It (Genesis) is stories: stories which relate to the existential concerns of death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. God may not be the direct author of death, yet God knew that the beings that he would create would be mortal, so in a way, God is the author of all things. It would be better for us to come to terms with this and to reflect upon why death is so important to life, rather than to shy away from the idea that God allows death for some important reason. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12:24) You who know what this passage implies in its utmost depths will understand the importance of death in finding the fullness of human life.
So true - and with the issue of death/dying, it's not something that in all ways was ever seen to be a curse.
This is something that has come across my own mind a couple of times when it comes to the elderly. Many seem to associate being elderly/growing old as a sign of the curse---and thus, it's no surprise to see the many ways that many associate youth alone with what Adam/Eve were destined to have on the Earth. Some of the mindsets actually reflecting the larger views of the culture when it comes to death/dying being something people are afraid of....desperately trying to stay young/beautiful forever. ut in processing the subject, I'm not really certain that growing old is something that was outside of the Lord's will. Perhaps it's due to growing up in multi-generational household where I lived with my mother, grand-parents and great-grandparents all in one house.
I honestly do believe that death/dying is something Adam/Eve were not free from in all aspects.For when the Bible speaks of sin entering the earth and with sin, death, it is speaking of spiritual death as far as I can see. Growing old and dying some day does not mean that we have to die of a sickness...for we can simply get old and go home, closing our eyes and experiencing how this body will quit breathing and we will be present with the Lord--a state of transition into the realm that Angels/heavenly spirits live upon.
For more scriptures:
Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground...
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are,And to dust you shall return.
Ecclesiastes 3:20
20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
In regards to the "dustness" of our beings, I think it's noteworthy to see how there is a difference between us and God. Our
bodies were are not designed to be eternal since we were built from the dust of the ground BEFORE THE FALL. Many think Genesis 3 was a sign that God cursed man with returning to the dust/dying, although I think the immediate context shows man to be cursed in the area of PRODUCTIVTY. Although he used to be a gardner who was to tend the Garden of Eden and experienced fruit, the ground would now produce thorns/thistles for him in his work...and the statement "From dust you are made and to dust you will return" was a statement highlighting the natural process man goes through.
Our bodies, in their natural states, were designed to return to the dust and we were made to ultimately be united with God in Heaven...in spirit (w/ new glorified bodies). Prior to the fall there was no sickness...but after the fall there is a break of the perfection and there is sickness. And yet in that sickness, it may not need to be assumed that growing old was the result of losing the Lord.
To me,the concept of growing old/dying doesn't seem to be something that was an issue for God..and in many ways, a BEAUTIFUL thing to witness in action when it came about. Seeing how our bodies were never meant to go on forever here on the earth----even though they could go for EXTENSIVE amounts of time (for Centuries at a time)---it could have been the case that God's original design in taking dominion was to also reflect the reality of seasons/time---as that's not something God's against. We could have been placed here temporaily with a long extension/lease---and when done, we'd go to the SPIRITUAL DIMENSION...of which the Physical is but a shadow/reflection of.....and find our permanent residence there.
For some other scriptures to consider, I'm reminded of what would have happened if Adam ate of the fruit AFTER he had sinned against the Lord. For he would have lived forever in that spiritually dead state. His action - disobeying God by eating the fruit - was what killed him and all man. In many ways, it was the concept of Death/Dying that saved Adam and gave mankind the chance for redeemption. For God's action - excluding all man from the Tree of Life was not as punishment for sin, but to save Adam and all mankind from living forever in that state - without any hope of salvation.
What the enemy attempted to do was take that which was made fully good and making it eternally good for nothing.....and with God having to essentially "lock away" ( in
Genesis 3:24 ) the tree of life, as if that was the thing Adam could not touch/eat so that the problem wouldn't get worse..seeing that Man needed to eat from the tree as well as the food GOD HIMSELF gave to man for eating---unless, of course, the concept of God giving man food to eat in the form of herbs/fruit (just as he did for all of the other animals) was simply a matter of God really saying He did such for man's pleasure rather than for sustenance
.
Genesis 1:29
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for
food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the groundeverything that has the breath of life in itI give every green plant for food." And it was so.
Genesis 2:7
8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the groundtrees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
IMHO, It'd be logical to say that man was given food because he was NOT immortal...and could not have survived without some form of life-giving material----which is what the Tree of Life was. And from a scientific perspective, if interested (as it pertains to how Old Earth Creationists see it), see
Was Adam Created as an Immortal Being?
For an excerpt:
Two lines of evidence suggest that Adam was not created as an immortal being. First, immortality is not possible in this universe, since the universe itself will eventually die without God's intervention. The second law of thermodynamics (entropy) guarantees that physical beings cannot live eternally. This is why those who go to heaven will eat of the tree of life, and be given spiritual bodies in the place of physical bodies. Second, the Bible indicates that Adam died spiritually the day he sinned. If he would have eaten from the tree of life, he would have lived eternally, though spiritually dead. This is why God went to such great lengths to keep Adam from the tree of life after he had sinned.
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Genesis 5:27
Altogether,
Methuselah lived
969 years, and then he died.
Concerning that specific note, I don't think its coincidence since man was still very much genetically pure after the fall/the environment on earth wasn't radically different. Therefore, it's more than possible that man had the potential to live up to that rate/beyond.....and when things are restored via Christ, it's also interesting to see that children/people will be present living in that exact timeframe in New Jerusalem when it comes to them later being tested in The Thousand Years reign of Christ in
Revelation 20. People will not perish on the earth and then float off into the heavens...but we'll be BACK ON THE EARTH, with jobs/roles and physical dynamics taking place. Heaven will be on earth, though this time with no death or aging as it was in Genesis.
But regardless of the stage of life, if aging was present during Creation, God and His Perfection would still have been JUST as beautiful before the Fall--as there would have been PURPOSE behind it.
Reminds me of people trying to make a significant issue over which season of the year people should rejoice in more---Fall, Spring, Summer or Winter. Trying to discuss which one is more beneficial would be silly since ALL ARE NECESSARY and apart of the Seasons of Life God has set up
Genesis 8:22
"As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."
Depending in whatever season one is in---as well as what is necessary for the moment--will determine what becomes the focus. And in all seasons, there's beauty.
Personally, it seems odd to say that all forms of death occurred after the Fall---as if the season of Fall was like a "consolation prize" for man in light of death since suddenly, the leaves dying and being extremely colorful/beautiful was something that wasn't present prior to the Fall.
- although we usually have that much in the form of bad jokes, sarcasm/excessive dramatic exaggeration (which isn't useful most of the time) and VERY long ruminations whenever someone says something gurney gets bothered in the over-sensitive modes 
Post is written in light of when someone needs to set the record straight on the subject publically (documentation for lurkers/other posters, who do comment on the side/offline in seeing the inconsistencies when being able to reference all instances - past and present - where one does exactly what they accuse of - and thus, not take it seriously). 
