Jesus spoke the world into existence in six literal days (Gen 1; John 1:1-3; Col 1:16). Then, He formed Adam of the dust of the ground and "…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen 2:7) The original Hebrew words for the English phrase is "chay nephesh." Its primary meaning is "that which breathes." We do not have a soul; we are souls or beings with life in the blood. The same words are also used for animals (Gen 1:20, 21, 24; 2:19; 9:4), but interpreted "living creature" in the same KJV. In the NT, the word "soul" is translated from the Greek word "psyche." In his book— Search for the Immortal Soul, Daniel Knauf explains that the primary meaning is “physical life,” but it can also refer to "functions of one’s personhood such as emotions, inner feelings and heart loyalties." It is not an immortal part of a person.
In Genesis 1, the animals were made, according to their kinds- a different flesh for each. All animals are part of the consummation of all things.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." (Romans 8:18-25)
But the souls of humans must be redeemed to share in the common salvation at the end. We are mortal. God alone has immortal. (1 Timothy 6:16) And He gives "eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality." (Romans 2:7) Luther posted his 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. He later published a defense of 41 points. The 27th calls the doctrine of the immortal soul- one of "all these endless monstrosities in the Roman dunghill of decretals..." It is leaven which infests the whole loaf. “Luther, with a greater emphasis on the resurrection, preferred to concentrate on the scriptural metaphor of sleep. For just as one who falls asleep and reaches morning unexpectedly when he awakes, without knowing what has happened to him, so we shall suddenly rise on the last day without knowing how we have come into death and through death. 'We shall sleep, until He comes and knocks on the little grave and says, Doctor Martin, get up! Then I shall rise in a moment and be happy with Him forever.’” (“Our Christian Hope” by T. A. Kantone)
“Yahweh God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:8-9) The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a tree with fruit that was good for consumption but it was off limits, according to the express command of the Creator, Who said “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat...‘ (Gen 2:16:17a)— And with the command came the penalty annexed to it. ”But in the day you eat there of, you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:17b) perhaps referring to spiritual death, as well as physical death. — “Dying you shall die”— תמות מותmoth tamuth— Thou shall “become liable to death.” (Abp. Whatley) or “subject to death.” (Targum of Jonathan) "Thou shalt not only die spiritually, by losing the life of God, but from that moment thou shalt become mortal, and shalt continue in a dying state till thou die." (Adam Clarke)
”One of the first principles of justice requires that parties threatened with a penalty for transgression should have the fullest opportunity of understanding what the penalty is. God, accordingly, speaks to Adam of death as a thing whose nature Adam knew. Now Adam knew very well what death was in one sense, and in one sense only. He knew it to be the law of the lower creatures, and to consist in the loss of their being and existence... He had one clear, well-understood sense for death—the loss of life and being.“ (Henry Constable)
And the phrase ”in the day” does not imply execution of the death sentence on that day. “A little knowledge of the Hebrew idiom will relieve the tension here as well. For example, in 1 Kings 2:37 King Solomon warned a seditious Shimei, ‘The day you leave [Jerusalem] and cross the Kidron Valley..., you can be sure you will die.’” (Walter Kaiser) He would then be under the sentence of death. It was sure. Shimei continued to live and it was on his death bed that David instructed Solomon to execute judgment on him. Moreover, the other 28 usages of “you will surely die” in the Pentateuch also speak of a threat of capital punishment. Moses uses the phrase ”to state the penalty for various crimes including murder, Sabbath breaking, bestiality, and blasphemy. In each text, God is announcing criminal or civil laws with their penalties. Additionally, these capital penalties are interspersed among other laws with lesser punishments. It seems unquestionable that in these occurrences, ‘dying you shall die’ announces a legal penalty for breaking specific laws.” (“Dying You Shall Die: The meaning of Genesis 2:17,” Ministry Magazine, Dec 2011)
God then made Eve, as a help to Adam, of one of his ribs; and therefore of the same perishable substance, dust plus His breathe— one flesh. “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.“ (Gen 2:25) “The untried innocence of the child does not possess the sense of shame: the depravity of vice forfeits it.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)
And then came the wiles of the devil, who said to the woman, “You will not surely die,“ (Gen 3:4) implying that mankind has an inate immortality of mankind.
