And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Genesis 2:9

 

We are first presented with the tree of life in the Garden of Eden.  Eating of this tree gives one eternal life.

 

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:  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  Genesis 3:22-23

 

One may ask, who was the Lord God speaking to when he states, "Behold, the man is become as one of us"?  Some think he was speaking to himself as the Lord God is three persons made up of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  While this may be true, Heaven is not empty.  Heaven is full of Angelic Hosts.  God is continuously surrounded by Angelic Hosts.  There is no reason to doubt that the Lord God was also speaking to the Angelic Hosts around His throne.  These hosts would not only know good and evil but also live for ever.  We know that human beings die but Angels do not die.  Angels were made to never die.  Angels were made with eternal life.  Man was made from the dust of the ground.   

 

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

 

But man never got the chance to eat of the tree of life so he could have eternal life.

 

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

 

We also know that some of the Angels rebelled and followed Lucifer and left their first estate. 

 

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.  Jude 1:6 

 

They are currently in everlasting chains in the darkness of hell where the worm does not die.  They will be banished after Judgment Day for all eternity when death and hell are thrown into the lake of fire.

 

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.    Isaiah 66:22-24

 

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  Mark 9:43-44

 

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  Revelation 20:14

 

The LORD God did not want the man to eat of the tree of life and live forever because man had disobeyed Him and eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Before man ate of the tree of knowledge he could have eaten of the tree of life.  However, man was attracted first to the tree that he was forbidden to eat of, even though God warned him, on the day he ate thereof he would die.

 

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.  Genesis 16:17

 

Various commentators have tried to explain away this punishment that "in the day that thou eatest therof thou shalt surely die".  Because in the day Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge, they obviously did not die.  We know this for one, that none of us would be here if they had died that day. 

 

Two explanations that are commonly offered:

 

The first explanation offered is that only Adam and Eve's spirit died that day.  However the punishment Adam and Eve would have understood as being meant would not have been only their spirit.  This also makes the big assumption that Adam & Eve had a spirit at this time as opposed to only a body and a soul.  Genesis 2:7 states that Adam became a living soul when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.  It says nothing about a spirit.  There is a debate whether all people are born with body, soul, and spirit.  But the spirit part is somehow dead until they obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ.  Then their spirit comes to life.  However, this would contradict the idea that the Spirit is the one part of a person that is eternal so it cannot die. 

 

The other choice is that all people* are born with only a body and soul and obtain an eternal Spirit, the only part that is eternal, when they obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ. 

 

* It should be noted that there is a scripture that could be interpreted as indicating an exception to being conceived with only a body and soul in the case where either the father or mother had the Spirit, i.e. eternal life. 

 

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.  I Corinthians 7:14

 

But then the question comes up as to what happens to the spirit once the "age of accountability" has passed and that person has not made the choice on his own.  Is the spirit cut away from this person's soul so they no longer have eternal life?  Are they allowed to decide on their own after they reach the age that they can make such a decision?  It would not seem to make any sense that this choice would be taken away from them to where they were punished in the lake of fire forever even though they themselves didn't believe.  Scripturally it is mentioned as possible and seems to be the only logical time that this could occur.

 

 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12

 

The second explanation offered is that they actually did die that day but we have to convert to God days.  We are told in II Peter 3:8:

 

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  II Peter 3:8

 

Adam died when he was 930 years old.  However again, this would not have been the interpretation that either Adam or Eve would have understood God as meaning.  What kind of threat of punishment is that you will surely die within the next thousand years? 

 

So regardless whether either of these two explanations describe conditions that might be true, and we know that at least the second condition was true, we need to reject both because God would have perfectly communicated to Adam and Eve's understanding the real punishment and neither of these explanations would have been understood by Adam and Eve as the punishment.

 

So we are left with what the Bible says.  God obviously showed compassion on Adam and Eve and decided not to kill them that day.  Instead He killed two animals.  Those two animals paid the price for Adam and Eve's sin.  They died instead of Adam and Eve.  They took the place of Adam and Eve just as the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, would take the place for all Adam and Eve's offspring which were written in the Lamb's book of Life before the foundation of the earth.

 

The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  Acts 5:30

 

When Jesus was on that tree, He became our "tree of life"! 

 

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  John 12:32 

 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.  John 15:4-5

 

 

 

Shalom,

Ted Porter

 

 

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,  II Timothy 1:9