World peace. For centuries, philosophers and poets have dared to dream the impossible dream, asking, "What if ...?" Yet peace on even a small scale has been so elusive and seemed so hopeless. Yet people have always hoped.

The world emerged from World War II resolved to ensure peace among nations. The United Nations was born with this goal firmly in mind, its charter stating: "We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind ..."

But peace was not to be. Although another world war has not broken out, many wars have raged all around the globe since the signing of the UN Charter, just as they have throughout mankind's bloodstained history.

Sadly, this is the way of our world. The young Nazi-holocaust victim Anne Frank expressed remarkably piercing insight when she wrote in her famous diary: "I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone are guilty of the war. Oh, no, the little man is just as keen. Otherwise the people of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated and grown, will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again" (entry on May 3, 1944).

A year has passed since the monstrous evil of Sept. 11, 2001. Looking back, we still grieve for the thousands who lost loved ones on that horrible day. But, as Jesus said, the end is not yet. In spite of America's war on terrorism, terrorism is not going away. War and suffering continue to rage. Troops are still dying in Afghanistan. Almost every day brings more news of shocking violence against civilians in the Middle East. And recently fears have mounted over the prospect of a nuclear conflagration between India and Pakistan—a terrifying possibility that still exists. Even in the relative safety of American neighborhoods, the vilest of predators stalk our children.

The bad news, as if all this weren't bad enough already, is that things will grow much worse—not just a little worse, but dreadful beyond our imagining. Scripture indicates that the worst time in history still lies ahead of us, in the not-too-distant future. Bible prophecy tells us that titanic wars will rage. Great cities will fall. Mass destruction, famine and disease will consume populations. Whole nations will become slaves—all perhaps within your lifetime.

Knowing all this will happen and seeing it as our duty to proclaim this warning message, how could we name this magazine The Good News? Because our message is not ultimately one of doom and gloom —for beyond the darkness lies the dawn, the glorious dawn that mankind has longed for throughout the ages. Jesus Christ will come again, this time not as a little child in a manger or a persecuted preacher but as the mighty King of all nations (Revelation 19:11-16).

He will supernaturally destroy the military forces arrayed against Him, take over the reins of world government and enforce global peace. But even more important, He will, through His teachings and the pouring out of God's Spirit, bring about the "great change" in men's hearts that Anne Frank could only imagine. Indeed, the message of God's Kingdom is what Jesus proclaimed at His first coming—His wonderful gospel or, in modern terms, His "good news." The apostle Paul called it "the gospel of peace" (Romans 10:15; Ephesians 6:15).

In this issue of The Good News you can discover the marvelously good news of how world peace will finally come. GN