“A moment’s reflection will show us that a dogma of this kind could not remain idle. It must influence irresistibly in one direction or another this whole question of future punishment. It must mould the entire doctrine of the Church upon the subject. According as men connected it with one truth of Scripture or another, it must give rise to two opposite schools of thought. Connect the immortality of the soul with the scriptural doctrine of the eternity of punishment, and you inevitably create the dogma of eternal life in misery, i.e. of Augustine's hell. Connect it with another great truth of Scripture, the final extinction of evil and restitution of all things, and you as inevitably create Origen’s Universal Restoration. For each of these opposing theories there is exactly the same amount of proof, viz.:—Plato's dogma and a dogma of the Bible; and if Plato’s dogma could be proved to be a scriptural doctrine, then, by every law of logic, Scripture would be found supporting two contradictory theories, or, in other words, would itself destroy all its claims to authority.” ("The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment" by Henry Constable)
“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:5) Not only is God made to be a liar, Satan alleged that the fruit of the forbidden tree would give complete knowledge: “‘The tree of knowledge of good and evil’ is a figure of speech in which two extremes are named in order to encompass everything in between. For example, if we say that a piece of news has spread ‘to the four corners of the earth,’ we mean that the news has spread everywhere.“ (Harry F Sanders) Thus, the serpent tempted Eve with the desire for omniscience as a way to immortality— ”like God.“ (cp. Gen 3:22)
Knowledge of good and evil alone will never enable man to overcome the grave. With it comes responsibility. "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (Jam 4:27) And we need more; we need wisdom, which is a gift from God. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5) Yea, Solomon received wisdom and played the fool. We need Jesus to be our Wisdom. The Spirit leads to obedience to His commandments by faith in Jesus for He is “become for us wisdom from God— that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Cor 1:30)
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Gen 3:6) They then knew they were naked. And they were ashamed and hid from the LORD. But He is a God of grace, of mercy, and of love. After the fall of man, He went looking for the rebels who had fallen calling "Adam, Adam, where are you?" He sought them "not to hurl him from the face of the earth, but to plan him an escape from the misery of his sin." (D. L. Moody) D. L. Moody preached: "Six thousand years have passed away, and this text has come rolling down the ages. I doubt whether there has been anyone of Adam’s sons who has not heard it at some period or other of his life — sometimes in the midnight hour stealing over him — 'Where am I? Who am I? Where am I going? and what is going to be the end of this?'"
THE TEMPORAL EFFECTS OF DISOBEDIENCE
God first cursed the serpent assigning him to the dust for his remaining earthly days.— And to the woman, He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Gen 3:16)— And to the man, He said: “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake." (Gen 3:17-18) “For the ground to be cursed means that it will no longer yield its bounty as the blessing from God had promised… .The Hebrew phrase בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ (ba’avurekha) is more literally translated ‘on your account’ or ‘because of you.’ The idiomatic ‘thanks to you’ in the translation tries to capture the point of this expression.” https://net.bible.org/#!bible/Genesis+3
—"in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life." (Gen 3:17) “Adam already had received the privilege of enjoying the garden (2:15), but this did not require strenuous toil.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) “The land says, ‘If you want anything out of me you must work for it. I answer labor; I respond to industry, I reply to the importunity of toil.’” (J Parker DD)
"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen 3:19) This is the first death appointed to all, as evidenced by common human experience in each generation. Death now happens to the righteous and the wicked— "to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice…as is the good, so is the sinner." (Eccl 9:6) Solomon testified: “'Vanity of vanities,' says the Preacher; 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' What profit has a man from all his labor (`amal) in which he toils (`amal) under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever." (Eccl 1:1-4) This is a commentary on the the Fall narative. Lit. “Hebel of hebel, all is hebel.” This word translated by some as “vanity” is not egoism and pride but, rather a vapor or transient state— a “light wind, a puff, a breath that passes away instantly.” (J. Parker, DD)
This message was amplified by Solomon while “addressing the assembly immediately after he had finished building the temple (1 Kings 7:51). First Kings 8:2 tells us that the event took place on the seventh month, Tishri (September / October), during the feast, that is, the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot (Ezekiel 45:25; Nehemiah 8:14; John 7:37). Sukkot was the moment when the Israelites were supposed to remember their passage in the wilderness, when they lived in tents; it was therefore a festival associated with the transitory character of life. Significantly, the book of Ecclesiastes is the biblical book that is supposed to be read in the booths in order to accompany the liturgical flow of the Feast of Tabernacles. Biblical tradition has associated the dedication of the temple with Sukkot.” (J B Doukhan) The earthly temple was part of this world. It was only a type of the heavenly. Jesus related the lesson to the temple of His physical body. (John 2:21) The proper name of righteous Abel in Hebrew is the same- “Hebel.“ He was not vain, but rather he was a righteous man. He made a more excellent sacrifice than his brother. (Heb 11:4) Yet, he still passed from this world in an untimely- first- death.
