1 Corinthians 15:46-49 (WEL) Nevertheless, that which was first, was not spiritual, but the natural, afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man was made from earth, the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, so are those who are earthy, and as is the heavenly, so are those who are heavenly. 49 As we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
V46 Nevertheless, that which was first, was not spiritual, but the natural, afterward that which is spiritual.
This is the order of events as God wished. First is natural birth and natural physical body. Second is spiritual birth and spiritual body.
Adam was the head of the human race, so the Lord Jesus is the head of the church and the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
V47 The first man was made from earth, the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Paul continues with the same theme. First was the earthly man—Adam. Second is the Lord Jesus from heaven. The first had no eternalness and the second did. Heaven refers to the third heaven which is God’s throne.
The use of “first man” indicates that Adam came directly from dirt, not from a creature in evolutionary ascent.
Dr. Henry Morris writes: “Jesus Christ was certainly not “the second man” in the natural sense—that would be Cain! Neither was he the second man born supernaturally; there were Isaac and Samuel and John the Baptist, for example. The phrase obviously is comparing Him with Adam as “the first man,” but Adam was not born at all—he was formed directly by God (Genesis 2:7). In fact, that is the key. The body of Jesus was also directly formed by God, in Mary’s womb (see note on Genesis 2:7; note on Jeremiah 31:22; note on Romans 1:3; note on Galatians 4:4 and note on Hebrews 10:5), and this was the second and last man of whom this was true.”
V48 As is the earthy, so are those who are earthy, and as is the heavenly, so are those who are heavenly.
Since Adam is earthy, so all humans are earthy. Since the Lord Jesus is heavenly, so are we who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation.
Believer’s Bible Commentary: “As it is with these two federal heads, so it is with their followers. Those who are born of Adam inherit his characteristics. Also, those who are born of Christ are a heavenly people.”
V49 As we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
We bear the image, essence, and attributes of Adam. So, those who believe bear the image, essence, and attributes of the Lord Jesus’s resurrection body.
Albert Barnes: “The Lord Jesus Christ, who was from heaven, and who is in heaven. As we are so closely connected with Adam as to resemble him, so by the divine arrangement, and by faith in the Lord Jesus, we are so closely connected with him that we shall resemble him in heaven. And as he is now free from frailty, sickness, pain, sorrow, and death, and as he has a pure and spiritual body, adapted to a residence in heaven, so shall we be in that future world. The argument here is that the connection which is formed between the believer and the Saviour is as close as that which subsisted between him and Adam; and as that connection with Adam involved the certainty that he would be subjected to pain, sin, sickness, and death, so the connection with Christ involves the certainty that he will, like him, be free from sin, sickness, pain, and death, and like him will have a body that is pure, incorruptible, and immortal.”
We learn:
• God’s order of events.
• The superiority of the Lord Jesus.
Questions:
• Have you believed the Gospel trusting in Jesus Christ?
• Do you have the spiritual characteristics that the Lord Jesus wishes for us to have?