So
also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:45
1 Corinthians 15 [40.] There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15 [45.] So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
1 Corinthians 15 [51.] Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Meaning:
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul defends the resurrection of the dead. He answers the question, “How are the dead raised?” (1 Corinthians 15:35), and shows where each kind of body comes from by setting two men side by side: Adam and Christ.
- “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.”
Paul quotes Genesis, where “Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). Adam received life as a gift. He was made from the earth, and his body was suited to life on the earth.
When Adam disobeyed, death entered human experience. Paul has already said, “For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
- “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
Jesus is called “the last Adam.” He is not merely another man in Adam’s line, but the head of a new humanity. Adam was “a foreshadowing of him who was to come” (Romans 5:14). Adam became a living soul; Christ, raised from the dead, became a life-giving spirit. He does not only live; he gives life. Jesus had said, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires” (John 5:21).
As God breathed life into Adam, so the risen Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” (John 20:22).
- Two heads, two families
Paul sees all of humanity under one of two heads. “For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus back to “the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38), and immediately tells how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Where the first Adam fell, the last Adam stood firm (Luke 4:1-4).
The Significance of 1 Corinthians 15:45
- Hope for the body
The resurrection body comes from the last Adam. “As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:49). Christ “will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory” (Philippians 3:21).
- New life now
The life that Christ gives begins before the resurrection day. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Belonging to the last Adam means living now by his Spirit and not only by the nature received from the first.
Cross-References:
Genesis 2:7: “and man became a living soul.” The creation of the first Adam.
Romans 5:14: “who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.” Adam points ahead to Christ.
Luke 3:38: “the son of Adam, the son of God.” Luke links Jesus to Adam.
1 Corinthians 15:49: “let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.” The resurrection body.
Conclusion: Paul contrasts Adam, who received life and passed on a mortal nature, with Christ, the last Adam, who rose from the dead and gives life. All who belong to Christ will share his resurrection, and they begin to share his life even now.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible