The Last Adam

Paul sets Jesus beside the first man of Genesis: 'The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.' Adam was the head of the old humanity, and through his disobedience sin and death entered the world; Christ is the head of a new humanity, and through his obedience come righteousness and life. 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' Paul calls Adam 'the figure of him that was to come,' and the title carries a promise: those who have borne the image of the earthly man will bear the image of the heavenly.

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Strongest connections in Scripture

1 Corinthians 15

Key Passages

The First Man and the Last Adam

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Christ, the life-giving last Adam, will raise his people to bear his heavenly image.

A⁴⁵nd so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.