Thursday 5th December
Read 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
“So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” (NIVUK)
Paul is outlining the nature of the continuity between our bodies now and our bodies then. Continuity implies some sort of sequence. The first sequence was spirit entering earthly (and earthy) bodies to bring life. The second step involves the Spirit transforming earthy bodies into heavenly bodies first revealed in Jesus. Just as we now bear the image of Adam, in future we will bear the image of Jesus. There is no need to live without hope according to Paul – the fact we bear Adam’s image shows that we will all one day bear Jesus’ image.
What has changed though? Where does this belief in a transformed resurrected bodily existence come from? Paul most likely didn’t believe in this ‘sequence’ before. What has changed is Jesus rose from the dead. Paul’s picture of our new bodies is shaped by his knowledge of Jesus’ body. The resurrection is the ‘fact’ that changes the world.
