According to the statistics maintained by the United Nations the world passed a new population threshold this month with eight billion people recorded as being alive at the one time.

We cannot definitely be certain that there has never been a larger population in the history of the earth.

The world that existed prior to the flood may well have had eight billion souls. That probably is unlikely but not entirely impossible. The years that transpired between creation and the flood are notoriously difficult to compute and while we have the records of some families we do not have the genealogy of every family. The world prior to the food was closer to the Creation and therefore did not suffer the ravages of God’s curse to the extent that we now experience. Fertility, for example, would have been higher and people lived very much longer.

We can be certain, however, that in the world after the flood this population has now reached a new peak.

This ought to be of interest to the Church of Christ. We are told that God loved the world and that the Lamb of God bore the sin of the world. God is interested in the world and so should we as God’s people.

Let us therefore consider this incredible statistic from a Christian and a Bible perspective.

THE CHALLENGE

The world’s rapidly increasing population presents natural challenges.

There is the challenge of sustainability. Can the world cope with the pressures of a relentless upsurge of people? Together we breathe the oxygen and eat food, all of which is produced by the world.

Practicalities would teach us that every support system is finite. Just as our own homes can sustain a limited amount of people, so the world has limits. We don’t really know and understand what those limits are, but they certainly exist. Increasing population inevitably places a greater strain upon the resources of the world.

In the western world we don’t really appreciate the full impact of rising populations.

In Ireland, for example, our population has only stabilised fairly recently. Before the potato famine this island sustained almost ten million people, double today’s population. That in itself was a problem which accentuated the potato famine and led to mass immigration through the famine and in the following decades. But today we are underpopulated, certainly in comparison to vast tracts of the Earth.

The rising population, however, is a challenge for everyone. We see more poverty in the world, we experience more immigration and the world is more at risk from conflict. The Roman Empire partly collapsed because of high population growth in northern Europe, which put pressure on the land, causing tribes to move into the territory of the Empire and the mighty legions could not withstand the threat.

High population growth produces intense social problems that are caused by many people living together.

The biggest challenge, however, is the one which is seldom discussed. It is never talked about by the secular media and it is rarely focused on even by Christians.

Eight billion souls. Eight billion sinners. Eight billion people, billions of whom have never heard the Gospel. Eight billion people and if they don’t hear the Gospel will go to Hell. That is our challenge. Our challenge is not the sustainability and social problems – it is the sin question because this is the greatest and most intense need.

The two largest nations by population size are China and India, both of whom have more than one billion people. China may well have a hundred million Protestants, if the estimated statistics are correct but in a nation of one billion that represents ten per cent. That makes China the most Christian nation on earth in terms of the sheer numbers of believers but yet there are many hundreds of millions who have not believed or even heard of Jesus. In India the picture is very different; only two per cent of the Indian population are Christian with the numbers of evangelical Protestants being much smaller.

If we take the false religions which dominate the world, we get a sense of the sheer weight of the challenge which the Christian Church faces today. Islam has almost two billion adherents, representing one quarter of the people in the world today. Hinduism with more than one billion followers and Buddhism with half a billion gives us a figure that is getting close to four billion people who are without hope.

But there is another statistic. The largest religion in the world is Christianity with more than two billion followers. That’s more than twenty five per cent of the world’s population who believe that Jesus died and rose again. Then the story gets complicated. Protestants number one billion and we know from experience than many of them are nominal…born again evangelical Protestants are a much smaller number. That being said because of the huge population of the world there are probably more evangelical believers in the world today than at any time in history, and together we share this enormous burden..a dying and perishing world of unbelievers who need Jesus Christ.

We need the spirit of Christ who was burdened for what the hymn writer called this “world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall”. He lamented for Jerusalem as we must lament for this world:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37)

Jesus looked looked upon the multitudes who were without hope and his spirit was moved; we likewise should enter in that Spirit.

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)

Of God we are simply told:

“For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16)

Tragically, however, there are those who are not among the followers of Allah, or the worshippers of one of Hinduism’s pantheon of gods and goddesses; they sit in evangelical churches, they hear the Gospel preached and yet are without hope having committed the fundamental basic sin – unbelief.

Of such, Jesus issues the sternest of his condemnations:

“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” (Matthew 11:21-24)

Take care, dear reader, be sure that you are in the faith. When the Day of Judgement dawns the question will not concern the billions but the individuals; How will it be with your soul?

