Imagine yourself marooned on an island in the South Pacific or struggling to survive on meager provisions in the Australian outback. You find yourself with a few competing colleagues, and all of you must exercise every ounce of ingenuity and resourcefulness just to survive the harshness of the environment.

Not only do you have to deal with lack of food and shelter for more than six weeks, but you must survive each other. The rules to which everyone has agreed stipulate that every few days you will vote someone out of the group. This ousting continues relentlessly until only one is left. The last one remaining gets the grand prize of $1 million.

By now you have probably recognized the story line of Survivor, this season's highest-rated American television show. Millions watch the program every week to see who will be voted out of the group and who will "survive."

The producers of Survivor have captured the essence of the struggle for survival from mankind's very beginnings. The show is a remarkable microcosm of human civilization in which the viewer can watch raw human nature at work to make sure No. 1 comes out on top.

Initially, and superficially, everyone in the group must cooperate. The participants work together for the good of the whole group to supply food, erect shelters and come out on top in competitions. But beyond that they fiercely compete with each other.

It is no great surprise that the contestants quickly form alliances. They conspire to vote out of the group whoever they consider to be the weakest link, or the person who contributes least to the good of the group, or the individual who simply doesn't fit in.

Later the organizers of the alliances find others turning on them, and they find themselves voted out. The contestants manipulate, lie and betray in a surreal cutthroat process of eliminating imagined friend and foe. As the ordeal wears on, it's every man for himself.

Why is this television show so popular? Millions of people watch it in part because it parallels real-life situations that we would readily recognize in many political associations, clubs, corporations or even families. Only the circumstances are changed, and a time limit is imposed. And let us not forget the incentive of a large material reward.

Reflecting the real world

Nations play virtually the same game, often with deadly consequences. Before World War II, Germany formed alliances with Italy and Austria. Hitler saw others as a threat to his personal ambitions for massive power and Germany's dominance in the world. The first ones to be voted out, so to speak, were the Jews. Next was Czechoslovakia, followed by Poland.

The object of the game of world dominance was to determine who would rule. It's the same millennia-old story.

During World War II the United States and Britain allied themselves with the Soviet Union. No sooner was the world conflict over than the Soviets became the enemy and Germany an ally. Similarly, during the war Japan was an enemy and China an ally. Yet within a short time the situation reversed, with Japan an ally and China the enemy.

It is a truism that in international politics nations do whatever it takes to survive. That means protecting national interests by forming alliances with countries willing to support their agendas. The balance of power must be maintained. Other nations must not be allowed to get the upper hand. Treaties are made, favors are dispensed, and rumors are spread-all to manipulate other countries and promote national self-interests.

From the beginning the peoples of the world have been locked in a life-and-death struggle with each other for survival. Everybody's underlying philosophy is simple: If you win, you survive-and the means justifies the end.

Philosophical underpinnings

The dominant factor behind the struggle for power and the human tendency to dominate is simply the drive to survive.

The world has always operated on the principle of putting personal interests first. If that means one person has to subvert or subjugate another to achieve that end, so be it.

Jesus Christ highlighted an altogether different approach when He said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). His way of life helped, not hindered, those with whom He dealt. However, archadversary Satan stood in direct opposition to God's way of love. He was determined to thwart the Creator's plans by influencing mankind to oppose God's will at every turn.

Satan began by telling Eve a big lie: "You will not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). Already the struggle was about survival. Our first parents accepted the devil's way of survival: breaking God's law and rejecting God's way of love.

Few understand how the practice of exalting oneself at the expense of others came to be so fundamental to man's relationship with his fellowman. The philosophy of concern for other people-a way of life based on giving as opposed to getting-was represented in the tree of life, which God made available to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

They chose instead to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, resulting in both good and evil in our human nature. That fact fundamentally influences the philosophy behind our relationships. We will do good as long as we are convinced that doing good benefits us. But we generally will not do good when we determine that others are doing evil toward us or when doing evil appears to have overriding advantages.

The entirety of history after Adam is essentially an account of survivors who would succeed by making sure others didn't. The underlying drive behind the rise and fall of empires is one of gaining advantage and emerging as the ultimate survivor.

Christ understood the fatal flaw

Jesus of Nazareth could predict with stunning clarity the catastrophic results of such a selfish philosophy once it became an entrenched principle of human behavior.

"... You will hear of wars and rumors of wars," He said. "... For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Matthew 24:6-7).

How did He know that wars would characterize civilization in the years to follow, especially at the time of the end? He understood the natural consequences of the human tendency to struggle for survival. Christ could see that the desire to dominate others would lead to nations warring against other nations, as surely as Cain rose up against Abel.

He understood that alliances would form into kingdoms and that they would rise against other kingdoms. One would threaten the survival of the other. Inevitably one would vote the other out. That would mean war. As a member of the Survivor group said: "If you think another person is out to get you, you beat them to the draw."

Jesus said the human race would come to the brink of self-destruction but would survive only because God would step in to prevent human annihilation. "If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive, but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Matthew 24:22, Revised English Bible, emphasis added throughout).

The "chosen" Christ mentioned will not only survive, they will share in Christ's rule over the nations when He returns (Revelation 2:26). Who are these people, and how will they survive?

A new foundation

Jesus of Nazareth came proclaiming the good news of a kingdom that would function on the higher principle of love for others. He put the world on notice that a different philosophy, new to the majority of mankind, was in the process of being established.

The philosophy of love toward others would be embraced by those who understood that this future world-ruling Kingdom would replace all other kingdoms and empires. Jesus laid the foundation of a new world.

Jesus' new age is not here yet. Society operates on the old principle of pleasing and serving the self. But the higher principle of love replaces the old principle of selfishness in the few who dare follow it. They are the chosen of whom Jesus spoke!

Christ promised to build His Church (Matthew 16:18), in which godly principles are to prevail. Jesus didn't want strife and contention within His own body, nor would He sanction competition between His true Church and the nations. There would be no alliances with the state to assure the survival of Church members, nor would there be compromises among Christ's true followers to secure acceptance from either secular or religious authorities.

Christ's true disciples were to proclaim the true gospel among all nations and teach them what He had taught (Matthew 24:14; 28:18-20). His followers would have to live in the world but not subscribe to the underhanded methods this satanic society uses to rule and survive (John 17:14-16). It was sufficient that Christ promised that the grave would never be victorious over the Church (Matthew 16:18). The Church would never disappear. Though a "little flock" (Luke 12:32), it would always have an earthly presence.

Different attitude to prevail

A passage in Mark 10:35-45 illustrates Christ's point that His followers would have a different spirit, a transformed attitude.

This incident describes two of His disciples attempting to dominate the group by requesting the highest positions next to Christ in His Kingdom. They were prepared to rise in power at the expense of the others. "When the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John" (verse 41). If a vote had been taken at that moment, guess who would have been voted out!

Jesus used the incident to teach a crucial lesson. He explained how different His Kingdom would be compared with the ways of the world. "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant" (verses 42-43).

Christ instructed His followers on the fundamental attitude of humility that is always necessary in the service of others. Each was to reflect a humble attitude of service to the others and to all who would also seek to follow Christ.

How do the elect survive?

How would we behave if we were part of a group whose members were locked in a struggle to survive? Would we conspire against others? Jesus taught that we must not do what comes naturally. In Luke 17:33 He tells us, "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."

Of course, life is precious in God's sight. He is its Creator. Though Christians die, He will extend their lives beyond the grave through a resurrection to eternal life in His Kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:35-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Christ promised faithful first-century Christians suffering persecution at Smyrna: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).

This great principle of God-that by losing our lives we can save them-takes on greater significance in that dangerous period just before Christ's second coming.

Most people, not discerning the signs of the times, will not understand the remarkable significance of the events that will mark the end of this age. The apostle Paul speaks of the same period Jesus referred to, the day of the Lord, as coming "as a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). He wrote that "when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape" (verse 3).

Will anyone escape? If anyone does, it won't be because he knows exactly when the world upheavals will come, enabling him to make physical preparations ahead of time. Escape is something Christ Himself determines.

Historically, in the case of Noah during the antediluvian world and in the example of Lot just before God destroyed Sodom, neither knew exactly how the destruction would occur that God had predicted. God told Noah how to prepare, but Lot had no time either to prepare or secure any belongings for himself.

Jesus warned of the urgency of the need to escape impending destruction in terminology applicable to those living in His day: "In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back" (Luke 17:31). The application for us is that any attempt to preserve our lives by securing life-sustaining goods will not be the answer to our survival during the terrible time at the end of the age of man.

The formula for survival

Jesus indicates in Luke 17:34-37 that it is in His province to decide who will be saved from this world's destruction and how. Read Luke 21:34-36 to learn the kind of attitude and behavior Christ will look on with favor as this time of unprecedented trouble draws near.

God's Word gives us further understanding through one of Christ's apostles: "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing" (1 Peter 3:8-9).

Peter continues with his point in verses 10-12: "For 'He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.'"

In other words, says Peter, no alliances, no manipulating, no lying, no struggling for preservation at the expense of others is allowed. It is total reliance on God vs. reliance on self that enables His chosen to survive. They must be prepared to give their lives rather than violate the principles of the Kingdom of God that Christ taught. Indeed, some of them will be martyred, just as many of the apostles and other early Christians were murdered, because of their beliefs (Revelation 6:11).

However, God's Word assures us that God's chosen will prevail in the end. "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Revelation 12:10-11).

As Jesus said earlier: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).

Here are people who, when accused, appeal to the blood of the Lamb for their justification and place their future in the hands of their Teacher, the One who said He would always be with them, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

Surviving the end

An extraordinary prophecy tells us that others of God's people (symbolized by a woman in Revelation 12:13-17) will be given protection from the presence of the devil and nourished so they can survive during the crucial period just before Jesus returns.

This prophecy reminds us of one of the promises of Christ to His Church: "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Revelation 3:10).

The "hour of trial" refers to the very end of our present age (Matthew 24:3). God's people understand that, because they faithfully follow the teachings of Christ, they can be protected from the overpowering control of the devil and those he influences. The account of their divine protection is graphically pictured in Revelation 12:14-16.

Some will survive Satan's final attempts to bring the world under his direct control through the all-pervasive government symbolized by the "beast" described in the book of Revelation. Will you be among them? Will you be a spiritual survivor?

You can be, and you can understand the meaning of the horrific events that will mark the end of this age prophesied in the Bible many centuries ago. GN