Yes, imagine if evil, rebellious people could access the means that God put in place to guarantee unending life....and they never died!
This was life in the flesh that was to be unending, but now that a knowledge of evil was in the world, Adam and his wife would experience the knowledge of evil becoming a practice. Their firstborn murdered his brother out of jealousy....not in a fit of anger, but in pre-meditated murder. They were to learn that death can come in many ways without God’s protection.
Count the evil humans down through time, and aren’t we grateful that God barred the way to the tree of life whilst he dealt with this rebellion in the only way that would prevent it from ever happening again. He allowed the humans to experience what the devil offered them.....freedom to do whatever they wanted.....to deliver and experience evil on a scale they had never contemplated. But humans were not created with an evil bent, as long as they obeyed their Creator and stayed within the limits of freedom that he set for them, all would be as he intended.
Only when they stepped outside of the limits God set, and sin entered into the human race, were they open to the devil’s influence. When we hear that an act committed was “inhuman” we are seeing what that means.....it is not in human nature to behave like that.....that word means “not human” or “outside normal human behaviour”. Humans who leave God have only one other source of influence....and we see it clearly.
So what happened...?
Satan was the first of God’s “sons” to become discontent with his lot. According to Ezekiel 28:12-19, satan was appointed as the “covering cherub” in the garden of Eden. A guardianship position that carried a weighty responsibility....but observing these intelligent creatures who were inferior to himself, he began to envy the worship given to God and wanted it for himself.
In an address to the King of Tyre, but clearly a veiled judgment against the one whom he emulated, Jehovah said.....
“You were the model of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eʹden, the garden of God.
You were adorned with every precious stone. . .
They were prepared on the day you were created.
14 I assigned you as the anointed covering cherub.
You were on the holy mountain of God, and you walked about among fiery stones.
15 You were faultless in your ways from the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you. . . .
You became filled with violence, and you began to sin.
So I will cast you out as profane from the mountain of God and destroy you,
O covering cherub, away from the stones of fire.
17 Your heart became haughty because of your beauty.
You corrupted your wisdom because of your own glorious splendor. . . .
Your end will be sudden and terrible,
And you will cease to exist for all time.”’”
We get some idea about why this formerly faithful and magnificent “son of God” began to entertain ideas about himself that were destructive. He wanted to “be like God”, and plotted a course to achieve his aim to become a “god” to these humans. But first he had to separate them from their Creator by tempting them into disobedience......then he had them, and they were his to do with as he pleased....but not all would succumb to his ways.
Why did God allow him to influence the entire human race? Because Jehovah created us with free will. We can use it to uphold his Sovereignty over us and enjoy the blessings he provides, or we can abuse it in disobedience and experience the bad outcome. God allowed the greatest object lesson in our history to teach us the value of obedience.....it is all he has ever asked of us. We can choose to either obey God or disobey him.
Through the written record he has provided, we can see clearly that our Father never abandoned us to the devil, but always provided guidance to his faithful ones....at first they had his spirit to direct them, and in time his laws and recommendations for daily living were put in written form so that we future children could consult this guidebook and see for ourselves what eventuates for both the faithful and the unfaithful. Good examples and bad ones.
“The tree of life” in the garden was therefore a contrast to the other tree....partaking of one resulted in life....the other in death. But as any good parent will do to protect his children, God placed a serious penalty in front of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” as a deterrent, so that his free willed children would never think of touching its fruit. He claimed that tree as his exclusive property and to steal from one’s Sovereign, was a capital offence, no matter how small the theft was. It was a wicked act of absolute disrespect.
The devil took away the penalty....he lied to the woman and she ate....he didn’t lie to Adam. So Adam’s choice dictated the outcome....and here we are. (Romans 5:12)
Yes, life or death was all God ever placed in front of his children. (Deuteronomy 39:19) Life and death are opposites. Which means that there is no immortal soul to go on living somewhere else.....but that is for another thread.