From the forgoing, we note that as God made the first man, Adam, of the earth and he is earthy... he can die and he did die. The Lord told Adam death that would come if he rebelled against the word of the LORD and eat of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Genesis 2:17 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.

God did not say I’ll punish you eternally with fire and torment – no he said Adam would die. Below is the definition of “die” from the Greek as used in 1Cor 15:22 saying;

“… in Adam all die…”

‘die’ - Strongs 13.39: to cease, of a state, with the implication of Nothing of the State Continuing To Exist - ‘to cease, to die out, to come to an end.

Yet Adam, being a man as you and I, did eat of that forbidden tree’s fruit along with Eve. Not heeding the words of God Adam and Eve ate of that tree and so now all men must die – ultimately ceasing to exist unless they find “the way” to receive the eternal life that is only available in union with Christ’s life.

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:

When we view the dead from God’s perspective we can see as He sees. He views the entire race of mankind as being “dead in trespasses and sins.”

Ephes. 2:1 And you hath he quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins; Col. 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

From this we may conclude that all men are born humanly dead in God’s eyes. Mankind is in fact a race of people who are dead toward God. This verse clearly reveals death is in contrast with Christ’s life (Zoë, the eternal Spirit of life).

1 Cor. 15:22 For as In Adam All Die, even so In Christ Shall All Be Made Alive.

So far as the Lord is concerned, He sees every human being as of ‘the seed of Adam,’ as having already died to God in Adam – in that the day that Adam ate of that tree all mankind died toward God along with him. How can I say this when we see unbelievers walking around today? Every one of us has our origin in a dead race, and our physical sicknesses are evidence of the dying process. Having originally been born of Adam’s seed (sperma) that is corruptible – we ultimately die. It is as though we are as a cut flower – the blossom still may exist to be seen for a time but, in time, the blossom withers and is gone.

Scripture tells us Sin and death are vitally linked. Here we see the source of victory of death is by “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”  

“…  and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15)

“the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)

The Father gave His only begotten Son to remedy sin and death for and in all mankind. Jesus came to give His everlasting resurrection life to believers.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish (Gk. apolummi, be destroyed fully), but have everlasting life (of the Son).

Please note in John 3:16 that the alternative to having “everlasting life” is “to perish,” that is be destroyed fully, permanently. There is no mention of living in eternal torment simply because that is not the case of the lost unbelievers. Consider John 3:16 (above) in the light of the verse below, we must ask exactly who or what will “perish” or be destroyed fully with physical death.

“Then (upon physical death) shall the dust (of the body) return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

Is man’s body that becomes fully destroyed? No, it’s more than his body that is lost.

According to John 3:16 it is “whosoever.” The “whosoever” is the very person himself; he is the one who is destroyed fully if he has not in his lifetime received Christ’s life. It is his individual person – that is who we are individually as a “living soul,” who ceases to exist. This is the person of “whosoever” and who is destroyed fully.

When “the spirit” of an unbelieving man is “returns unto God who gave it” (Eccl 12:7) upon his physical death, that person then is at once “dead” in every way – he is lifeless in body and soul as result of having lost the spark of the life of the “spirit in man.” James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead…” Having lost the spirit that came as “the breath” of God back unto God, such a one has lost his psuche life – soul life, and his bios life - physical life. They cease to exist.

James says men die as Jesus did by “giving up the spirit” unto God as “the Father of spirits” (Heb 12:9).

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost (Spirit).

By His death;

1. Jesus destroyed the reign of death over mankind by His offering at the cross. Jesus took on His Adamic ‘Mary body’ (cf. Gal 4:4) that already had “the sentence of death.” This is one major reason for Jesus of Nazareth received His physical body from Mary and took it to the cross to put an end that Adamic race of people – and God the Father sees it that way. Jesus died once and for all time for all men. “For if by one man's (Adam’s) offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)” (Rom 5:17)
2. Christ also bore the penalty of Sin, dying the death of all mankind (Rom 6:3, Gal 2:20) in order to justify all believers.

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)

“Much more then, being now justified by his blood…”  (Romans 5:9a)

3. He then rose to “newness of life” (Rom 6:4) to be the new life in “as many as received Him” (John 1:12), who is the eternal life as the many “sons of God.”

“… Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4b)

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.