Ever since sin entered into the world back in the Garden of Eden, there has not been a great deal of harmony in the world.  The very first two sons of Adam and Eve were very different in their personalities, and we know that Cain killed his brother Abel and buried him in the ground.  God confronted Cain about his act of violence, telling him that the blood of his brother Abel was crying out to Him from the ground.  Cain responded by suggesting to God that he was not his brother’s keeper.

“Words from Above” in the Bible tell us that conditions in the world soon went down hill rather rapidly, and by the sixth generation of humanity we are told that every imagination of the heart of man was evil continually.  This is when God decided to destroy the earth with a flood, sparing only a man named Noah and his family, because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  God performed a great reset, but unfortunately the effects of sin did not disappear, and evil has continued to create havoc on the earth.

The prophet Isaiah tells us Chapter 11 that one day there will be a time of peace on the earth during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus.  He says that the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.  He says that the cow and the bear shall feed together, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  He says that infants will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.  He says that there will be not be harm nor destruction on all His holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

The good news is that we do not have to wait until the time of the 1,000-year reign of Jesus on the earth, because Isaiah says that Jesus, whom he calls the Prince of Peace, can bring peace between God and man now.  The apostle Paul calls Jesus the mediator between God and man, the One who restores the relationship between God and man that was broken by the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Jesus shed His blood on the Cross to restore that broken relationship, but it is up to each and every one of us to allow the blood of Jesus to cover our sins.

Larry R. Steffee is pastor of the Center Hill Brethren In Christ Church on Miller Road in Smithville.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  For informa-tion, you may email lrsteffeetn@yahoo.com.