So, inasmuch as the tree of
life in Eden had been made the channel of continuance of life to man,
the Lord said:
"Now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and
eat, and live forever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the
garden of Eden." Gen. 3:22, 23.
This negatives the idea that there could ever be an immortal sinner, who
should mar God's creation forever. Sin works out nothing but death.
"Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15. Fallen
himself, Adam could bequeath to his posterity only a fallen, mortal
nature. So began the sad history summed up in the text:
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12.
Mortality Universal
Mortality is written upon all creation. Ages ago the wise man wrote,
"There is one event unto all: ... they go to the dead." Eccl. 9:3. Human
hearts everywhere and in all time have cried out against the
remorselessness of the great enemy. "Do people die with you?" was the
question met by Livingstone in the untraveled wilds of Africa.
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