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Instead of frittering away time and energy speculating about “The Great Reset” and fearing it, let us focus on the coming of the kingdom of God, preparing our hearts for the ultimate Reset, the new heavens and the new earth.

There’s been a great deal written lately about “The Great Reset”, much of it amounting to rather wild conspiracy theory speculation, and sadly much of that being among Christians identifying it with the coming of the Antichrist.

And it’s this I want to address directly. But first, some background.

For those unaware of what I’m referring to, “The Great Reset” is an idea and a plan for a renewal, if you like, of the way the world operates at the highest level of interaction between governments, business, and society at large. It is primarily the brainchild and creation of Klaus Schwab, the CEO of the World Economic Forum, and it was the slogan for their annual conference in Davos, Switzerland in 2021.

After it first emerged in embryonic form after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, it has now appeared in a more fully fleshed out version, at least as far as novel ideas, without any historical precedent, can be fleshed out. Although, as with any well-intentioned idea (and I do believe that there are good intentions in it somewhere), the Devil is always found in the details.

I found a good analysis of those details as outlined by political scientist Ivan Wecke:

“The idea is that global capitalism should be transformed so that corporations no longer focus solely on serving shareholders but become custodians of society by creating value for customers, suppliers, employees, communities and other ‘stakeholders’. The way the WEF sees stakeholder capitalism being carried out is through a range of ‘multi-stakeholder partnerships’ bringing together the private sector, governments and civil society across all areas of global governance.

The idea of stakeholder capitalism and multi-stakeholder partnerships might sound warm and fuzzy, until we dig deeper and realise that this actually means giving corporations more power over society, and democratic institutions less…

… Instead of corporations serving many stakeholders, in the multi-stakeholder model of global governance, corporations are promoted to being official stakeholders in global decision-making, while governments are relegated to being one of many stakeholders. In practice, corporations become the main stakeholders, while governments take a backseat role, and civil society is mainly window dressing.”

Now, if you think about that situation for long enough, it all sounds alarming enough to justify the conspiracy theories. But I maintain there’s nothing further from the truth. Here’s why.

Massive Multi-National Corporations

In one sense, I’m not surprised at the notion of global corporations seeing themselves as global decision-makers and legislators. In fact, I believe it’s been a long time coming, as it’s something I’ve seen growing over the past 15 years or so.

The first time I was struck by the growing power and influence of these mega-corporations was when I watched the documentary about the 2001 collapse of the Enron Corporation, “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”. I’ll never forget it being mentioned in the film that at the time of the company’s collapse, it had a market value that was equivalent to the GDP of the 50^th ranked national economy in the world, which at the time was Egypt. So here was just one corporation in the energy sector in the Southwest of the United States with the economic clout of a sovereign nation of (at the time) nearly 70 million people!

Another significant factor is that in the ensuing years, we’ve seen examples of governments in a number of nations taking legislative measures to prevent large global corporations from dodging their tax responsibilities, with varying, and generally underwhelming, results. This has caused me to think that a time would come when there may even be a contentious flashpoint between the authority of governments acting on behalf of their citizens and the economic power of giant corporations to reject or ignore that authority.

Given time, it makes perfect sense that once these corporations know they can resist governments’ attempts to curb their avoidance of accountability, it’s then only a small step logically to see themselves as able to become sovereign authorities similar to sovereign nations.

This might well be that time. Having been a casual observer over these past years, it appears to me that it’s possible to view “The Great Reset” as a corporate “mailed fist in a velvet glove”, especially when Ivan Wecke’s interpretation above seems to me to be more than credible.

Faith vs Fear

So, on the strength of that, why am I not joining the conspiracy theorists if, as Wecke states, the evidence is “hiding in plain sight”? It’s because of what powers the conspiracy thinking: fear and distrust, which are the direct and Satanic opposites of those God has called us to: faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

If you truly love God “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30), then fear is impossible, as “perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18).

Consequently, anything and everything that happens in the world around us will be filtered through our faith in God and our subsequent rest in His authority. Then if your complete faith is in God, and your hope is in His goodness and His good plan for His world, blind fear that leads to the empowerment of such conspiracies over your thinking is simply impossible.

So let’s be completely realistic here: there actually is a grand conspiracy at play, but it’s not the one dreamed up by Klaus Schwab, or anyone else for that matter. It’s the one that the Grand Conspirator has been working on since the Fall! And as far as his plan entails a power grab for total control of this world, at some stage he’s going to for a brief moment achieve that goal, but it’s in the brief achievement that his ultimate downfall is also achieved.

That’s what the Bible tells us very clearly, as this excellent article by the biblical scholar Dr Michael Brown shows us:

“Here’s big theme number one: In the end, God’s kingdom will triumph. In the end, righteousness will rule. As described in these famous words of Isaiah,

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.’

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:2–4)…

… Here’s the next big theme: Until that time, we will see parallel extremes, with the darkness getting darker and the light getting brighter until the Lord returns. It will be as if the devil himself stops hiding in the shadows and unveils the full force of his wickedness while God Himself says, ‘Really? Now watch this!’”

So with all of that in mind, to even think for a moment that “the prince of this world” requires any kind of human agency to create a single world government of any kind of make-up? I find that ludicrous.

Authority in Christ

Even if there were a global cabal comprising the WEF, Bill Gates, George Soros, “Big Tech”, “Big Pharma”, all the “usual suspects” rounded up by conspiracy theorists when you mention “One World Government”, why, as Christians should we be surprised? Even more to the point, why, as Christians should we give them a moment’s thought? After all, can they fully succeed in anything because God didn’t see it coming? Can they, in fact, succeed in anything that God has said “No” to? Can they even be what Satan has in mind for his grand plan to rule the globe?

