THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS - Chapter 15 - Verse 47

Verse 47. The first man. Adam.

Is of the earth. Was made of the dust. See Ge 2:7.

Earthy. Partaking of the earth; he was a mass of animated clay, and could be appropriately called "DUST," Ge 3:19. Of course, he must partake of a nature that was low, mean, mortal, and corruptible.

The second man. Christ. See Barnes "1 Co 15:45".

He is called the second man, as being the second who sustained a relation to men that Was materially to affect their conduct and destiny; the second and the last 1 Co 15:45 who should sustain a peculiar headship to the race.

The Lord from heaven. Called in 1 Co 2:8, the "Lord of glory." See Barnes "1 Co 2:8".

This expression refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus had a heavenly origin, in contradistinction from Adam, who was formed from the earth. The Latin Vulgate renders this, "the second man from heaven is heavenly;" and this idea seems to accord with the meaning in the former member of the verse. The sense is, evidently, that as the first man had an earthly origin, and was therefore earthy, so the second man being from heaven, as his proper home, would have a body adapted to that abode; unlike that which was earthy, and which would be fitted to his exalted nature, and to the world where he would dwell. And while, therefore, the phrase "from heaven" refers to his heavenly origin, the essential idea is, that he would have a body that was adapted to such an origin and such a world—a body unlike that which was earthy. That is, Christ had a glorified body, to which the bodies of the saints must yet be made like.

{a} "first man" Joh 3:13,21