Are God’s laws like man-made laws where the Law-Giver must externally punish the transgressor? Or are His laws like the laws of nature where the transgressor punishes himself for violating a law with intrinsic consequences?

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying… ¹⁷ of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:16–17

Was this a threat where God said “if you eat from this tree I am going to kill you”? Or was this a description of the very nature of things, saying in effect, “If you eat that fruit it will be a visible sign of the fact that you have believed lies about Me and no longer trust Me, our good relationship is broken, and the natural result is death, because I am the only Source of life!” Our answer to this question will determine if we will, like Adam, be subconsciously afraid of God and run from Him, or if we will be like Christ and trust and run to Him.