There is a promise that can help us face the present challenge with hope and confidence, instead of anxiety and despair.
The newspaper’s headline warned of a crisis not only for the USA but also for the rest of the world. It was typical of reactions to the election – or is it re‑election? – of Donald Trump this month. What are we going to do now? How can we cope with this dramatic moment?
What would their headline have been had they been reporting as Visigoth King Alaric sacked Rome in 410? For five centuries, Romans had called Rome the “Eternal City.” Roman legions had defeated other empires across Europe and Africa. Who could challenge Rome’s glory and power? So popular imagination held Rome would only fall at the end of civilization itself.
And then the Visigoths under Alaric came and defeated Rome’s glory and power. Cue REM: “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” In a sense, the sacking of the Eternal City was the end of the world… as they knew it.
But it was not the end of the world.
At the time, North African theologian and philosopher Augustine of Hippo explained Rome was just the latest in a series of human empires. He remembered the rise and fall of civilizations across Asia and Europe. The Assyrians fell to the Babylonians, who fell to the Persians. A Greek empire rose and conquered both Persia and Egypt.
Why should Rome be different from those formerly great and powerful empires?
The end of the world as we know it isn’t the end of the world forever.
In the centuries since Augustine, other empires rose and fell, replaced by still other empires. Somehow, the world managed to go on. It went on for some sixteen centuries. The end of the world as we know it isn’t the end of the world forever.
In The City of God, Augustine argued behind the rise and fall of empires was the plan of a sovereign God who created the world and is leading it to a time of perfect peace and justice. Though human cities and civilizations may rise and fall, the divine city will grow and last forever and ever. It is the truly eternal city, the place of eternal blessing and joy.
Those building human cities often try to take the place of that eternal city, asserting their claim to sovereignty over all things. As one biblical poet wrote, “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together…” (Psalm 2:2 NIV) But for all their pretensions of power and glory, they are not the ones in charge. “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” (Psalm 2:4 NIV)
Reformed theologian and social reformer Abraham Kuyper once declared, “I believe in the future, I believe in it with all my heart!” It was an expression of his faith God was still sovereign over history, and God had mighty works in mind for the faithful in the years ahead.
No matter how dramatic, the election of a politician is a crisis like many others throughout history. It’s an event with many precedents over the ages. Through those years, the promise of the City of God has stood firm.
There is nothing earthly powers can do to thwart the plan and purpose of God. The road ahead may be bumpy and challenging – which is good to be concerned about – but the promise of the City of God can give us a place to stand and let us face those challenges with hope and confidence.
