8/87DO 2353

—Even After the Fall!

1. Did you know that these bodies were originally created to last forever?—And I can prove it by the Bible! I was thinking about that, & the verse came to me just as clear as anything, that proves it! These bodies were originally created to last forever!—Which is another proof that our bodies are going to be very much like what we've got right now, except with much more supernatural powers! Who knows‚ maybe Adam & Eve had powers like that!

2. Can you think of a Scripture to prove it? (Fam: "Ye shall be raised incorruptible"?—1Cor.15:52.) Well, that's if you die & you're raised up again. In a way that's true, Jesus said, "He that believeth on Me shall never die!"—Jn.11:26. (Fam: In Romans it talks about when Adam & Eve sinned, that death was brought into the World.—Rom.5:12.) That's a good one to prove it, think of some more like that! I got a simpler & even earlier one than that!

3. We have bodies just like Adam & Eve, don't we?—Not as perfect, but the same kind of bodies, we're descended from them. And there's a verse in Genesis right after the Fall that proves they were created to live forever! I'll find it for you.

4. Genesis 3:22: "And the Lord God said, behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good & evil." He was made in the image & the likeness of God, right? The Lord said originally, "Let Us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness."—Gen.1:26. "Now, lest he put forth his hand, & take also of the Tree of Life, & eat, & live for ever; therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden‚ to till the ground from whence he was taken."—Could he have lived forever? (Fam: Yes!) If he had been able to partake of the Tree of Life he would have lived forever, even after the Fall! Think of the power of those Leaves of Life! Remember‚ they'll heal any disease or problem or sickness or anything!

5. "Now, lest he put forth his hand, & take also of the Tree of Life, & eat, & live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden‚ to till the ground from whence he was taken."—Gen.3:22‚23. If he had been able to stay in the Garden & eat of the Tree of Life, he could have lived forever—in spite of sin! But the Lord knew that was dangerous to have sinful men living forever, so He jerked the rug out from under them, which was the Tree of Life!

6. Now that never dawned on me until today, & that was an outright revelation! I was telling Mama what wonderful bodies we have! Just think, our bodies are so marvellously & wonderfully made that they are made to heal themselves automatically! Just think, even after the Fall Man lived to be nearly a thousand years old, even with sin & without the Tree of Life!

7. Think how these bodies were made so powerful, so strong & so wonderful & could so heal themselves, that even with the Fall & no Tree of Life they lasted nearly a thousand years! And even after the Fall, if they could have gotten ahold of the Tree of Life they would have lived forever & never died! That's why the Lord had to take away the Tree of Life‚ because He didn't want wicked men living forever!

8. Think of that, these very bodies we live in today were made to live forever! When He created Adam & Eve, He created them to live forever!—And their descendants! He intended for them to live forever, if they hadn't fallen into sin. But even having fallen into sin‚ if they could have gotten ahold of the leaves of the Tree of Life, they would have still lived forever.

9. "The Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good & evil: & now, lest he put forth his hand, & take also of the Tree of Life & eat & live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden." That is really something! Adam & Eve could have lived forever!

10. That's why I believe that our bodies are not only going to resemble the ones we have now, but be very much like them. Jesus could eat & drink & feel, etc. He said, "Touch Me, feel Me, it is I‚ not a spirit‚ for a spirit hath not flesh & bones!"—Luke 24:39. When Jesus was resurrected He had flesh & bones, but not blood.

11. In other words, our bodies are going to be exactly like these bodies, except for the blood & for the ability to live forever, & of course, the supernatural powers that Jesus also had. Who knows?—Maybe Adam & Eve had those powers! Man could have lived forever if he could have gotten to the Tree of Life! He'd probably have to keep eating of it all the time. It probably cures all diseases & sicknesses & ailments of every kind. Just think‚ we will have the Tree of Life & eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life in Heaven!—Rev.22:2.

12. Mama, I just dropped the bomb! Now let's send this to our researchers & let them look up all the corroborating verses!

Dearest Dad & Mama,From Hart—9/87

God bless you! I love you! Here are the Scriptures I came up with that go along with the new Letter: "Adam & Eve Could Have Lived Forever!" PTL! As you already mentioned:

"Unto the woman He said‚ 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow & thy conception; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; & thy desire shall be to thy husband, & he shall rule over thee." (Gen.3:16)

You said that possibly Adam & Eve had a few more powers than people today do. As you have explained in past Letters, Gen.3:16 seems to indicate that at first men & women were stronger & just generally more robust, because before that time Eve apparently didn't have trouble with labour pain, tiredness, morning sickness, etc. So perhaps Man was originally created physically much stronger than he is today? (Dad: Amen!—Of course!)

