What happened at the fall?

In other words we are dealing the question: What was the sin & punishment for Adam's sin? If we misunderstand the beginning, then we are much more likely to misinterpret the rest of the Bible. Let's work through the story of the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. So, first up we will read the important parts of the story.Firstly there is this single -- all-important -- command God gave to Adam. (we see that in Gen 2:15-17)- "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" (Gen 2:15-17)We read the Bible with all the baggage of our current Christian worldview. We can't help having all this baggage, but the wise reader will aim to set aside his baggage and try to read Bible passages as if he was reading them for the first time without any prior knowledge of the rest of the Bible. It's hard, but not impossible.One thing stands out really plainly. The punishment for sin is death. Our view of death as the punishment for sin might become a little wobbly when we realise that Adam didn't actually die on the day he and Eve at of the forbidden fruit.This has lead many to interpret that the punishment wasn't physical death but spiritual death.I recently made a vide on the topic of eschatology (= future things) called "full preterism". I was surprised at how many comments I received on that video stating that (a) Adam was mortal before the fall and (b) Therefore the death sentence in the fall narrative can only mean "spiritual death".So is the idea that the death-punishment was not physical but really only spiritual But is this really correct?Our view that the punishment for sin being spiritual death may be bolstered by the fact that Paul in the New Testament exclaims:"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked" (Eph 2:1-2)and also,"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses." (Col 2:13)Does this mean we are done, the matter is settled, the punishment for sin was spiritual death? Not so fast. Maybe the answer lies in a both and and not an either or response. Firstly, the revelation that man in his state of unbelief is dead in his sins, did not come for several thousand years later. The original couple -- Adam and Eve -- did not have this knowledge at least we are not told they did. We should, I believe, read the account in the garden of eden as if we were being told it by Adam and Eve themselves.So far, the plain reading of the account in Genesis 2 is that Adam and Eve will suffer the punishment of death (real physical bodily death) when they eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and this punishment will happen on that very day.Before we go any further let's read the detailed account in chapter three (3:1-7). First the actual account of their sin."Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." (Gen 3:1-7)Setting aside for the moment the deceptive distortion of God's command by the serpent and the wrong understanding by Eve, we can certainly see a change in Adam and in Eve in their knowledge of themselves -- their eyes were opened and now they feel the shame of their sin -- but they didn't die physically on that day. This no doubt is further fuel for those who want to argue that the death they experienced was only of spiritual nature. Again we must then ask, are we done, is the argument settled in favour of spiritual death alone?What happens next should give us pause as this sets the stage for the whole story of the Bible, the story of redemption. What does God do next?Adam an