(from the beginning of time until sin entered the world, Genesis 3)
The first era of time (or history) was the time of Eden. This was a time when the world was newly formed and the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, were added to that creation (Genesis 1–3). God, Himself, would walk with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and teach them how to be His faithful children.
God’s law—one of God’s eternal traits —was represented by two trees. The first was named “the tree of life” and the second was named “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.
Adam and Eve could eat of the first tree and live healthy, unending lives. But if they were to even touch the second tree, death would enter the world as the result of disobeying Creator God.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:15–17).
This may seem harsh. But when we realize that the giver of life was and is our Creator, then to disobey, or sin against, Him, is to separate ourselves from Him, for He is perfect and holy.
Exalt the Lord our God; worship at His footstool! Holy is He (Psalm 99:5)!
“Death” results in “separation”. Death is a natural consequence of disobeying our Heavenly Father.
When the great tempter, Satan, came with his half-truths and twisted lies to entice Adam and Eve to taste the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve both made the choice to discover the difference between good and evil and, as a result, experience the guilt and consequences of evil.
In a sense, God’s children decided to “run away from home”. They lost their natural place in God’s family. Sin entered God’s perfect world. Adam and Eve were separated from their holy and perfect Father. They, and all people, would have to wait for God to provide a way to be adopted back into His heavenly family.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
Though Adam and Eve had chosen to disobey and thus experience evil in this world, God still loved them and had a plan to bring Good News back into their lives through Jesus Christ!