From Eternity Past

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A Plan for Man's Recovery

The life of toil and care henceforth to be man's lot was appointed in love, a discipline rendered needful by his sin, to place a check upon the indulgence of appetite and passion, to develop habits of self-control. It was a part of God's great plan for man's recovery. EP 28.4

The warning given to our first parents—“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”—did not imply they were to die on the very day they partook of the forbidden fruit. But on that day the irrevocable sentence would be pronounced. That very day they would be doomed to death. EP 28.5

In order to possess endless existence, man must continue to partake of the tree of life. Deprived of this, his vitality would gradually diminish until life should become extinct. It was Satan's plan that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree of life, and thus perpetuate an existence of sin and misery. But holy angels were commissioned to guard the tree of life. Around these angels flashed the appearance of a glittering sword. None of the family of Adam were permitted to pass that barrier; hence there is not an immortal sinner. EP 29.1