God's creation of man gives God his authority over man. God is eternal and omnipotent. Man is finite and his understanding is limited. God made you, God owns you. God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed life into his nostrils. God had the right to give Adam his purpose and set his boundaries.
"For by him all things were created, both in the Heavens and on the earth, both visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together."
Colossians 1:16-17
Adam and Eve, however, were not satisfied with this hierarchy of power. They ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in order to become like God. Eating the fruit of this tree broke the one law God had established in the Garden of Eden. The consequence of the original sin was death. God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever.
Common understanding would say that because God is holy and he cannot be with unholy man, he cast them out of his presence and out of the garden. However, scripture later shows that God walked in close relationship and manifested his presence with many men long after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden (Cain, Abel, and Enoch were all accustomed to the presence of God). God's judgment on Adam and Eve was an act of mercy. If they had eaten the fruit of Tree of Life after their sin they would have lived forever in their fallen, sinful state, and never escaped this life to live glorified with God in Heaven. Think about not only the pain, weakness, and sickness of the fallen human body, but consider all of the mass murderers and rapists and those who've committed atrocities against humanity living forever on the earth? Death was an act of God's mercy on mankind.
The consequences of Adam's sin were far reaching. Romans 5:12 says, "...just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men - for all have sinned." Sin entered the world through Adam and penetrated the hearts of all men to follow. All men have rebelled against the purpose and parameters set up by our creator God.
