Question:
Can an immortal create mortals? Did God, who is imperishable, create perishable beings or things, and as “in Him is no sin” and “He is the Life and Light of men,” how can life create death? Were Adam and Eve created mortal?
Answer:
We do not know what God could do, but we do not believe or see how He could create mortals. By “immortal,” we understand “deathless, incorruptible;” by “mortal,” we understand “subject to death, corruptibility.” We do not believe that mortal, perishable, corruptible beings were in God’s plan because all these are the fruits of sin, and sin is no part of His plan. “In Him is no sin.” How then did God create Adam?—Not immortal; for there existed the possibility of sin, and it was not in God’s plan to have immortal sinners. Neither did God make Adam mortal, for He did not plan that man should die. What then? God created man neither mortal nor immortal but a candidate for immortality. He was a perfect being, possessed of eternal life, held by faith in God. If sin had not come in, faith, by the power of God’s life, would have developed an incorruptible character that God would have acknowledged by bestowing upon it physical immortality. Such will be the gift when Christ comes. Everlasting life is actually given now, that we may have the power to conquer sin, but it will not be allocated until the character is immortal. Then man’s temple of character will correspond with his character.
