ADAM'S ORIGINAL CONDITION.
By John Harvey Waggoner
THERE are some queries that are very troublesome to some people, although they are of no possible practical importance. Among these is one respecting the creation of Adam, whether he was created mortal or immortal. The question is generally presented in the form of a dilemma, thus:— The penalty of death was presented to Adam. He was told that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he should surely die. But if he were created mortal, he would die by reason of his mortality, whether he obeyed or disobeyed. So the penalty would have had little weight. Or, if he were created immortal, he could not die, even though he disobeyed. What, then, could his original condition have been? I am not now writing to try to relieve the dilemma; there has been quite enough written on that point. My present object is to show that the dilemma does not exist. No dilemma of that kind could exist, no matter what the original condition of Adam is assumed to be. 1. Adam could have been created mortal, and still death could have been consistently announced as the penalty of disobedience. Being on probation, the death which might have come in course of time, according to his natural condition, might have been averted by the grace and power of God. In other words, after having proved his loyalty to the commandments of God, he might be changed to immortality, by a change similar to that which the saints will experience at the coming of Christ. Surely, there is no difficulty in this view, no formidable horn of a dilemma in this supposition. 2. The other side is supposed to present a greater difficulty, namely: If Adam were created immortal, the threatening of death would be but a farce, as, in his very nature, he was entirely beyond the reach of such a penalty. In this statement the assumption seems quite plausible, at first glance, but it is contrary not only to reason, but to accepted facts of Scripture. It is contrary to reason. While it must be admitted that God could have created him immortal, it is unreasonable to suppose that he could create a being of such a nature as to be beyond the reach of his own power. No matter what might be the condition of a being whom God should create, he could at any time reverse that condition. Surely, it is unreasonable to conclude that God could create conditions which, when created, were beyond his control. Here it may be replied, that if God could destroy man, that would prove that he was not in his nature indestructible. But this again is an unjust assumption. A man might be in his nature immortal, so that, in the common course of events, he would never die; yet God, who conferred that immortality upon him, might withdraw it if he saw fit. And the assumption in the supposed dilemma is contrary to facts. The Son of God prayed that he might be glorified with the Father, with the glory that he had with him before the world was. John 17:5. And he was in the beginning with God, and all things were made by him. John 1:1-3. Now it will be conceded by all that such a being must have been immortal—not at all subject to death. Yet we are told that the Word, by whom all things were created, "was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14. He was made, for a time, lower than the angels, that he, by the grace of God, might die for us. Heb. 2:7-9. How this could be accomplished, we cannot comprehend. This is the great "mystery of godliness." 1 Tim. 3:16. He who was even called God was manifested in the flesh, became subject to death, to fulfill the work of redemption. And beyond a doubt it will forever remain a mystery, beyond the reach of finite minds, but not beyond the reach of the infinite power of God. At some time in the past the angels of Heaven were divided, or divided themselves, into two classes. One class rebelled, left their principality, were cast out of Heaven, are now awaiting the decision of the Judgment upon their actions, and are appointed to destruction. Compare Heb. 2:14; Rev. 5:13. Now it is immaterial what we assume in regard to their condition before that rebellion. Whatever it was, just such a change has taken place, or must take place, as the dilemma assumes to be impossible. If Satan and his angels, perfect and glorious in their creation, were immortal, then that condition must be reversed, for it is plainly revealed that sin and sinners will be exterminated from the universe. Sin has no right to exist. God never gave it existence, and he never conferred any right of existence upon it. If it has any title to eternal existence, it must have acquired that title by its own inherent power, to which no one can consent. God may permit it to exist for a time, for the purpose of probation, for the formation of character of his creatures, and to vindicate the justice of his Government. But if it exists eternally, it must be because God himself shall immortalize it (which would be as inconsistent as for him to create it), or because he consents that it shall have an eternal existence. But he will never act so contrary to his nature and attributes: Satan and his followers will be destroyed. Ps. 145:20; Matt. 15:13. Their very place shall cease to exist. Ps. 37:10. Or, assuming that the angels were mortal before the rebellion took place in Heaven, then the fact remains that the angels who retained their steadfastness to God have been made immortal since that event, just as Adam might have become immortal if he had remained obedient; for we learn by the Scriptures that the angels in Heaven are immortal. 1. Jesus was made lower than the angels that he might taste death for us. Heb. 2:7-9. Were the angels not immortal, he need not be made lower than they that he might be subject to death. 2. Jesus said that "they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead," cannot "die any more, for they are equal unto the angels." Luke 20:35, 36. To be equal to the angels is to be beyond the power of death. Of course it is the first resurrection to which Jesus referred, for only they who have part in the first resurrection will have a place in that world wherein dwelleth righteousness. See Rev. 20:5, 6; 2 Pet. 3:13. In whatever manner we view these subjects, whether in the light of reason, or of the declarations of the Scriptures, we find that the supposed dilemma does not and cannot exist. Adam might have been created in any conceivable condition, and still the penalty of death would have been reasonable, and its execution possible. J. H. W.