'Adam and Eve
Back to The Release of the Material Creation
The issue from the beginning has been life versus death. Residence in Heaven after we die physically is not the fullness of life for us because our body still is bound by death.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
It appears that the "breath of life" mentioned here is physical life, the life that operates in association with the bloodstream of man, the life that ceases when we die physically. Mortal life operates as the body cells burn, providing energy for warmth, movement, and bodily functions. When the heart ceases to beat, bringing the bloodstream to a halt, the spirit and soul are separated from the body and the body begins to decay.
The Lord God had warned Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17).
In what manner did Adam die? We would suggest that the death announced here was both spiritual and physical. Whereas the spirit, soul, and body of Adam and Eve had enjoyed the knowledge, the Presence of the Lord God, they now were under condemnation and as a result separated from God’s Presence—and there was no redeemer available.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is, as far as we know, the eternal moral law of God. Adam and Eve were not learned in the moral law of God. They did not understand that it is a shame to be naked. God did not want them to come to this knowledge until He had prepared a provision for sin.
As the eternal moral law of God is preached today we are convicted of sin. But we do not flee from the Presence of God because God has made provision for our sin. The provision is the blood of the cross of Calvary. As soon as we are made aware of sin in our life we run to the cross, to the sin-cleansing fountain. Immediately our sin is forgiven and cleansed from us and we go on our way rejoicing.
The provision of the blood of the cross was not yet available in the days of Adam and Eve, and so God did not want them to become aware of sin. God knew that the shame of their nakedness would become known to them and there was no remedy as yet.
An important aspect of the death of Adam and Eve was the decay of their bodies ("unto dust shalt thou return"—Genesis 3:19), and the loss of access to the tree of life—to that which would have enabled their bodies to be renewed in consciousness and function forever.
The fact that Adam and Eve did not die physically during the twenty-four hour period during which they sinned probably is not significant. The idea of "the day," or "that day," as employed in the Scriptures, does not always indicate the immediate twenty-four hour period. God speaks in timeless, spiritual terms.
Although Adam did not die for many hundreds of years, in the sight of God Adam died physically the moment he sinned against God. His body no longer was worthy of the Presence of God and the processes of decay had commenced.
Adam, through his disobedience, lost the fellowship with God that had been natural to him. In addition, there came into Adam’s soul a spirit of rebellion against God and there came into his body the various lusts that represent enslavement to Satan.
Adam’s physical body, not being renewed by the Life of God, began to breed corruption. After nearly a thousand years of decaying, the marvelous material temple finally failed. The breath of life left Adam’s nostrils. Adam himself did not perish but he was separated from his body. His body returned to the dust to sleep there until the Day it is called forth by the voice of Christ.
The tree of life was in the garden. This was not the type of fruit tree with which we are familiar. The tree of life, which today is in the midst of the Paradise of God, is a representation of the eternal life that is of God and Christ. Or, it may have been true that in the beginning the various fruit trees contained both physical and spiritual nourishment.
The life in the tree of life does not consist of body cells burning in the presence of oxygen. Rather, it is an energy that can animate the material form apart from the bloodstream. Whereas the bloodstream of man is a corruptible source of energy and renewal, the energy and renewal that come from the tree of life are of the incorruptible Life of God. They are not subject to decay. It is our point of view that the Tree of Life is Christ.
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: (Genesis 3:22)
What was God’s concern?
Adam was in a state of condemnation before God. The sentence of physical death had been passed on him. Eating of the tree of life would have brought an eternal source of energy and renewal into Adam’s body while he was in a state of condemnation before the Lord God.
In the tree of life is contained Divine Life—that which is imperishable. If that Divine Life had entered the material bodies of Adam and Eve, transfusing their elements and systems with imperishable life, their bodies would have endured forever without aging—even though their spiritual personalities were separated from God and under the sentence of condemnation. They would have been satanic—powerfully alive but utterly corrupt.
It was God’s goodness that prevented Adam and Eve from receiving imperishable life into their bodies. For if they, being in a state of fear and condemnation because of their disobedience, had received eternal energy and renewal in their material form, they would have been living on the earth in their rebellion and condemnation to the present day. By this time, approximately six thousand years after their creation, they would have become monsters of lawlessness similar to Satan and the fallen lords of the spirit realm.
Therefore by physical death the Lord God separated their spiritual nature, their soul and spirit, from their physical body. He placed their soul and spirit in a waiting area of the spirit realm and gave their bodies back to the dust of the ground. God placed a "heaven" between their spiritual nature and their perishing physical form, just as God divided the waters from the waters with a firmament on the second day of creation.
God does this with the Christian. He raises our reborn inner nature to His right hand in Christ but he leaves our sin-prone mortal body on the earth. Our inner nature is kept separate from our mortal body by a "heaven."
Notice, in the following verse, how the Lord God associated Adam with his physical body—not with his inner spiritual nature but with his material form:
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19)
Contemporary Christian teaching does not place nearly enough emphasis on the physical body as being an integral part of the personality of man. Many of today’s teachers treat the physical body, in accordance with some of the religions of the East, as an evil that will be discarded when we "go to Heaven."
God told Adam and Eve they were "dust," saying nothing about their "immortal souls," which is the Eastern philosophy being emphasized today in the churches of Christ. The fact is, the physical body is important in the plan of God and is central to the topic of this present booklet.
It is important to note that Christ has come "in the flesh" (I John 4:2).
Notice also:
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (Acts 2:31)
We never will understand the release of the material creation or the rewards to the overcomer until we appreciate the role of the material body in the eternal purpose of God. The release of the creation has to do with the clothing of the invisible God with a material form. Our material bodies are the rooms of the house of God (John 14:2). Our bodies are the temples of the Spirit of God.