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God created a perfect world - complete with all life including plants and animals
and humans. In the beginning there was no disease, decay, deformity or death. In
keeping with who God is, it was a perfect environment where everything existed
and worked together in perfect harmony, in peace and in a perfect and personal
relationship with God. There is no other peace to be found other than with the
true and living God of creation. Romans 16:20 says it is the God of creation – the
true God of peace who will crush evil.

When the first created humans, Adam and Eve, sinned by disobeying God the
whole of creation was cursed with disease, decay, deformity, death and was
consequently separated from God. The first Adam was the first representative of
the human race and his decision to disobey God cursed all mankind to follow (this
is what the Bible calls “the fall” - Genesis 3; Romans 8:21 etc.). Because Adam (and
Eve) disobeyed God the effects of that disobedience (sin) were passed on to every
person born: Romans 5:12 says that sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.
Adam was separated from God and consequently the whole of humanity was
separated from God and became spiritually dead (Genesis 2:7; Colossians 2:13
etc.). Because of sin within our nature and a spiritually dead state it was and is
impossible to perfectly obey the law of God and be good enough to be with God -
“No one is good but God” (Mark 10:18). Because of sin within our nature the Old
Covenant of law failed as it could not make people good through their works -
although some were saved though faith. The Old Covenant proved that the only
way to have assurance of salvation and eternal life in a perfect relationship with
God the Father was through the Lord Jesus Christ and a New Covenant. A Saviour
was needed to make a New Covenant of salvation by grace through faith - not
works of the law. Therefore, by contrast to the first Adam who failed the Lord Jesus
Christ is the new Adam, the Saviour who was without sin and lived in a perfect
relationship with God (1 Corinthians 15:45).
The New Covenant came by the Lord Jesus who was without sin and obeyed God
perfectly in every way. It is a New Covenant of perfect blood sacrifice - the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ shed on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin. Romans 3:25
states “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement through the shedding of
his blood - to be received by faith”. The Lord Jesus Christ brings new life and He
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