Did Adam loose eternal life? Why can't Christians?

[gemcgrew]

I do understand that Jesus did the will of his Father. But beyond that why did he have to die a physical death and resurrect?

I don't see a beyond that.

Are you saying there is no relation to the death of the 2nd Adam to that of the first Adam?

Not at all. Mercy is to be revealed. In order for that to occur, God placed all men under sin.

Do you really believe eternal life in John 3:16 is just and age or period in time?

Not any more than I believe it to be fully both.

Didn't Jesus undo what Adam caused?

What Adam did is not a cause, but an effect of prior determination.

"The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:"

 

[hummerpoo]

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.


Let's consider that the tree of life was not "off limits"...


"of every tree of the garden you may 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.

We cannot speculate over what "might have happened" had orders of eating been reversed...or even that eating (for Adam) of the tree of life would have lent itself to his obedience to not eat of the forbidden.

But here we learn of a promise in prophesy of one coming who will eat according to an order that will be in all beneficial to knowing and understanding:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

There will be an eating by that One that will inform as to what is truly good and evil...and more than just the knowledge that they exist but without any true discernment.

I understand these immediately above are my thoughts on the matter but I am being persuaded that all things (especially in seeking to handle discerning good and evil) must be seen as what genders to life...and what ultimately (even if by appearance seems good) ends in death.

A man can come to see it was mercy that put him out of that garden.

Though until Christ is revealed to a man and in a man he will strive to reenter according to his perverse sense of what good and evil truly are.

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

You will often find Gordon speaking with a clarity in this matter, eschewing operating as bound to the principle of good and evil.

B E A Utiful

 

[Artfuldodger]

Then the Tree of Life was the Cross? Plan "A" to begin with. We didn't loose eternal life by Adam's sin, we gained it.
The Word(Christ) was with God from before time.

 

[Israel]

To the natural man the cross appears as death. To be avoided and shunned. As all things of the carnal/natural are hostile to the spirit. And quite reversed in understanding.

But, O!...to the man of the spirit it is the way of life!

Just as:

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

There is a way that seems death...but is to eternal life.

And we are having our minds renewed.

 

[BanjoPicker]

If I'm going to argue that I can't loose my eternal life, why was Adam able to? I guess the answer lies in covenant differences? Maybe Adam never had eternal life. At least not eternal life in Heaven.

Which brings up another question, was eternal life in Heaven never intended? Something that came about after Adam broke his covenant?

If Adam had not sinned, would man have had eternal life in Heaven?

Gen. 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shaft not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Adam would have live for ever if he had not sinned and Eve to.

Gen. 2:9 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.
Adam was without sin didn't even know what sin was, had he obeyed God's commands and had proved to God that he was worthy of not sinning He could have eaten of the tree of life and live forever.

tree of life meaning lives, form chayah, to live, revive, keep or preserve alive (3:22; Pr. 3:18; Rev. 2:7; 22:2). Literally, the tree of the lives, because each separate life eating thereof would have live forever.

Gen. 3:22-24
Gen. 3:22 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 THE TREE OF LIFE, AND EAT, AND LIVE FOR EVER:

Gen. 3:23 There for the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Gen. 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. So Adam did died spiritually

So, the Lord God had to block the tree of life from him after he had sin because if he had eaten of it after he had sin man would have live forever in sin without dying.

So, if Adam had not sin Jesus Christ would not have had to even come as man and die for anyone's sins.

 

[Artfuldodger]

Gen. 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shaft not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Adam would have live for ever if he had not sinned and Eve to.

Gen. 2:9 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.
Adam was without sin didn't even know what sin was, had he obeyed God's commands and had proved to God that he was worthy of not sinning He could have eaten of the tree of life and live forever.

tree of life meaning lives, form chayah, to live, revive, keep or preserve alive (3:22; Pr. 3:18; Rev. 2:7; 22:2). Literally, the tree of the lives, because each separate life eating thereof would have live forever.

Gen. 3:22-24
Gen. 3:22 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 THE TREE OF LIFE, AND EAT, AND LIVE FOR EVER:

Gen. 3:23 There for the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Gen. 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. So Adam did died spiritually

So, the Lord God had to block the tree of life from him after he had sin because if he had eaten of it after he had sin man would have live forever in sin without dying.

So, if Adam had not sin Jesus Christ would not have had to even come as man and die for anyone's sins.

I was wondering why Adam didn't just eat from the Tree of Life to start with instead of the Tree of Knowledge.

I think I'm following you. Adam had no desire to eat from the Tree of Life. He did develop a desire, through temptation, to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Once he ate from that tree, he did develop a desire to eat from the Tree of Life. Actually before eating from the Tree of Knowledge, he didn't even need to eat from the Tree of Life. Before, he didn't have a reason or motivation to eat from the Tree of Life. He didn't need it's fruit.
Once he sinned, he did have a reason and God knew it so he had them leave the garden and guarded it with cherubs.

Seems like The Tree of Life was Jesus.

 

[Artfuldodger]

Perhaps Adam did not have eternal life to loose when he ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Maybe if he had passed the test of obedience, he would have been offered to eat from the Tree if Life after he passed the test.
Otherwise, what was the purpose of the Tree of Life? It's also mentioned in Revelation. The Tree of Life is still around. Again though, it may be Jesus.
Jesus has always been the only way to receive eternal life, even before the Fall. Even before the Cross.

 

[gemcgrew]

Adam, as a thief, ate of the tree and was cast out of Paradise.

Where do we see a thief eat of the Tree and enter Paradise?

Is there another time where Jesus used the word "Paradise"?

 

[Artfuldodger]

Also, if Adam previously had Eternal Life before he ate the fruit, a Tree of Life would not have been needed. This life giving tree was already in the Garden before sin existed.

 

[Artfuldodger]

Revelation 2:7
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Where is this paradise? What is this tree? Restored access to the tree of life was made possible by “the second Adam."

 

[Artfuldodger]

Those who avail themselves of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross will be resurrected to see the tree of life again, for it stands in the middle of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, where it bears “twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). In the eternal state, the curse will be no more (verse 3), access to the tree of life will be reinstated, and darkness will be forever banished (verse 5). Eden will be restored.

 

[Liberty in Christ]

Your salvation doesn't rest upon your efforts, never did. Nor does God ever return a son of His to Hades. He may discipline or remove a child of His from the earth for disobedience, that's a completely different matter.

 

[Artfuldodger]

Your salvation doesn't rest upon your efforts, never did. Nor does God ever return a son of His to Hades. He may discipline or remove a child of His from the earth for disobedience, that's a completely different matter.

How does this narrative fit in with Adam? Meaning Adam's salvation doesn't rest with his efforts. As it pertains to Adam being a son/called/elected? As it pertains to Adam's works?