There are three possible futures and one is correct.

 

We have of late had a lot of conversations about the possibility of the world being on the brink of doom.  That has caused me to look at the three main theories regarding humanities’ future. Those three expectations are mutually exclusive, only one can be correct.  None of these theories are recent developments.  They have all existed in human thought for a very long time. Every so often, they get a twist and are presented as new ideas, but they all have predecessors.  

One theory is expressed in the Kardashev Scale which is a method of measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement.  This scale gets its name from Nicholi Kardashev, a Soviet era Russian astrophysicist.  Summaries always fail, but here is an attempt.  Civilizations move from lower to high forms of technological advancement, while they may experience setbacks along the way, the general direction is always upward.  The Kardashev Scale has been modified and used by many theorists and sci-fi writers.  John Borrow expanded it to seven stages.  At the highest levels a civilization would be able to manipulate the most elementary particles of matter and the basic structure of space and time.  In short, civilization over a long, slow process gradually becomes the God of the universe.  Not entirely unlike the plans that prompted the Tower of Babel.

The second theory about humanities’ future is summed up in what is called the Malthusian Catastrophe.  Thomas Malthus was an influential political economist from England.  His theory is also called the population trap.  It works this way, as civilization grows and progresses it produces more and more goods, causing more and faster population growth and progress.  Like a hamster on a wheel the cycle gets faster and faster until the hamster stumbles and falls and the whole process comes to a halt.  In the case of humanity the stumble and fall comes from an exponential growth in population and a slower growth of food, water, energy and other needed services.  The result is worldwide famine, wars, mass die offs, social collapse, and the inability for earth to support life as a result of environmental degradation.  The process is slow and occurs over centuries or even millenia till it reaches a crisis point, then there is a rapid doom. 

If Kardashev’s theory were put on a chart, it would be a line of constant upward progress with only occasional dips.  If Malthus’ theory were charted, it would be a slow decline with intermittent upward ticks.  In both cases, you see the common thread of vast amounts of time and slow progress toward a destination. Both theories have devastating consequences for people.  Thankfully, however, they are both wrong.  The third answer is the right answer.  Rather than slow progress over a very long time toward some unknown and unknowable end, the third is sudden, definitive and hope filled.   

This expected future is summed up well by the Apostle Paul; “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”  What we see here is not a slow gradual progression toward some vague end.  It is a certain sudden ending that will not be missed by anyone and will be very personal for everyone.  Paul does not rule out some future progress nor that there will be hardship in history.  

But while Kardashev talks about something that may happen tens of thousands of years into the future and Malthus only offers a future of gloom and despair, the sudden return of Christ offers us a future so wonderful it is beyond the capacity of mind and speech.  

So, the next time you hear talk about the doom of our world or that the only solution is in our capacity to build that better future just remember that Jesus is coming to our rescue.  It will be sudden, it will be final, it may happen very soon (even today) and it is for us the great hope.