The First Adam and the Last Adam; Bearing the Image of the Heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:45–50)

1 Cor. 15:45. And so it is written: The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

That Adam became a living soul is written in the Book of Genesis 2:7—but that the Lord Savior became a life-giving spirit is not written anywhere word for word in that way. Therefore holy Paul either speaks this from himself, joining it to what is written in Scripture without marking where Scripture’s word ends and his own begins (yet in this case too it will be God’s word for us), or he combines in this utterance the sense of many Scripture passages about the coming Deliverer as one abundantly anointed by the Spirit—such as: “Your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness” (symbol of the Spirit) “beyond your companions” (Ps. 44:8); and again: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,” and so on (Isa. 11:2–3); also: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me,” and so on (Isa. 61:1). And concerning his birth it is said: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Lk. 1:35); and at his baptism the Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. Or, as holy Chrysostom and all our interpreters say, he took this from the event: thus the Lord appeared that about him it should be said he became a life-giving spirit. Here are the words of holy Chrysostom: The first (that is, Adam became a living soul) is indeed written, but the last is not; how then did the Apostle say: it is written?—He derived this from events, as he often does. So the prophets too are accustomed to proceed; for example, the prophet said that “Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth” (Zech. 8:3); yet it was not so called. What then? Did the prophet speak falsely?—No, he speaks of the name through events. Similarly, Christ “shall be called Emmanuel” (Isa. 7:14); and yet he was not called so; but his deeds give him that name. So here too.

But what is the Apostle’s thought in these words?—He indicates two periods of humanity’s existence, represented by the natural Adam first and by Christ vivified by the Spirit—Adam the second. The character of each period he shows afterwards; here he only points to the representatives, as if to say: Adam became a living soul—see there a man who is natural, and a natural body; and the second Adam—a life-giving spirit—see there a man vivified by the Spirit, and a spiritual body. Understand what each means, and you will know what a natural body is and what a spiritual one, and why in the age to come it is fitting only for a body to have the latter property—that is, to be spiritual. Photius, according to Oecumenius, writes: Do not waver, he says, in faith that our present natural bodies will then become spiritual. We already have proofs of this. Adam had a natural body, and Christ had a spiritual body, the dwelling place of all the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The dove that remained upon him shows this. Inasmuch as Jesus Christ is also known as a man, he is the vessel of the Spirit, though the Spirit is with him; inasmuch as he is also known as God, he abides in the one divine nature. The same is said by holy Chrysostom: The Apostle said this so that you know that there are already signs and pledges of both the present and the future life: of the present—Adam, and of the future—Christ. Since he sets the better goods in the future, he now proves that their beginning has already come, that their root and source have already appeared. And if the root and source are evident to all, one should not doubt the fruits either. Therefore he says: the last Adam is a life-giving spirit; and in another place: “he will make alive even your mortal bodies through his Spirit dwelling in you” (Rom. 8:11).

To present the Apostle’s present thought precisely is very difficult. But it is evident that, according to him, in the person of Christ the Savior, humanity begins a new life not merely naturally but corporeally, as this very thing appeared in him too. When the Lord Jesus Christ appeared, all people were, according to the first Adam, natural. He first became a life-giving spirit. But through resurrection and ascension into heaven he became the Head of a new humanity, which is born from him. The characteristic feature of this new humanity is spirituality—that it bears within itself God’s Spirit; this Spirit is the pledge of future vivification of the body, which will appear then spiritualized. Spiritual bodies are being prepared in the realm of the natural Adam; they will appear in spiritual glory in their due time. This natural period must wholly cease. Once naturalism alone prevailed in humanity; from Christ the Savior, by the grace of the Spirit, spiritual humanity is formed; at his second coming naturalism will end, spirituality will shine forth. To each its time!

1 Cor. 15:46. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.

So, he says, the law of the manifestation of life required that the natural come first, and from it, by God’s action, the spiritual arise. Thus God was pleased to appoint. He does not ask why, but is content to point to God’s arrangement, having in witness the evidence of events and thereby proving that all that happens with us happens for the better, and at the same time lending greater credence to his words (holy Chrysostom). Had Adam not fallen, naturalism would have transformed into spirituality there, in paradise. After the fall, however, a special and prolonged natural period was appointed, so that in the course of it—now through particular providential actions (among all nations), now through special institutions (in the Jewish people), and finally through the extraordinary economy of salvation through the incarnation of God the Word—spiritual humanity would be gradually developed and would appear in glory. The natural must necessarily precede the spiritual, as a lower degree precedes a higher.

1 Cor. 15:47. The first man was of the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

How the first man was of earth, dust, is known from the account of the creation of the first man; whence he is called Adam—dusty, of the earth. But how is the second man from heaven? Did he not take human nature from the Most Pure Mother of God? Did he bring flesh from heaven? There were certain heretics who thought so. But one cannot derive such a thought from the Apostle’s words. Was the first man entirely only dust of the earth?—No; he became a living soul. And just as he was not entirely dust of the earth, though he is called so here, but had in himself another essence—higher, heavenly, breathed into him by God—so reason in the same way about the second man: that he is not entirely the Lord from heaven, though he is so named, but has in himself another essence—lower, earthly, akin to us, taken by him in the womb of his mother by the action of God’s Spirit. The Apostle speaks thus of both in order to sharply show their distinction, why he emphasizes in the first only the lower aspect and in the second only the higher. Of Christ the Savior one can say that he is the Lord from heaven because of the unity of person with two natures.

