1 CORINTHIANS 15
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shallalso bear the image of the man of heaven. – 1 Corinthians 15:42-49
1 CORINTHIANS 15 IMAGE BEARERS OF THE TWO ADAMS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When God created mankind, he gave us our natural bodies
Because of sin, we are inclined to give in to our cravings
The first Adam destroyed the image that God made him to be
The second Adam restored our original make and brought that back
In Christ, we overcome the sinful nature in us
Because it is the Spirit that brings us new life.
In this letter, Paul reminds all believers to remember that we are image bearers of God. But when the first Adam sinned, that image was tarnished and it didn’t do what it was designed for. It was supposed to bring God the glory but instead, it gave glory to itself. When Christ died for us on the cross, he made it possible for us to revert back to the original purpose of our make: to give God all the praise and live our lives to be in communion with him and fulfilling his plan for mankind.
The first Adam sowed dishonor and sin while the second Adam brought us restoration and life again. The first Adam destroyed that beautiful image that God gave us and distorted our loyalty to God. The second Adam renewed our perspective and corrected that misrepresentation by fulfilling God’s remedy to mankind and saving them from that sin nature. We ought to believe in Jesus for us to receive that promised eternal life.
REFLECTION
- How has the world twisted the original image that God gave in each of us?
