Genesis 2:15 "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

"To dress and to keep" is literally to guard and to dominate it. There was no need for Adam to either till the soil nor to weed the garden: there was, as of yet, no curse on nature because of fallen man. It was not until Genesis 3.17-19 that God cursed the ground because of Adam's failure, this curse bringing weeds and thorns into nature. Man was literally made king of the earth by God, a king who was to guard against Satanic influence and evil. God so respected this kingship that he allowed Adam to name all the animals (Genesis 2.19-20), the same animals that He alone created.

As Federal Head of the world, what Adam did or didn't do deeply effected all creation. If Adam had respected his position in creation and cast Satan away when tempted, neither mankind nor earth would have been afflicted with the curse. But this was not to be.

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's warning to Adam was not a warning of Divine punishment in the event of his fall: rather, it was a statement of fact that man, by his own hand, would bring death on himself and his progeny. Prior to the fall, man's life span was unlimited, as unlimited as God Himself. The source of all life was and is God. Man in his unfallen state was perfectly in tune with his Maker. When man chose to walk away from this Spring of Eternal life, he brought the corrupting effects of sin into his physical body. God was in essence telling Adam: "If you reject me and follow Satan, you will be allowing sin to enter your life. Sin will cause death to your body, and immediate spiritual death in your soul". The relationship between sin and death are further illustrated in 1 Corinthians 15.56, which reads:

where the word sting is the Greek KENTRON, which literally means a poisonous goad. The poisonous goad that causes physical death is sin, that old sin nature in each one of us. God never put death, either spiritual or physical, on mankind, but man did this to himself by allowing sin to creep into the perfect environment of Eden. (see also 1 Corinthians 15.20-22)

God created all things but sin and death. Satan is the father and creator of sin, and sin is in turn the creator of death. Death is an enemy of God and His Son:

1 Corinthians 15:25-26 "For he (Jesus Christ) must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

To God, death and sin are enemies, not something to be put on mankind. God despises the death that Adam, through Satan, brought on the human race, so created a Plan of Salvation with the ultimate purpose of destroying sin and death through the Cross of Calvary.

Isaiah 25:8 "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it."

God did not create death, but sin created death, which in turn was created by Satan. The author of death is, therefore, Satan, the Death Angel. The Bible makes it plain that Satan alone holds the power of death:

Hebrews 2:14-15 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

Jesus Christ, through the eternal Plan of salvation, took on human form and suffered death in order to destroy both Satan and his plan of death. The destruction of Satan is certain because of the victory of the Cross. However, Satan still possesses the power of death. The King James translates the above text in the past tense, as in him that had the power of death. The original Greek text, however, uses the Present Active Participle ECHO, which literally means "keeps having and holding the power of death". Though defeated at the Cross, Satan still holds the power of death and corruption over mankind. Why? Because the Plan of Salvation has to run it's course, with the message of the Cross bringing a 'multitude without number' to salvation. The volume of the book of salvation will only be closed when Jesus returns for His Church during the Rapture. Up until then, Satan is :

(literal Greek translation) "The one who keeps on having and holding the ruling power of death, him who keeps on being the devil.."

Even though Satan is the Death Angel (the one who holds the power of death), he is not allowed to kill at will. Though death does not come from God, God may order, allow, or commission it's event. Psalms 68.20 helps us understand this:

Issues is the Hebrew TOWTSA'AH, which literally means boundaries. God determines the boundaries of death, i.e., when anyone can or will die. Before Satan can bring someone to a state of death he must first ask God for permission to do so. If God rejects the request, the person lives on. Perfection cannot cause corruption, though it may allow it's action for a higher good that we may not see or recognize. That God "gives over" people to death is again illustrated in Psalms 118.18, where we read:

Remember the story of David and Bathsheba, how that David left fellowship with his God to commit adultery with a woman not his own. As David moved further from God, he grew bolder in his sin; so bold, in fact, that he had Bathsheba's husband Uriah murdered. God punished David by allowing the death of his firstborn child by Bathsheba, this act effectively punishing David and returning him to fellowship. David avoided the sin unto death by repentance. When a believer repetitively commits acts of sin without repentance, God eventually turns the death angel loose on him.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

Such was the case of the young Corinthian believer discussed above. He was engaged in sexual infidelity with, of all people, his stepmother. Paul did not demand that the Corinthians turn the wayward believer over to God for the destruction of the flesh. Rather, he called on the father of death and sin, Satan, to destroy this man before the same one destroyed both himself and the Corinthian Church. Kind of makes your skin crawl, doesn't it? The best reason that I know of to stay in fellowship with God is to avoid Satan's deadly touch on my body. When the believer enters the sin unto death God gives Satan permission to destroy. Sometimes the methods that Satan uses to destroy life is none too pretty.

Job 15:20-21 "The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him."

1 Corinthians 10:10 "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer."

Exodus 12:23-29 "For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle."

Isaiah 37:33-38 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Satan, in his role as the death angel, is usually referred to as "the destroyer", though in some instances he is referred to as "the angel of (from) the Lord". It's important to note that, though the death angel has the power to destroy, he can only do so when released by God to this task. When released he destroys, almost with a glee. For each Christian he destroys under the sin unto death, he removes someone who could have been a warrior in the fight against his cause. For each heathen he destroys, he sends a soul to eternal damnation that could have, if it only willed, seen the eternal glory of Heaven.

But wait a minute! Are all deaths, even the deaths of obedient saints, attributed to Satan's touch on our lives? Absolutely not! If we are obedient to God's Plan in our lives, living a life patterned after our Christ, then God will "see the blood on the lintel, and not allow the destroyer to come in". The death that eventually comes to the righteous is not the death of torment from Satan, but a death made necessary by the sin nature residing in our bodies. This death is not violent, but peaceful. As our bodies wind down from this life God gently ushers us into the next.

Acts:7:54-60 "When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

That great Deacon Stephen, though persecuted and cruelly stoned to death, did not feel the stones as they crushed the life out of him. He felt the ever loving Grace of God as Jesus Himself ushered him into the portals of Heaven. The mature in Christ don't violently die, they (the Bible terminology) "fall asleep".

Psalms 116:15 " Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

Job 5:19-27 "He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good."

The saint in fellowship comes to his grave in a full age, not violently, but at peace with his upcoming death and with his God. His passing is precious to his Father, and he is greeted with a joyful:

Matthew:25:23 "His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

God doesn't want the death of His saints, but that which was started in Adam must be concluded in mankind at this time. Death comes prematurely for the heathen, the rejecters of the Cross, for those under the sin unto death. But death comes even for the Godly in time, as the old sin nature takes it's toll on our bodies. This will not always be so. The Bible teaches us that, in the end times, God will totally imprison both death and it's creator:

Revelation 20:10,14 "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

Revelation 21:4 "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

and will wipe away all tears from our eyes. Pain, death, the grave, sorrow shall all be distant memories, if they are even retained in memory. This is the final state of those in Christ. Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior?