God's Plan of Redemption Part 1

What is death? How is it defined? What happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Why did Jesus Christ give His life on the cross for our sins? What did such a sacrifice accomplish? Let us journey into the answers to these questions.

Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God created the man Adam out of the dust of the earth. For it is written: "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 being" (Genesis 2:7, NKJV). God gives our physical bodies a spirit which makes us a living soul. Without a spirit, our bodies remain lifeless.

God said to Adam "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:16). What happened to Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree which God told them not to eat from? God said that they would surely die, but clearly they did not die physically. God said they would die in the day that they eat from it, not some time in the future. God must not have been speaking of physical death, but spiritual death.

If Adam and Eve never sinned, they would have lived forever. They would have never died physically, and they would have never died spiritually. After they sinned, that very same day they suffered spiritual death, and also there bodies would grow old and weak over time and eventually they would suffer physical death.

Now what exactly is physical death and spiritual death; how should it be defined? Physical death is the separation of our spirit from our body. Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from God's Spirit. Adam and Eve's spirit was connected to God and thus alive, but after they sinned their spirit became disconnected from God, and thus died. Sin is what separates us from a righteous and holy God. For it is written: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). Also it is written: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Adam and Eve suffered spiritual death, and all of their descendents are born into spiritual death. You and I are born with our spirit separated from God, disconnected from His Spirit, and thus we are spiritually dead. There is nothing we can do to connect us back to God. People try to connect to God through rituals, morality, laws, and other good works, but nothing we do can connect our spirit back to God. Only God can make that possible through His own works.

Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). Also He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again.'" (John 3:5-7). The birth that Jesus is speaking of is with our spirit. All of us are born of flesh and with a dead spirit. That is what it means to be born a sinner. We are born with our spirit separated from God. Our spirit is easily influenced by the spirits of the world which are materialism, greed, money, power, pleasure, and much more.

Let us focus for a moment on providing evidence that we are all born sinners. We all know that children must be taught the difference between right and wrong. Children are naturally selfish for they don't like to share their toys, they cry when they don't get what they want, they lie, etc. Imagine how a child will turn out if you never discipline them and never teach them good manners. If we were not born sinners and born with the natural tendency towards sin, then we would not need to be taught.

Adam and Eve had no knowledge of evil until they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Satan tempted them in the garden, Adam and Eve were not aware of deception and lies. No evil thoughts entered their minds whatsoever. After they ate from the tree, they gained such knowledge of both good and evil. The knowledge is seen when God asks Adam if he ate from the tree that God commanded him not to eat from. Adam thought evil in that he could blame the woman. When God spoke to Eve, she thought evil and blamed the serpent. We are responsible for our own sins, and to blame other people for our sins is wrong. If it wasn't for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, none of us would think evil thoughts, much less do anything evil.

The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can be born again. Our spirit can be made alive and connected back to God. Before this second birth can take place, the price of our sin must be paid. We will cover that next in part two of this teaching on "God's Plan of Redemption."