Commentaries:
The heavenly man is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God! Those who are after the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly! As we have borne the image of the man of dust, Adam, so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man!
We were one with Adam. Under a new rule of life, we are one with Christ. Even as Adam is the pattern of what we are now, Christ is the pattern for what we shall be. We shall therefore share His life and His being. The conclusion is inescapable.
The present body, Paul shows, is corruptible. The future body is incorruptible, unfaded. It has beauty that will never lose its sheen!
The present body is dishonest. The future body will be holy, no longer be subject to carnal passion. It will be a pure instrument of service.
The bodies we now have full of weakness. The new body will be one of power! So often we are frustrated by our limitations. There is so much more that we wish we could do, but we are encompassed by weakness. We get tired and weary. In the resurrection, we will be clad with power!
This present body is natural, subject to sickness and death. The resurrected body will be spiritual and eternal. It will be just like Christ's!
John W. Ritenbaugh
We Shall Be God! (Part 2)
The image Paul speaks of is not merely that we will be composed of spirit even as Christ is, but that our very nature and character be like His. If God desired that we merely be spirit, He could have made us like angels. Angels, however, are not God; they are angels. God is doing a work in us through which we will become like Him, not like angels.
His purpose requires that we cooperate. Though our part is very small by comparison to what He is doing, it is nonetheless vital. Notice how Paul draws this beautiful section of I Corinthians to a conclusion by drawing our attention to what it will take on our part to make God's purpose work: "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (I Corinthians 15:57-58).
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Elements of Motivation (Part Three): Hope
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Genesis 1:26-27
Genesis 3:19
Matthew 9:17
Mark 2:22
Luke 1:26-30
Luke 1:41-42
Luke 5:39
John 3:2-8
1 Corinthians 1:7-8
Galatians 3:27-28
Galatians 4:5
Revelation 7:3-8
Revelation 14:1-5
Revelation 20:4-6
Revelation 20:11-15
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