We discussed this in terms of their reality and their consciousness. In reality they had died in relation to God. But they were not conscious of a changed attitude toward God and toward each other. They had become addicted to the fruit of the tree, to themselves as the new centers of reality, and to the Evil One. They were not, however, conscious of being addicted.
Addicts never are.
They were experiencing the baleful consequences of idolatry without realizing that they had become idolaters. What they needed was deliverance from their addictive idolatry and a consciousness to match their new identity. In Addiction and Grace May points out that the only solution to their desperate case lay in the grace of God, the most powerful force in the entire universe. Since grace can be defined as unmerited favor, we could as well say that their only help lay in the love of God. The Good News is that God does love us, inconceivable as that may seem.