Adam and Eve were created in Paradise. Everything was good, and pain and death didn't exist. God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely taste death, and would be banished from Paradise.
Doesn't the underlying meaning of this story fall into place when we assume that Adam and Eve were created in Paradise-"Heaven"? After all, in order to taste the fruits of evil, they would surely have to be driven out of Paradise to experience suffering and death, (which would be impossible in Paradise). Jesus' life and death would have demonstrated that God took our sins onto His own shoulders, forgave us for the "original sin", and Christ's resurrection would have shown that death was conquered once and for all, and that we will share in Christ's resurrection in Heaven (Paradise).
In my opinion, when we share and combine insights from different religions, we can attain the full picture. For example, consider the following verses, which are taken from the Qu'ran:
Surah 2.35: “O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the wrong-doers.” [Inevitably, Adam and his wife come near the forbidden tree, and we read]: “Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time. … Get down all of you from this, the Paradise, then whenever there comes to you guidance from Me, and whoever follows My guidance, there shall be no fear on them.” (Surah 2.36; 2.38.)
Doesn't this classic tale now make sense? I think we need to deepen our interpertation of our sacred texts in order to understand the Truth which they hold.