that life.  Their home was perfect; and even all the animals and birds of Eden were subject to them, and they had absolute dominion and control.  God gave them all these privileges to enjoy eternally, upon one expressed condition, namely, that they be obedient to his law and thereby honor him.  He informed man that a violation of this law would bring upon him loss of life, loss of the right to life, loss of all the blessings incident to it.

[180]Satan induced mother Eve to believe that God was keeping back something from them and, therefore deceiving Eve, induced her to violate the law.  There was no real wrong in the fruit which Eve ate.  The wrong was in disobeying the Lord.  When Adam found that she had violated God’s law, knowing that she must die he preferred to be with her in death rather than to be separated from her; so he became a party to the transgression also by voluntarily and willingly violating the law of God.  Jehovah in the exercise of his perfect justice, sentenced man to death.  This sentence deprived Adam and Eve of the right to life.  They were driven out of Eden and in due time they lost life itself.  For 930 years they were compelled to go about in the earth and earn their bread by digging in the soil and partaking of such food as they produced, which was imperfect and poisonous.  In this manner they were put to death.

[181]This sentence of death passed upon Adam had an indirect effect upon his offspring.  Before he was driven from Eden he and Eve had not exercised the authority given to them by Jehovah to beget and bring forth children on the earth.  This they did exercise after being driven from Eden.  Being now under the sentence of death and undergoing that death penalty, it was impossible for their children, born under such conditions, to come into existence perfect.  It would follow, then, that when the children were born, while they would have a measure of life and the rights incident to that measure of life (and these we call “life rights” as distinguished from right to live), they would have no right to life, because Adam having no right to life could not bring children into the world who would have greater right than he had.

[182]Any human being that is living possesses the right to food, air, light and certain privileges in society; and these are called life rights; that is to say, they are incident to animation, privileges belonging to creatures that live in any measure.  The right to live, then, means a just right of existence which cannot be properly taken away.

[183]Because the parents possessed no right to life, every child born into the world from then until now has been born imperfect, unrighteous, a sinner, disapproved in God’s sight, under condemnation, and therefore with no right to life.  The life that any of us has lived has been merely by permission; and all who have died have died justly; for nothing but a perfect creature is entitled to life.  For this reason the Prophet wrote:  “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”.  (Psalm 51:5) St. Paul writing under inspiration, expressed the same thing, saying:  “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned".—­Romans 5:12.