Also, as Gen.1:26 says‚ God's original plan was for Man to have dominion over every animal‚ beast, dinosaur, etc., on the face of the Earth, so even with the animals peaceful, would Man have possibly still needed some kind of extraordinary powers to accomplish that task? (Dad: They could talk to them!—And call them by name!)

I was wondering if—& this may be really wild—God created Adam & Eve to have really highly-developed ESP, mind–over-matter type powers in the beginning? They might have needed some kind of unusual abilities or gifts of some kind to offset the fact that they didn't even have the wisdom yet to know the difference between good & evil. (Dad: Amen!)

Something else the Letter sparked me to think of was this: I've always thought that when they ate the Forbidden fruit‚ that they merely acquired the conscience or ability to discern that there was a difference between good & evil, whereas before they had been sort of naive or innocent. But could it possibly be, as Gen.3:5 & 3:22 seem to indicate, that Man at that point also attained nearly god-like wisdom?—Not only to know the difference between good & evil, but to also suddenly have the mind of a genius, tremendous intellectual powers, knowing as much as the "gods" (Angels)? Could this possibly explain how Adam & Eve could leave a carefree life in Eden to go out & suddenly—with no previous experience—begin husbandry, tool-making, agriculture & even city-building? People today aren't super-smart, but perhaps Man in the beginning—before degenerating over the last 6,000 years—was? (Dad: Right!) Here's a verse from Psalms that might or might not relate to this thought:

"I have said, Ye are gods; & all of you are children of the Most High.—But ye shall die like men‚ & fall like one of the princes." (Psa.82:6–7)

Here are a couple of Scriptures which possibly show that Man was created to last forever in the beginning, but that sin & disobedience brought not only spiritual, but also physical death into the World:

"And the Lord God commanded the Man, saying, 'Of every tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’" (Gen.2:16-17) Does this verse mean that Adam was immortal at this point, & his body was miraculously self-healing & regenerative, & that the only thing that could bring on physical death was disobeying & eating the Forbidden Fruit? (Dad: Of course!)

"And unto Adam He said ... In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, & unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen.3:17a,19) This verse is after Adam's fall‚ & is the first time that God explains to him that he is now mortal & will decay back into dust‚ as if it was a new factor that now had to be mentioned. (Dad: Amen.)

Here are some more interesting Scriptural facts relating to a point mentioned in the Letter‚ about how Man was created to be immortal at first, then had his life shortened to 1,000 years, then even further. These show the difference in the length of Man's life before & after the Flood:

Adam:930 years(Gen.5:4)

Seth:912(Gen.5:8)

Enos:905(Gen.5:11)

Cainan:910(Gen.5:14)

Mahalaleel:895(Gen.5:17)

Jared:962(Gen.5:20)

Enoch:365(Gen.5:24)

Methuselah:969(Gen.5:27)

Lamech:777(Gen.5:31)

Noah:950(Gen.9:28-29)

After the Flood, Man's lifespan began to gradually shorten:

Shem:600 years(Gen.11:10-11)

Arphaxad:438(Gen.11:12-13)

Salah:433(Gen.11:14-15)

Eber:464(Gen.11:16-17)

Peleg:239(Gen.11:18-19)

Reu:239(Gen.11:20-21)

Serug:230(Gen.11:22-23)

Nahor:148(Gen.11:24-25)

Terah:205(Gen.11:32)

Job: approx.200(Job 1:1-3, 42:16-17)

Abraham:175(Gen.25:7)

Isaac:180(Gen.35:28)

Sarah:127(Gen.23:1)

Ishmael:137(Gen.25:17)

Jacob:147(Gen.47:28)

Jacob complained of his "few & evil days" at 130 years of age, (Gen.47:8-9) & died a "mere" 17 years later.

Joseph:110(Gen.50:26)

Moses:120(Deut.34:7)—Now 400 years later.

Joshua:110(Josh.24:29)

David:70(2Sam.5:4–5)—400 more years later.

Mankind:70-80 (Psa.90:10)—Man's general lifespan since.

These stats seem to indicate that since the Flood, the length of Man's life has been steadily deteriorating & shortening‚ till, about the days of Egypt, it had gotten down to a "mere" 147 years. 400 years later, it had fallen even further to 100-120. From there it continued downhill for another 500 years until sometime before David's day (about 1,000 B.C.) where it seems to have leveled off to its present-day average of about 70-80 years.—Thank God!—Whew! (Dad: Right!—Sin's toll!)

Here are some final verses dealing with the Tree of Life: Rev.2:7, Rev.22:2, Eze.47:12. I hope these Scriptures are relevant & of some help to you! It was really fun reading your Letter & exciting to come up with other Scriptures which may fit into the picture! PTL! (Amen! TTL! GBY!—Tx!—Love‚ D.)

Much love‚ Hart