You do not learn what death means from biology; you learn it from exile.
And Israel is the Bible’s commentary on Adam.
So the question becomes:
When Israel sinned, did God immediately execute them — or did He place them under a death-sentence while allowing life under mercy? Once that is answered, Adam is explained.
It's likely that God would not have excommunicated Adam from Eden but kept him in some sort of probationary life there.
Pastor Brito. The biological process of death to dust began immediately. In addition, God did not cloth Adam and Eve with cotton, but with the sacrificial death and skin of an animal Adam had named. And soon the two would also have the most painful experience of the death of their son Able. All of this pointing to the promise of the seed to come. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. This is my body broken and blood shed. By His scourging we are healed. God said “you will surely die” but you are now saying there was a possible probationary way around that. This type of speculation is unfruitful and gnostic, diminishing the love of God and cheapening the passion of our Christ. The pathway of the cross began immediately at that tree. Love in Christ, Steve
Steve, feel free to have the last word and encouraging the Perspectivalist.
Thank you for the careful reflection and for keeping the cross central. I do not think we actually disagree about the immediacy of death or the primacy of bloodshed. The question is what kind of death began at the tree and how Scripture itself narrates it. When God said, “in the day you eat of it you shall surely die,” Adam did in fact die that day. He was exiled from the garden sanctuary, cut off from the Tree of Life, and placed east of Eden. In biblical categories, that is, priestly death, separation from God’s presence (Num. 18:7; Isa. 59:2). The return to dust begins there, but the first death is covenantal before it becomes biological. This is why Adam continues breathing while nevertheless being called dead (Eph. 2:1).
The skins, Abel’s sacrifice, and every later shedding of blood do not contradict a probationary structure. They presuppose it. Throughout Scripture, God places His people under tests that lead either to glorification or exile. Adam in the garden, Israel in the land, and Jesus in the wilderness. Had Adam persevered, he would have eaten of the Tree of Life and moved from mutable glory to confirmed glory. After the fall, that same path to glory does not disappear but becomes a redemptive path. The flaming sword blocks the way, and from that moment forward, the sword must fall on a substitute. So the animal dies, Abel’s lamb dies, Passover lambs die, and finally Christ dies. The cross is not Plan B. It is the way God fulfills humanity's original destiny after Adam forfeits it.
So affirming a probation does not cheapen the passion. It magnifies it. Christ does not merely undo sin. He completes Adam’s failed vocation. He passes the test Adam failed, endures the exile Adam deserved, and opens the Tree of Life Adam lost (Rev. 2:7). The pathway of the cross indeed begins at the tree in Eden, but precisely because that tree was originally a test unto life. Golgotha is therefore not a different story from Eden. It is Eden brought to its appointed goal through judgment and resurrection.
This is fantastic! 🙌🏻
Prayers for fruitfulness in your meetings, and for stamina in your spirit, body, mind and emotions as you minister and fellowship.
Greetings Pastor Brito. Can you please elaborate on Adam not experiencing death but given a second chance if repentant?
You do not learn what death means from biology; you learn it from exile.
And Israel is the Bible’s commentary on Adam.
So the question becomes:
When Israel sinned, did God immediately execute them — or did He place them under a death-sentence while allowing life under mercy? Once that is answered, Adam is explained.
It's likely that God would not have excommunicated Adam from Eden but kept him in some sort of probationary life there.
Pastor Brito. The biological process of death to dust began immediately. In addition, God did not cloth Adam and Eve with cotton, but with the sacrificial death and skin of an animal Adam had named. And soon the two would also have the most painful experience of the death of their son Able. All of this pointing to the promise of the seed to come. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. This is my body broken and blood shed. By His scourging we are healed. God said “you will surely die” but you are now saying there was a possible probationary way around that. This type of speculation is unfruitful and gnostic, diminishing the love of God and cheapening the passion of our Christ. The pathway of the cross began immediately at that tree. Love in Christ, Steve
Steve, feel free to have the last word and encouraging the Perspectivalist.
Thank you for the careful reflection and for keeping the cross central. I do not think we actually disagree about the immediacy of death or the primacy of bloodshed. The question is what kind of death began at the tree and how Scripture itself narrates it. When God said, “in the day you eat of it you shall surely die,” Adam did in fact die that day. He was exiled from the garden sanctuary, cut off from the Tree of Life, and placed east of Eden. In biblical categories, that is, priestly death, separation from God’s presence (Num. 18:7; Isa. 59:2). The return to dust begins there, but the first death is covenantal before it becomes biological. This is why Adam continues breathing while nevertheless being called dead (Eph. 2:1).
The skins, Abel’s sacrifice, and every later shedding of blood do not contradict a probationary structure. They presuppose it. Throughout Scripture, God places His people under tests that lead either to glorification or exile. Adam in the garden, Israel in the land, and Jesus in the wilderness. Had Adam persevered, he would have eaten of the Tree of Life and moved from mutable glory to confirmed glory. After the fall, that same path to glory does not disappear but becomes a redemptive path. The flaming sword blocks the way, and from that moment forward, the sword must fall on a substitute. So the animal dies, Abel’s lamb dies, Passover lambs die, and finally Christ dies. The cross is not Plan B. It is the way God fulfills humanity's original destiny after Adam forfeits it.
So affirming a probation does not cheapen the passion. It magnifies it. Christ does not merely undo sin. He completes Adam’s failed vocation. He passes the test Adam failed, endures the exile Adam deserved, and opens the Tree of Life Adam lost (Rev. 2:7). The pathway of the cross indeed begins at the tree in Eden, but precisely because that tree was originally a test unto life. Golgotha is therefore not a different story from Eden. It is Eden brought to its appointed goal through judgment and resurrection.