But some might say that the Bible gives us so many clues so that we can work them out and see these schemes coming and use them for their predictive value. I would call that a poor understanding of the purpose of these passages.

So why did God provide so many clues to future tribulations? So that we would be prepared by being so sold out to Him so that whatever level of persecution comes our way, we will not crumble under the pressure, because, as the saying goes, “forewarned is forearmed”.

In fact, the parts of the Bible which are seen to be predictive of severe tribulation are dwarfed by those which instruct us on how to live in a fallen world as ambassadors of God. And above all, prior to His Ascension, Jesus told His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Me”. That means, as His ambassadors we have all of that authority delegated to us. And authority always trumps power!

As an example of this, look to the persecuted churches around the world, who live under the most extreme forms of torture and even martyrdom. Can you imagine Christians in North Korea obsessing over “the Great Reset”? Or Christians anywhere in the Islamic world wondering if George Soros or Bill Gates are the Antichrist-in-waiting? These Christians are the ones living through the worst fears of the conspiracy theorists and more, and yet they’re also the Christians reaping the greatest harvest of souls in history!

Should we not ask why? And should we not ponder on the possibility that God will one day allow the same to happen in the West? Why should we be spared what our persecuted brothers regard as an event no less expected than the sun rising and setting each day?

On this consideration alone, I say that any kind of attention given to these kinds of ideas, other than to be like “the sons of Issachar”, “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32), is an affront to both our suffering brothers and sisters and to the Lord!

In contrast is the futility of the conspiracy theorist. I’ve lost count of the number of times a conspiracy theorist on social media has condescendingly mocked my opinion and then said, “Wake up!” To that, I now say, “And do what? What are you doing with this information you claim to have awakened to? How is it driving your devotional life? What is it doing for your witness to the lost? Because all I see is the same people on the same social media platforms making the same conspiracy claims and nothing else! This makes you empty seed husks floating aimlessly on the breeze! And Satan loves it!”

There’s an irony in that. “The Great Reset”, which is identical to all other examples through history of Leftist utopian pipe dreams, offers no clear vision of what the outcome might look like. In the same way, none of these conspiracy theories offer up any kind of course of action to circumvent or even contest the conspiracies they claim to identify.

So let’s turn to what is effective.

What does operating in that uniquely powerful authority that comes from facing persecution and “understanding the times” do for us? What insight does it offer as an alternative to the fear-inducing conspiracy theories?

Hope!

We have hope because of the promises of the One who holds “all authority”, Who, once Satan is ultimately defeated, will receive everything that is His by right of that authority: “power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing” because He alone “sits on the throne” (Revelation 5:12-13).

This is why Paul tells us in Romans,

“… we celebrate in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
(Romans 5:2b-5 NASB)

Globalism vs Nations

Even in practical terms, we’ve seen in recent times the reality of what happens when globalist structures come into conflict with the innate nationalism that is instilled by God as part of our wider identity. First there was Brexit, now there is political instability in Italy which could see those opposed to the EU come to power, with the potential outcome that they follow Britain out of the EU.

Most recently we have the popular uprisings in the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. In the Netherlands, it’s because a European court ordered the Dutch Government to effectively get rid of a significant amount of its grazing herds because of greenhouse emissions, so effectively a pan-European group of unelected elites dictating to a sovereign national government. In response, the farming community has risen up in mass protest.

In Sri Lanka, it is primarily due to a mad, dogmatic dash towards “Net Zero” and a legislated move to fully organic farming methods. Together they have crippled the nation.

And that’s without me even making a single reference to Ukraine and Russia!

The bottom line in all of this is that nations are part of God’s plan for an ordered society. They are an extension of family into “tribe and tongue”. The only place we find any mention of a unified mankind that’s blessed in God’s plans, where “tribe and tongue” are subsumed into a larger whole, is in reference to the Body of Christ, His Bride.

In Galatians 3:28 Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. And at the end of the age, we see “… a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9 NASB).

For all these reasons, we need not be imprisoned by thoughts about those who would carry out wicked plans that contradict God’s, obsessing over what we believe the enemy is doing through human agency. Instead, we should be “prisoners of hope” (Zechariah 9:12).

In fact, Psalm 2 gives us the clearest possible picture of God’s response to such plans:

Why are the nations restless
And the peoples plotting in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers conspire together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let’s tear their shackles apart
And throw their ropes away from us!”

He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
“But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

“I will announce the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have fathered You.
Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth as Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

(Psalm 2:1-9 NASB)

The first thing we notice is that this is all the national leaders conspiring together. In other words, a global alliance. And it’s the fact that they’re actually doing so that is the reason why it is “Against the Lord and against His Anointed”. Because this is the way they imagine they will be able to “… tear their shackles apart and throw their ropes away from us!” Power in unity.

But God shows His love, and his design for individual, autonomous sovereign nations which, together are the Son’s “inheritance”. And His judgement against any globalist aspirations, even if they were to come from a completely sincere desire to create a better world (yes, I know I’m using hyperbole, but it covers every possibility, including “The Great Reset”) is destruction of those aspirations: “You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”

In fact, I heard the Spirit say to me while preparing this, “Let them declare what they want. They will not succeed. But a day is coming when I will declare my own ‘Great Reset’ that none can oppose.”

So, it’s time to give up that which only leads to fear and a negative focus on what certain people or groups might be doing that could bring about persecution against us. Instead, be like the Lord Jesus, Who on the night of His betrayal said of Satan and his plans, “The ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over Me.” (John 14:30 NRSV)

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Photo by Cup of Couple.