1 Corinthians 15:45-49 meaning

In 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, Paul contrasts the first Adam, who became a living soul, with the last Adam, Jesus, who became a life-giving spirit, and promises that those who have borne the image of the earthly will bear the image of the heavenly. Paul now anchors the argument that the resurrection is true by using scripture. He uses Adam to illustrate the natural man, and contrasts him with Jesus who is the spiritual man:

So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit (v 45).

In the prior verse, 1 Corinthians 15:44, Paul pictured a dying, earthly body as being "sown a natural body" like a seed being planted in the ground, then being "raised a spiritual body" like a seed sprouting and producing a fruitful plant. Now Paul anchors the natural-to-spiritual sequence in Genesis.

The phrase it is written introduces Genesis 2:7: "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Adam BECAME A LIVING SOUL when he received life from God. God breathed into him from outside, and everything he could pass to his children was that received mortal, natural life.

The Greek word SOUL is "psyche." This is the noun form of the adjective "psychikos" translated "natural" in the phrase "natural body" in 1 Corinthians 15:44. This describes the body from this life--it is connected to the first Adam, who fell and brought sin into the world. His sin transmitted to all who followed (Romans 5:12). Thus, all are born in a state of spiritual death.

But the second Adam, Jesus, rescued us from this fallen state. Jesus is the last Adam because no other Adam is needed; Jesus has defeated death (1 Corinthians 15:57). The last Adam became a life-giving spirit (v 45): at His resurrection, Christ entered a state in which He gives life to others.

Jesus had claimed this power in advance: "just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes" (John 5:21), and "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25).

The titles first and last frame human history on this earth; Adam heads the old humanity, Christ heads the new. The sowing of the natural body in death resurrects to a spiritual body in Christ. Although humans are lower than the angels, the newly created and unfallen first Adam was "crowned" with the "glory and honor" of having dominion in the earth, only to lose it in the Fall (Psalm 8:4-8, Hebrews 2:5-8).

Now Jesus, the last Adam, has restored the right of humans to reign in place of angels (Hebrews 2:9). This is because Jesus learned obedience, even to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-10). That Jesus, the last Adam, became a life-giving spirit (v 45) foreshadows the reality that the new earth, in which righteousness will dwell, will be ruled by Jesus. Jesus already has all authority (Matthew 28:18). In the new earth, His authority will be fully manifested, along with the overcomers, to whom Jesus promises to share His authority as servant leaders (Revelation 3:21, Matthew 25:21, Hebrews 2:10). Not only will our human bodies be raised to a new life, humanity itself will be restored to its original purpose.

Paul now emphasizes the order: natural before spiritual:

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven (vv 46-47).

The natural comes first, then the spiritual comes after. God's plan moves from Adam (earthy) to Christ who is from heaven. It is appropriate then to expect a progression from the earthly body to the resurrection body. This transitions humanity, and all creation, from a marred and fallen state to a restored state. All things will be put back to its original design (Romans 8:22).

The lower stage is a prelude to the higher. The seed is a mere kernel and its burial results in a glorious plant. The burying of the seed precedes the plant, as Paul argued in 1 Corinthians 15:37-38. The first man, Adam, was made of earth (Genesis 2:7). Thus, the first man, Adam, is from the earth. Because he is from the earth, he is said to be earthy, like a seed.

The Greek word “choikos” is translated earthy. It is used only four times in scripture, all of which occur in 1 Corinthians 15:47-49. It simply means "made of earth" and thus serves as an emphasis to the plain assertion that Adam was from the earth. The inference is that Jesus’s resurrection body is not from the earth, but from heaven. As already noted, Jesus was emphatic that His body was physical, having insisted the disciples touch Him to emphasize He was not just a spirit (Luke 24:39).

The first Adam received life as a living soul (v. 45, quoting Genesis 2:7); the last Adam, risen from the dead, became a life-giving spirit who supplies life to all who are His (John 5:21). The first man is from the earth, earthy, formed of dust and sentenced to return to it (Genesis 3:19); the second man is from heaven (v. 47), the Lord who descended to take on flesh (John 3:13) and rose beyond death's reach.

Adam fathered children "in his own likeness, according to his image" (Genesis 5:3), stamping his fallen, mortal nature on the race; Christ is conforming a redeemed family "to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). His desire is to bring many of the children born into God's family through faith to the inheritance reward of being sons, those who will share His reign with Him (Hebrews 2:10, Revelation 3:21, 21:7).

Paul continues the contrast between the first and last, the old and new, that which is of earth and that which is of heaven:

As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly (vv 48-49).

While living on earth, each human shares the image of the earthy, meaning we are all in the earthy image of Adam. All humans are made of earth, and appointed to die, return to the earth, then be judged in spirit (Hebrews 9:27). But all believers are also appointed to be resurrected to a new body. And that new body will bear the image of the heavenly body, the first fruit of which was the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20). Our earthy self dies and, like a seed, becomes something new and better. What is earthy gives way to what is heavenly. But the heavenly is still a body, not just a spirit.

We are not told many details about the nature of this new, spiritual body. But we know Paul insisted that it was our destiny, as he makes clear in this chapter as well as other places, such as Romans 8:28-29, where he insists we will all be conformed to the image of Christ. We can infer from Revelation 21:23 that our heavenly resurrected bodies will be capable of living in the fully unveiled glory of God's presence. This is a major shift from our earthy state, in which no man can see God's face and live (Exodus 33:20).

The certainty of the resurrection promise is rooted in our current experience: Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly (v 49). Bearing Adam's image came by birth. The fact that we have borne the old Adam's image tells us that image-bearing is the way God made things to operate. Therefore, the new birth in Christ for all who believe means that we will bear the image of the heavenly man, who is Christ (John 3:3, 14-15).

Bearing Christ's image will come surely by the agency of a new birth which guarantees a resulting resurrection. The phrase, just as we have borne, followed by we will also bear (v 49), shows that future resurrection is as certain as our physical birth is real. Those who are in Christ will one day carry His glorified likeness as naturally as they now carry Adam's mortality, for "when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:2).