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True peace was at the heart of God’s original Creation. In the first<br />
two chapters of the book of Genesis, we see the first human beings<br />
(Adam and Eve), made in the image of God, designed for relationship<br />
with him and one another, enjoying perfect peace and wellbeing in the<br />
idyllic setting of the Garden of Eden. Within that setting, every need<br />
they had was supplied – physical, emotional, spiritual, relational,<br />
material and vocational. It must have been utter bliss to live without<br />
any fear or worry over how those needs would be met.<br />
During what is described in the Bible as the Fall, humans turned<br />
their backs on their Creator, marring their relationship with him and<br />
with each other. As a result, they lost the original peace they had<br />
been given. Their work became hard, and suffering and death<br />
entered the earth (see Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). Ever since those<br />
first human beings turned away from the source of true wellbeing,<br />
humanity has continued to do so – and the devastating consequences<br />
have continued.<br />
Thank God that he didn’t leave things there. Rather, he made a<br />
covenant with a man called Abram and his descendants, which meant<br />
they enjoyed a measure of peace and wellbeing as they believed and<br />
walked in God’s ways (see Genesis 12–15). Throughout the Old<br />
Testament we can see that the people of God had moments when
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