THE ETERNAL VICTORY FORESHADOWED
“‘And to the serpent, He said, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Gen 3:15) ”St. Paul remarks here, that the word seed or son, is in the singular number, Galatians 3:16; and St. John adds, that the promise is to be understood in the largest sense, the complete destruction of [in my theology the life and] the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. ... On this promise all patriarchal religion and hope were founded.... They knew more: they knew that 'bruising the heel' meant killing the promised heir of all." (Joseph Sutcliffe) But it was not an eternal death for He knew no sin. “The prophecy is obscure, but it is clear that some conflict will take place in the future in which both parties will suffer harm, but the serpent’s harm will be the most severe.“ (Jefferson Vann)— destroying / crushing "Satan under your feet shortly.” (Rom 16:20) Looking for Messiah's birth and partaking of the deliverance which He offers, “they will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” (1 Tim 2:15)
And the Lord “made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Gen 3:21) "Do you think they would have forgotten that powerful illustration? Do you think as their hands smooth the softness of the skin clothing, they would have forgotten their first glimpse of violent death, and something of the understanding that it was because of their sin?" (Edith Schaeffer) They could see a type of “the Just dying for the unjust. (1 Pet 3:18)
“Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever‘— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Gen 3:22-24)
But the tree of life does reappears in the future paradise of God. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the paradise of God." (Rev 2:7) “The identity of the tree is proved by the use of the definite article in the text of the Apocalypse. But there it appears that the fruit of this tree is the portion of the elect exclusively; those only 'have the right' to it who have 'washed their robes.' The tree of life does not grow on the desolate shores of the lake of fire and brimstone.” (The Problem of Immortality (1892) by E. Petavel) So, it is an eternal death sentence annexed to the command of Genesis 2:17. "Death then, is, according to the Old Testament, to be after judgment the result of sin, as life is the result of righteousness… hence it follows, as a matter of course, that loss of life is the doom pronounced against sinners in the Old Testament. (“The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment” by Henry Constable) "Originally a rabbinic expression, ‘the second death’ will be experienced by those whose names are not written in the ‘Book of Life’ (Rv 20:15). The second death is equated with the ‘lake of fire’ (v. 14), or the lake that burns with ‘fire and brimstone’ (21:8), and is described as the lot of ‘the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars.’ Those who are victorious in this life have nothing to fear from the second death.” (William Tyndale)
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLE
Jesus delivered Israel from physical bondage in Egypt but also spiritually lead them. “They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). When we first receive the gift of eternal life, we remain on this earth, symbolized by the wilderness of the Exodus narrative. And in the flesh, Jesus gave insight to mankind on the last day feast of tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths, Shelters, or Ingathering:
"The Jews built booths or tabernacles (temporary shelters) to commemorate their deliverance deliverance from Egypt by the hand of God (Lv 23:33-43).“ (William Tyndale) The last day of the feast was “appointed for the solemn return from the booths into the temple..., and, according to Leviticus 23:35-36, was kept holy as a [high day] Sabbath..." (F. B. Meyer)
"The seven days typified their wilderness journey; the eighth day the entrance into the land. For seven days they drew the water and poured it out, commemorating the water the LORD had supplied to Israel during the wilderness journey. On the eighth day they enjoyed the springs of the land itself an emblem of the living waters which the Lord had promised to His people. Israel has these promises. 'And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem.' (Zech 14:8.) The same promise we find elsewhere. (Eze 47:1-23; Isa 12:1-6.)" (Arno Gaebelein)
”As the priests stood with their empty vases, there was a little stir in the crowd, and a Man who had been standing watching, lifted up a loud voice and cried, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.’ Strange words to say, anywhere and anywhen, daring words to say there in the Temple court! For there and then they could mean nothing less than Christ’s laying His hand on that old miracle, which was pointed to by the rite, when the rock yielded the water, and asserting that all which it did and typified was repeated, fulfilled, and transcended in Himself, and that not for a handful of nomads in the wilderness, but for all the world.” (A. MacLaren)— “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (Joh 7:37-38) From the right hand of God “flows the crystal river with a constant stream, never exhausted with drought... It is pellucid as the clearest crystal, and he who drinks shall never die, for death and the curse are now no more.” (Joseph Sutcliffe)— "a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
In the new earth, there will be just one throne, one face, and one name, which is above every other. "Therefore, God and the Lamb must be one Being who has one face and one name and who sits on one throne. The only person who is both God and the Lamb is Jesus Christ...In short, the Book of Revelation tells us that when we get to heaven we will see Jesus alone on the throne. Jesus is the only visible manifestation of God we will ever see in heaven.” (David K. Bernard)
”Both the river of life (cp. Rev 7:17; 21:6 and see John 4:14; John 6:35) and the tree of life (Rev 2:7) are symbols of the eternal life received from God. In John 7:38 we are specifically told that the rivers of living water refer to the Spirit of God. Thus central to the city of God is the Spirit of God. It is He Who is its life source. His life runs through it. The tree of life is on both sides of the river, it has thus reproduced itself. There are a number of offshoots and there is sufficient for all. The eternal life that God’s people have received is continually and eternally nurtured. The twelve types of fruit show that all of the ‘twelve tribes’ (the people of God) are catered for (Eze 47:12). ‘The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations’ (cp. Eze 47:12). Note the past tense. The nations (or people) who have responded are now healed because they partook of the river and tree of life in Christ. The leaves enable them to look back and remind themselves of the healing they had once known through the activity of the Spirit of God, and what blessing they have now received. God had made full provision for their healing.“ (Peter Pett)
The spiritual body of the believer is not an immortal soul but rather a resurrection body.— “As it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.‘ (Gen 2:7) The last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” (1 Cor 15:45-49)— And John sees a vision of the restored earth at the end of time inhabited by the faithful. An angel showed him “the River of the Water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:1-5) “The allusion seems to be to that earthly paradise so well watered, Genesis 2:8-14,” (Trapp) but it points to the future, Ezekiel 47:1-12.
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' (Isa 25:8) 'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15:50-56)