Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:45

The question Paul is dealing with was presented earlier:  “How are the dead raised?  With what kind of body do they come?” (15:35).  As we studied last week, the apostle answered that question by pointing out that our deceased physical bodies will be resurrected as something different than they had been.  “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable…sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory…sown in weakness; it is raised in power…sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” (15:42-44).

Having made that point, the apostle now builds on it by citing how Moses referred to the first man, Adam, became a living being upon being created by God (15:45a; cf. Gen. 2:7).  He then correlates this with Christ’s ability to raise us all from the dead on the last day, calling Jesus “the last Adam (who) became a life-giving spirit” (15:45b; cf. John 5:21, 28-29; 6:39-40, 57).  In doing so, he makes Adam to be a type of Christ (cf. Rom. 5:14b), with Adam’s creation which marks the beginning of physical life on earth foreshadowing our resurrection which marks the beginning of spiritual eternal life in heaven.

Adam’s creation came before Christ raising us all from the dead, of course.  Thus, Paul goes on to say, “But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual” (15:46).  Just as Adam’s creation came before our spiritual resurrection at the end of time, we must live and die physically before we are resurrected spiritually.

The apostle continues, “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.  As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven” (15:47-48).  God created Adam to be a physical being whose body, made from dust, was designed to live on this physical planet.  While God did not create all of us who followed Adam from dust as he did with Adam, he likewise created and designed our bodies to live on and inhabit this physical planet.  When Christ raises us from the dead on the last day, however, our new bodies (“the second man”) will be designed to live in and inhabit an eternal heaven.

This is the point Paul is making when he says, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (15:49).  “Image” (eikon) generally refers to the likeness of someone, an image or depiction that represents something or someone (Lexham Theological Wordbook).  As we live this physical life here on earth, we bear the likeness of Adam; our bodies are like Adam’s body.  Yet when we are resurrected on the last day, our bodies will be depicted differently; they will be eternal and spiritual, not temporary and physical.

For this reason, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (15:50).  We will discuss this in more detail in the next article, Lord willing.

— Jon