Comparison of the Natural and Spiritual Body
August 7, 2020
Commentary
In the previous passage, we were told that the body is buried in corruption because it is going to decay; but it is raised so that it cannot decay. With this change there is no decay or death in heaven. The expression “last Adam,” was coined by the Apostle Paul as a reference to Christ (v. 45). Today we have a “natural body,” suited to an earthly environment. We received this body from our first parent, Adam. Adam was made from the dust of the ground and so are we (Gen. 2:7). Our resurrection body will be made in the image of Jesus Christ, the last Adam. In His resurrection body, He was able to move quickly from place to place, even through locked doors, yet He was able to eat food and His disciples were able to touch and feel Him (John 20:19-29). Adam is of the earth; Christ is from heaven. Adam is earthly; Christ is heavenly.
The point that Paul seems to be making in this passage is that the resurrection body completes the work of redemption and transforms us into the image of our Savior (vv. 46-48). It was the natural which came first; it was the spiritual which came afterward. We are made in the image of God, as far as personality is concerned. We are made in the image of Adam, as far as the body is concerned. One day we will bear the image of our Savior, when we are in heaven (v. 49). Our first birth gave us that which is natural, but our second birth gives us that which is spiritual. The certainty of the resurrection is verified by the reality of human earthly existence. God rejects the first birth and says, “You must be born again!” If we depend on our first birth, we will be condemned forever; but if we experience the new birth, we shall live with Christ forever (v. 50).
Application
When I am resurrected, God will give me a changed, eternal body suited to my new eternal life.
1 Corinthians 15:45– 50 (NET)
45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50 Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.