I CORINTHIANS15:42-49

⁴² So it is 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 physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical 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 physical and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will also bear the image of the one of heaven

The Bible, as the story of God with God’s people, is a marvelously rich document. As different biblical writers recorded God’s truth, they tied the story of their times to previous generations. Paul, the man who was raised in the Jewish faith, would have heard the story of Adam and Eve from his childhood on. Adam was the first human, made in God’s image from dust, and animated with the breath (or Spirit) of God.

As Paul proclaimed the new life we received from Christ, Paul also sensed that the Son of Man (Jesus) was a second Adam. As Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, he assured them that for those who welcomed Him, Jesus became a life-giving spirit.

God creates, and physically breathes life into us. In our Lord and Savior, Jesus, we who are dust are also given a promise of a spiritual life beyond the physical.

Prayer

God, as human, I thank you for my daily life. And as a Christian, I thank you for the assurance of a life beyond this life. Amen