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● Gen 3:19 . . By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat, until
you return to the ground-- for from it you were taken. For dust you are, and
to dust you shall return.
Did God have to smite Adam in order for him to stop living? No; it was only
necessary to deny Adam access to the tree of life and let nature and hard
work take their toll. In other words: since he was no longer immortal due to
tasting the forbidden fruit, it would be only a matter of time before Adam
simply gave out and passed away from wear and tear and old age.
But what happened to Adam when his body returned to dust? Did he return
to dust too? No; and that's because Adam wasn't entirely organic. His body
came from the soil; but according to Gen 2:7, his consciousness came from
God. The afterlife disposition of human consciousness is one of life's greatest
mysteries. Heck, even the origin of human consciousness is mystery enough
for some, let alone where it goes when people pass away.
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Adam was never immortal nor did he ever posses such by eating from the tree of life, God alone was the only immortal being at the time of Adam's creation (possessing inherent life, self existence, a life not dependent on any outside source). Adam on the other hand was reliant upon the great source of all life for his continued existence, the Lord God Almighty, as are all God's created beings, both men and angels alike.
Nor did Adam's consciousness come from God. There is no after-life consciousness, this is attested to not only by the scriptures themselves (
Eccl 9:10), but also from the testimony of Lazarus whom the Lord raised from the dead. If Lazarus had been conscious after he died would he not have mentioned it? Although we know he was not in heaven at the time, as our Lord clearly stated that no man had ascended to heaven save he who came down from such, but just for the sake of argument lets say it were true, would not Lazarus have said so, would he not be completely disappointed that he had to leave such a blessed place to return to the hardships and pains of this earth?
A soul is the combination of the breath of life (the spark of life imparted by God) and the organism made from the dust of the earth, when the spark of life, the breath of life departs the body upon death of the individual the soul, the being dies and the body returns to the dust from whence it was taken.
The individuality or consciousness if you will of the individual ceases to be, however because God intends in due time a resurrection of the individual, the remembrance of the individual is retained by God, and will be returned to the soul upon its awakening in the resurrection.
Keep in mind as the scriptures so state: "
The soul that sins it shall die"
The soul does not continue on in any manner it has ceased to be (for a time). Now in the resurrection the soul will be awakened from the death state. The soul is resurrected, not the body, the body returned to the dust.
In the resurrection you will receive a new body dependent upon what type of seed or grain went into the ground upon your death. If you had experienced a change of natures from the earthly to the spiritual you will receive a spirit body, if you did not experience a change of natures (were not begotten of the spirit) you will receive a new earthly body.
