people as they move into tomorrow’s world?” My answer to this question is, “Yes, indeed.” In fact, success or failure of the world itself will depend on individuals who are now bright college young people coming up with new and thoughtful answers to some predictable questions. Let’s take a moment to think about these questions so that we can properly orient ourselves toward the future. After all, why are we studying today if it is not for the purpose of learning things that will produce new and valuable directions for our world tomorrow? It is certain that the following questions and many more will be the subjects of tomorrow. We do well to prepare ourselves then, for those questions will soon be breaking upon us. They certainly include…

1. What, after all, is the purpose of government? It is certain that this will be a question discussed with animation in the days to come. We know this because it is already a matter of concern today. We have watched the governments of the world change, decay, become bankrupt, overwhelmed by revolution and many other things. One need only to look at the British royal family to understand the question of, “Why do we have a royal family, and what does government have to do with it?” The British royal family has certainly proved that adultery has a debilitating effect upon marriage.

What is government for? The Bible says that, “Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil” (Rom. 13:3). Therefore, the purpose of government is to encourage activities that are good, fine, decent, moral, and commendable. Conversely, governments are to be a terror to evil works and the enemy of criminals and criminality.

2. Are all men created equal? This is a well-established slogan in the United States, but alas, it is not in fact true. Jefferson, the author of the Constitution, himself kept slaves. This was true about many of the fathers of America who preached equality but knew that equality is not in fact anywhere the case. No, indeed, the word is not equality but the word is diversity. If all men were created equal, then every football game must inevitably end up with a tie score. So the Bible says, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” (I Cor 12:4).

3. What should be the content of education? Quite obviously, there must be departments in schools where various subjects are taught. Therefore, we have departments of science, music, politics—and many others. But is every professor free to teach whatever he or she pleases? Is there not a final authority as to the content of education? For instance, is a science professor free to teach the groundless theory of evolution just because he takes a fancy in that direction? When do students ever hear that, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” and that “God created man in His own image.” Without this teaching, all other subjects are simply invented in mid-air. This, of course, because “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 3:11).

4. Does individual initiative really count? In the educational process, the necessary result must be conformity to a point of view. Non-conformity is frowned upon. Consequently, we even have expressions in education like “the sin of individualism.” Therefore, a pressing question is “How much conformity and how much individuality?” A little clue here… While there are projects on which we must work together, individuality invented the project in the first place.

5. How much should religion influence government? We have an expression going today called “the Constitutional principle of the separation of church and state.” While this sounds impressive, the fact is that there is no such principle. The founding fathers never thought of dismissing moral principle for the purpose of running a government. Rather, they believed that “there is a just God that presides above the destinies of nations” and it is His providence that makes anything possible. When any kind of learning is divorced from the knowledge of God, that “learning” soon becomes foolishness. Solzhenitsyn answered the question of why Russia became such a terrible place by saying, “They have forgotten God.” This must not happen in our American educational institutions.

6. Given the present situation, why should we have official marriage and families at all? While this question appears (I hope) ridiculous to most of us, it is an oncoming question in society. Hundreds of thousands of couples are living together without benefit of marriage and so people say, “What difference does a piece of paper make?” The real questions are, “What about the law, what about the children, what about commitments and, especially, whatever happened to love?” When marriage and the family go by the board (there is now one divorce for every two marriages), how long can society last?

7. How do we deal with the rampant AIDS epidemic? There are some regions in Africa in which nearly all the adult population will soon have died of AIDS — leaving behind millions of orphans. Over three hundred thousand have already died in America and millions more across the world. It is promised that this epidemic will grow in days to come. AIDS could certainly bankrupt the medical community and the very governments of the world itself. It is certainly proof that, “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. He that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” (Gal. 6:7-8).

There is no pill or therapy that negates the principle of sowing and reaping which is solemnly announced by God to everyone. Increasingly in our world, the question presses as to how to get society to respect and obey the laws of God rather than simply passing human theory.

8. Should the government care for all no matter what their circumstances or the reason for their circumstances? The idea has now come on strong that a paternalistic government can look after us all and supply gratuitously everything that is needed from the cradle to the grave. We will soon have to face the fact that this policy cancels individual responsibility and destroys the budget as well. There is not enough money to satisfy the needs and the whims of everyone. Soon the terrible cost of this policy will become frighteningly apparent! Soon your generation is going to have to think of a better answer. Therefore, you and millions of others students must think through the problem of getting the rank and file of America to face the facts and be responsible. Only such a program will save the government from bankruptcy from which it may be impossible to recover.

9. Does life have a great eternal purpose? Here is a question which this generation and the generation to come must decide on the highest level possible. For, if there is not a great eternal purpose in life, then like the Apostle Paul says, “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die” (I Cor. 15:32). Without an eternal purpose, we are bound to live lives of dissipation leading to despair. The want of a sense of eternal purpose is the great need in the minds and hearts of students today. Unless the world dies, this generation is going to have to bring to this world the living proof by their lives that there is an eternal purpose indeed.

10. Is there a God after all? This finally is the ultimate question of life. If there is no God, then there is no standard, no goal, no intrinsic reason for living and being obedient to the rule of law. If God does not stand behind it all, then it is all for nothing. I think that it needs to be said that this generation will return to the knowledge of God or it will be lost in anarchy and despair. God must preside above our personal lives and the life of the culture or all is lost. All will be lost for the millions of young aspiring hearts in our world unless all aspirations begin with the certainty of and obedience to His will.

Those of us who are Christians know that the knowledge of God begins with certain faith in Jesus Christ. No one knows God simply by meditation or wishful thought. We know God by receiving Christ and trusting in His death for us on the cross. When life begins at this point, then we can be great influences within society and we can be sure that our quickly passing lives will be filled with opportunity. The great questions of life can only be satisfactorily answered by Christians. Be sure to make sure that you are one of these.

Taken from the writings of Dave Breese
Edited and Revised by the Christian Destiny Staff