Before he said: the first man became a living soul; here he says: the first man is of earth, dust. It appears that the distinguishing mark of the life of the first man, or according to the first man, is natural-corporeality.—Of the second Adam he said before that he is a life-giving spirit, and here—that he is the Lord from heaven.—From this the distinguishing mark of the life of the second man, or according to the second man, is life-giving spirituality and theurgic heavenliness. The Apostle’s aim is to convey the thought that if humanity remained living only according to the first man, remaining merely natural-corporeal, its end would be: you are dust and to dust you shall return; dust would return to dust, and the soul alone—not humanity; and as a result humanity would cease to be. But when into the sphere of life according to the first man the second man has introduced the principles of life-giving spirituality and theurgic heavenliness, then together with this, to humanity has been opened the possibility, instead of corruption, to inherit heavenly, spiritual, divine life.

1 Cor. 15:48. As was the man of dust, so also are those of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so also are those of heaven.

In what sense is this?—Holy Chrysostom says: The earthy are earthy, that is, all will likewise perish and die; and the heavenly are heavenly, that is, all will likewise remain immortal and bright. What verb should complete the Apostle’s statements: are, become, or should be? As the ancestor, so the descendants—and they are, and they become, and they should be. Holy Paul writes the natural history of humanity. All of us come to light according to the first ancestor, but then we are reborn and become such as the second ancestor—so we are, so we become, so we should be, spiritual, heavenly, destined for incorruptible eternal life, of which we already receive the first fruits. The Apostle does not limit his gaze to believers alone, but looks upon the Lord Savior by his power and significance, or by his idea—as the Savior of all humanity—and beholds humanity in its wholeness as it should be according to God’s intention, worshipped in the Trinity: reborn and renewed in the Lord Savior.

1 Cor. 15:49. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, let us also bear the image of the man from heaven.

Instead of let us bear, the Greek reads we will bear. With the flow of discourse this seems more fitting. The Apostle is not writing moral lessons but clarifying the foundations on which the raised bodies should be such as he has depicted them—incorruptible, glorious, life-giving, spiritual. And this place contains his final word of explanation. We will bear, he says—do not doubt. We will bear the image of the heavenly, that is, we shall become such as he is. Take assurance in this from the fact that we have borne the image of the dusty Adam. We bore the image of dust through the way of natural birth; the image of the heavenly we are being spiritually clothed with in the waters of baptism, and shall appear fully thus clothed after the resurrection in the age to come. Having received the pledge of spiritual clothing in the heavenly, do not doubt that you shall appear fully clothed in him, just as you appear clothed in the dusty. As we became partakers and sharers of the death of the dusty, so we shall become partakers of the glory of the heavenly Lord (Theodoret). For this let us bear was spoken by the Apostle as a prediction, not as an exhortation. The image of dusty Adam is: you are dust and to dust you shall return; the image of heavenly Christ is resurrection from the dead and incorruption. The Apostle predicts what will come to be, yet with decisive determination, saying: we shall most certainly bear the image of the heavenly as we have borne the image of the dusty. The image of the dusty is death, and the image of the heavenly is resurrection. In death is the image of Adam, for he was the first cause that all others began to die. And in resurrection and incorruption is the image of Christ, for he first rose, vanquishing death, and thereby granted to all mankind resurrection and incorruption (Methodius, in Oecumenius, on the resurrection).

1 Cor. 15:50. Now I declare, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

By flesh and blood the Apostle means mortal nature. And it, while it is mortal, cannot attain the heavenly kingdom. This is what the Apostle added: nor does corruption inherit incorruption. But clearly, when it becomes incorruptible, it will enjoy the promised blessings (Theodoret). Photius, according to Oecumenius, makes the same judgment.

Now I declare—all this, beginning from verse 45, I have spoken to you so as to convince you that flesh and blood—your body as it now is—coarse, many-compounded, heavy, and always ready to fall apart—is not fitting for the kingdom of God. If it is destined to have a share in that kingdom, it cannot inherit it unless it is transformed. Corruption must be given over to corruption. The heirs of the incorruptible kingdom must clothe themselves in incorruption, for corruption does not inherit incorruption. He does not mean that all who are raised in an incorruptible body will necessarily inherit the kingdom, but that without resurrection and clothing in incorruption, even if one is holy, one will not see the kingdom as it is constituted. He looks upon humanity as whole—in complete composition. The soul alone is not a human being; the body, as it now is, is coarse and unfitting for the kingdom. It is appointed to decay; an incorruptible body will be given in its stead. For this purpose was the new Adam, who rose and laid the foundation for the resurrection of all. By his resurrection he gave the possibility to become heirs of his incorruptible kingdom. Participation in the inheritance is subject to other conditions; but without resurrection in incorruption, even the fulfillment of these conditions would not bring one into his inheritance. One must clothe oneself in the incorruptible body and then enter the kingdom if one is worthy of it. Thus is it arranged, that it cannot be otherwise, though it is arranged in accordance with human nature.

From the Apostle’s discourse, the thought might arise that whoever has not appropriated the new Adam, the heavenly one, will have no share in incorruption. One must bear in mind that the Apostle takes humanity in its full composition and in its destiny: it is all destined to be reborn in the Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason the power of Christ’s resurrection is such that in him all humanity is already raised. This already belongs to all, whether one rises to glory or does not rise to glory. The power of Christ’s resurrection cannot be otherwise, for he who rose is God. The divine cannot be limited by any boundary of time or place. Christ’s resurrection has universal significance and introduced an order of being extending over all.

Throughout this entire section, verses 45–50, holy Paul reasons dogmatically, as blessed Photius expresses it. But outside the context, all these passages, especially the latter ones: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and let us bear the image of the heavenly, also as is the earthly so are the earthy—may be understood as moral lessons, as they have always been and continue to be understood. Holy Chrysostom interprets them in this sense; Photius and Methodius in Oecumenius run through both the dogmatic thoughts and the moral lessons in parallel.