To fully understand man's current condition I think it is important to understand God's purpose in the very beginning. God had a reason for creating man and a purpose to his existence. This must be considered before moving forward because God still has that same reason and purpose for man now.
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God.... It is very clear in scripture that God always has been, always is and always will be. Before time and space God existed and needed nothing. He wasn't lonely because within Himself existing the relational trinity. He didn't need to create the world and universe but He did. He didn't have to create man, but He did. There are many debates concerning why He wold create man and I don't think we can ever fully understand why. Some say for His glory He created man, others say for His pleasure within a relationship. I don't think this neglects God's glory in the least but rather increases it all the more. God desired to create a being that would love and worship Him. That desires to be with Him and to continually strive for a deeper relationship with Him. Just as it gives you pleasure to be loved by your children, it gives God pleasure to be loved by man. This being said, God of course deeply loves His creation and has always desired the best for it. If you don't believe that look at the stars or any part of creation. God put so much detail into it for our enjoyment. Even what we see today is only a shadowed glimpse of what the world was like before the curse of sin.
God created a perfect world, a perfect garden with a perfect man that knew no evil. God, although totally separate from evil, knew what evil was. God didn't have to, but He chose to love the man and woman He created. God also wanted man to choose Him in return. God could have created a world with no opportunity to choose something separate from God, but without the ability to choose something other than God, man would never have the option to choose God. The very idea of a choice implies more than one option. What could bring God more pleasure in his creation than that it would choose to return His love in kind. The idea of love is meaningless without the ability to choose it.
So God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and instructed Adam not to eat of it or He would surely die. God gave man the ability to choose God. One of the most precious gifts ever given to man, because with it comes the ability to truly love. But man failed and chose something other than God by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. At this time man died as God had said he would. It may be tempting to stop there and move to Romans for Paul's explanation of death but to understand Paul we must first read further in Genesis. As soon as Adam ate the fruit God's glory left them and they knew they were naked and went and hid themselves when God came looking for them. Although man had died, he still had an understanding of both good and evil. This is the reason God removed them from the garden. Lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever. Man knew good and evil (Gen 3:22). Man was spiritually dead and would one day physically die. The natural tendency to sin was to be passed down through the man. Although man has a natural bend toward sin, he still has an understanding of good and evil. This is evident in Cain and Able and throughout the old testament. Anytime God' s glory is ripped out of something it can be nothing more than dead. Yet with God's goodness all around, it is obvious that something is missing. In Ecclesiastes it says that God placed eternity in our hearts. We know that something is missing, something isn't right. Look at the world around you and see people continually trying to find satisfaction and pleasure in something. Trying to find something to fill the longing for something more.
