June 6 marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces stormed northern France, turning the tide of World War II. Defeat would have meant a very different world, formed in the image of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

While everyone alive has been indirectly affected by that day in 1944, many of my generation have family who fought in what was the deadliest war ever waged. My father served as a U.S. Army officer and pilot on the European front. He survived heavy enemy fire and three aircraft crashes. His brother—my Uncle Bill—was a Navy pilot in the same war. He was at Pearl Harbor during the December 7, 1941, attack—a day he was understandably reluctant to talk to his young nephew about. He attained the rank of Navy captain and commanded two or three United States naval air stations. Another uncle, my mother’s brother, also served in the Signal Corp during WWII.

Had these men—and countless others—not demonstrated the courage and toughness necessary to prevail, freedom as we know it would not exist. Yet war was never God’s intent for humanity. He is five times specifically called the “God of peace” (Rom. 15:33, 16:20; Phil. 4:9; I Thes. 5:23; Heb. 13:20)! He hates bloodshed, but is ironically also a “man of war” (Ex. 15:3), with the power to ultimately eliminate those who would jeopardize peace for the rest of mankind.

Everywhere Jesus Christ went, He preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14). Gospel simply means “good news.” He taught true Christians to pray: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). This “will” includes peace only available in a world-ruling Kingdom of God that will not permit war.

For years, I conducted Sabbath services in New York City. The location was across the street from the United Nations building where a statue of a sword being forged into a plowshare sat outside. The sculptor who formed it was guided by Isaiah 2:2-4:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

The concept of an implement of destruction being repurposed into a useful tool is the antithesis of where the world is headed today. War in simplest terms involves human beings killing other human beings—conflict hated by the God who plainly commanded, “You shall not kill” (Ex. 20:13). Only He can permanently end the bloodshed and heartache that has plagued mankind for nearly 6,000 years.

World War I saw more than 15 million deaths and was called “the war to end all wars.” Yet World War II was fought mere decades later and claimed over 70 million lives! Many more wars have been fought since, with the world now teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust. Tensions between the world’s greatest nuclear powers are higher than ever, and only increasing. Without God’s intervention, the slightest miscalculation or overreach could trigger an attack and counterattack that would make the combined casualties of World War I and World War II seem insignificant. These are the darkest days of mankind’s existence.

But understand! The World War III scenarios humanity is careening toward will not occur. God will intervene before it is too late.

Here is one more passage to meditate on as you think back to the events of June 6, 1944, and watch the near-daily nuclear threat escalation now besieging the world. Seven chapters later in the same book, Isaiah recorded this of God’s Kingdom: “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end” (9:7).

Far more than just a pipe dream, everlasting peace will come! This Kingdom will be established “with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (vs. 7). Mankind will never again learn war.

Come to grips with the good news of God’s coming Kingdom. Pray more fervently for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on Earth—when He will END WAR by personally taking control of world affairs!