COMMISSION

We hear many ideas as to how to cope with and deal with the world’s rising population. Scientists and politicians will discuss birth control measures, environmental protections and many other things. We know the real need, however, as Christians, the only message which will cure the sin question – The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Christ has a unique mandate. The version recorded by Mathew is the one most often quoted:

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

With the full authority of the risen Saviour we are called to go and teach all nations, bringing them to faith through our outreach. We are called to reach out and embrace the global reach of the Gospel. Never in history have we had such an opportunity! Eight billion souls in need of Christ. The Gospel alone is the answer for each one!

The authority of Christ, the need of the world, the message to be proclaimed, the teaching to be emphasised, the command to be preached, the obedience to be followed, the constant urgency to complete this mission before Jesus comes, the promise of success – none of this has changed in two thousand years of history.

The version of the Great Commission recorded by Luke is also pertinent:

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

The dependency upon the power of the Holy Ghost and the need to be a witness in places and among people who are beyond our immediate comfort zone are most challenging. Yet we must be mindful that Jerusalem comes first; if you do not serve the Lord with commitment in your own local congregation you will never serve Him anywhere else. If you not have a burden for the souls of you immediate neighbourhood you will never care for the souls of people anywhere else in the world. If we havn’t a testimony here among your family, friends and neighbours, we will never be a blessing anywhere else. Jerusalem is where the work begins.

The Gospel to be proclaimed must be one of faith in Christ alone and repentance from sin. This is the message that comes from the heart of God:

“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

God wants us to GO by praying for labourers, by giving our substance and by going ourselves when He calls us so to do. Why should we dwell at ease when billions across the world are going to Hell?

“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Mark 9:37-38)

“…how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

COMFORT

What should comfort us greatly is that God has not permitted the world to have this enormous burgeoning population for the purpose of sending them to Hell:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2nd Peter 3:9)

God has a purpose in permitting the world to grow and let me suggest one comforting thought. As the population grows the numbers of younger people also grow. Africa is by far the youngest continent on the the planet. The nations with the highest ratio of the youth are found in Africa. We know from experience and also by statistics that people are more likely to embrace faith when they are young. Therefore Africa the continent which is most ripe for missionary endeavour. The high birth rate gives us hope for these precious souls…let us pray the children of the world into the Kingdom!

We despair for the western world, so highly favoured with the Gospel but sliding down the slippery slope to oblivion. The nations of western Europe are among the oldest populations in the world. The future of the world is not found in Europe but in Africa. The future of the Church is in Africa, this is where the young people are, who will carry the flame of the Gospel to another generation. There must be a case for arguing that the Church needs to focus it missionary activities upon this continent. Young people present us with new and vibrant opportunities.

Another area of the world to watch carefully in terms of Church growth is Iran. Iran is currently never off the news owing to the current tension between the Islamic State and the people who refuse to conform. God, however, is working in Iran in a remarkable fashion. After the revolution in 1979 according to UK Government statistics there were around 500 Moslem converts to Christianity. Today those same statistics estimated 1,000,000 converts from Islam. The fastest growing evangelical movement in the world is in Iran. This is a county where Christians are imprisoned and where God’s people suffer all kinds of repression. Yet the Gospel continues to grow. At one time Christianity in what was once Persia looked to be dead. Yet out of the ashes God is building His Church once again. It must be our prayer that these waves of protests will result in a great nation where Christians will enjoy freedom; freedoms which will,enlarge the Church even more.

The teeming multitudes of this world, however, give us a glimpse of the only place in Scripture where we read of a multitude which cannot be numbered:

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands”. (Revelation 7:9)

There must be an enormous population on earth to produce such a population in glory.

In this twenty-first century we have new ways of reaching the mass of humanity; instant communication, information technology and globalism has given us a reach that is astonishing. God will use all these means to build His Church, ushering souls by the million into His Kingdom.

With that in view, the rising population should encourage and inspire us to pray for world wide revival, for the conversion of the nations, for the spread of the Gospel into all the earth. As the natural mandate to go forth and multiply is being fulfilled so the divine mandate to go into all the world and preach the Gospel will also be fulfilled effectually in the gathering together of the elect from the four corners of the globe.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)