Note, this article is part of the Gospel series.

God created man...

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:27

In the beginning, God who made the heavens and the earth, made man in His own image. Earlier, God had made the planets, trees, fish, birds, and all land creatures,
but only man was created in God's image.

Man was a living soul...

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7

Man was unique in all God's creation in that He breathed into man. God made man different from the animals in that He not only had a physical body, but he also had a living soul.

God's one command...

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food: the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God took the man and
put him into the garden of Eden
to dress it and to keep it.

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 and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:9, 15-17

God planted a garden in the land of Eden containing many different varieties of trees. In the middle of the garden there were two prominent trees called the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that they could eat from all the beautiful fruit trees, with one exception. Concerning one of the two prominent trees in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said "DO NOT EAT!" Not only did God prohibit man from eating of the tree, but promised that in the very day that he ate of it, he would surely die.

Man disobeyed God...

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Genesis 3:6

After being deceived and persuaded by the serpent, she ate the fruit. Seeing the beauty of the tree and its fruit, and believing that she would be wise, she ate of it and then gave some to her husband and he also ate.

But remember, God had said...

"in the day that you eat of it" ⇨ "you shall surely die"

Adam did eat ⇨ did he die?

what saith the scripture?
Romans 4:3a

Did he die?

And the eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
Genesis 3:7

So did they die? Their eyes were opened and they sewed themselves aprons. Physically they were alive and well. It is obvious from this passage that Adam and Eve did not die physically. However, God had said very clearly,

"in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die"
Genesis 2:17

They did die!

Man's spiritual death

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the LORD God called unto Adam,
and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Genesis 3:8-10

Please notice that before they disobeyed God the scripture declares in Genesis 2:25 that

"they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed".

Now, after eating the forbidden fruit, they knew that they were naked and made aprons, they hid themselves from God's presence, and Adam was afraid when the Lord called. Something had definitely happened to them only it was not physical. The change was on the inside. Yes, they did die, just as God had promised; however, it was not a physical death, but rather a spiritual death (Ephesians 2:5, Colossians 2:13).

In another place the Bible says:

And you... who were dead...
Ephesians 2:1

...you, being dead...
Colossians 2:13

What about Adam's son?

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,
and begat a son in his own likeness,
after his image; and called his name Seth:
Genesis 5:3

When Adam gave birth to his son, it is written that the child was born in the likeness and image of his father, Adam.

Adam was created in the image of God. Seth was born in the image and likeness of his father Adam, who had become spiritually dead. Therefore, Seth, too, was spiritually dead from birth.

The same is true of all men...

In order to understand more about what happened, we must go to Romans 5:12:

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:
Romans 5:12

Through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world. The result was spiritual death, and this spiritual death then passed to all men so that every human being, every descendant of Adam, comes into the world spiritually dead.

The same is true for you...

Concerning Adam's descendants after he rebelled against God, please consider these three verses:

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.
For if through the offence of one many be DEAD,
much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace,
which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Romans 5:15

Therefore as by
the offence of one judgment came upon all men to CONDEMNATION;
even so by the righteousness of one
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Romans 5:18

For as by one man's disobedience many were made SINNERS,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Romans 5:19

Not only are physical descendants of Adam spiritually DEAD, but they are also CONDEMNED and called by God in the scripture SINNERS. Please notice, however, that this condition did not come about by one's own disobedience. The scripture says:

through the offence of one	we are dead
by the offence of one	we are condemned
by one man's disobedience	we are sinners

If our connection to Adam makes us DEAD spiritually...
If our connection to Adam makes us CONDEMNED...
If our connection to Adam makes us a SINNER, then
When did we become tied to Adam?

The answer is AT CONCEPTION.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psalm 51:5

At the very moment of conception, we are connected to Adam. We have two eyes, a nose, and according to the Scriptures -- a dead spirit. So every one of us, when we are conceived, become, at that moment, a member of the human race, a descendant of Adam, and a DEAD, CONDEMNED, SINNER.

It is written...

This is what God says about man, in his natural state, being born after Adam:

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Psalm 14:2-3

For there is not a just man upon earth,
that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Ecclesiastes 7:20

All we like sheep have gone astray...
Isaiah 53:6a

But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf;
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah 64:6

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Romans 3:10-12

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past
in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.
Ephesians 2:2,3,5a

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh...
Colossians 2:13a