Bible Question: In Your estimation, when God told Adam that the day that he would eat of the forbidden fruit that he would die, what happened? CDBJ |
Bible Answer: Adam's soul no longer "reflected" the image of God, and was therefore "dead" toward God. God could not have simply meant physical death, because in Gen. 3:17-19 God was not cursing Adam to phsyical death. God was saying that you will now have to work to survive UNTIL you die. The "curse" was that Adam would now have to work to survive. Gen. 1:17-19 "... Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In sweat of your face you shall eat bread TILL YOU RETURN TO THE GROUND, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Along with the verses that speak of "renewing the soul" to the knowledge of God, there are other passages that mention the opposite, a soul not alive toward God. Eph. 2:1 "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins..." Col. 2:13 "And you, being dead in your trespasses... He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses..." Eph. 4:18 "... having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart..." The word dead in those verses (3498) means "dead". Unlike the word "dead" when used in "dead (599) to sin" which actually means the "process of dying". |