On the sixth day of creation, God, assisted by the angels, created man. Of all creation, when it was completed, God said it was "very good." Of this we read:

GEN 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

What was the nature of the "very good" man in the Garden? It couldn't have been immortal, as after Adam sinned, he died. It couldn't have been mortal, in that the wages of sin were death, and Adam had not, at this time, sinned. This "very good" state then, was an in between state. Adam was corruptible, but not courrupting. God said that Adam was made a living soul.

GEN 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The words translated "living soul" are from the Hebrew "nephesh chaim" and it means "a body of life." This was the nature of Adam in the Garden. He was a body of life. Death had no claim on him. He was not encumbered by the shame of a guilty conscience. He did not experience sorrow. Rather, God had given him a law which, had he kept it, would have continued Adam in this condition until God caused a change. Therefore, Christadelphians believe:

IV.--That the first man was Adam, whom God created out of the dust of the ground as a living soul, or natural body of life, "very good" in kind and condition, and placed him under a law through which the continuance of life was contingent on obedience.

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