1 Corinthians 15:46
The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.
The spiritual, however, was not first
This phrase introduces a fundamental principle in Paul's teaching about the order of creation and resurrection. The Greek word for "spiritual" is "πνευματικός" (pneumatikos), which refers to that which is of the Spirit or pertains to the divine nature. In the context of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is addressing the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of believers. The "spiritual" here signifies the resurrected, glorified state of believers, which is not the initial state of humanity. Historically, this reflects the Genesis account where Adam, the first man, was created as a living being (natural) before the promise of a spiritual transformation through Christ. This order underscores the necessity of earthly life as a precursor to spiritual renewal and resurrection.

but the natural
The term "natural" is translated from the Greek word "ψυχικός" (psychikos), which pertains to the soul or life force, often associated with the earthly, physical existence. In the biblical narrative, this refers to the original creation of man as a living soul, as seen in Genesis 2:7, where God formed man from the dust and breathed life into him. The "natural" state is characterized by mortality and the limitations of the physical body. Archaeological findings and historical studies of ancient Near Eastern cultures reveal a common understanding of humanity's earthly origin, aligning with the biblical portrayal of man's initial state. This natural state is essential as it sets the stage for the transformative work of Christ, who brings about the spiritual state.

and then the spiritual
The phrase "and then the spiritual" indicates a sequence and progression from the natural to the spiritual. The Greek word "τότε" (tote) meaning "then" signifies a subsequent event or condition. In Paul's theology, this progression is crucial as it reflects the hope of resurrection and eternal life through Jesus Christ. The spiritual state is the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan, where believers are transformed into the likeness of Christ, as described in Philippians 3:21. This transformation is not merely a return to the original state but an elevation to a glorified existence. Scripturally, this is supported by the resurrection of Jesus, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20), serving as the prototype for all believers. Theologically, this progression from natural to spiritual emphasizes the Christian hope and assurance of eternal life, inspiring believers to live in anticipation of their future glorification.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Apostle Paul
The author of 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing the church in Corinth, providing teachings on the resurrection of the dead and the order of creation.

2. Corinth
An ancient city in Greece where the church was established. Known for its diverse population and cultural influences, the church in Corinth faced various theological and moral challenges.

3. Creation
Refers to the order of creation as described in Genesis, where the natural (physical) creation precedes the spiritual transformation.

4. Resurrection
The event of Christ's resurrection and the future resurrection of believers, which Paul discusses extensively in 1 Corinthians 15.

5. Adam and Christ
Paul contrasts the first man, Adam, with Christ, the "last Adam," to illustrate the transition from the natural to the spiritual.
Teaching Points
Order of Creation
The natural precedes the spiritual, reflecting God's design in creation and redemption. Understanding this order helps us appreciate the process of spiritual growth and transformation.

Spiritual Transformation
Just as the natural body is sown and the spiritual body is raised, believers are called to undergo a transformation through the Holy Spirit, moving from a life dominated by the flesh to one led by the Spirit.

Hope in Resurrection
The promise of resurrection assures believers that their current natural state is not the end. There is a future spiritual reality that awaits, providing hope and motivation for holy living.

Living in the Present
While we await the full realization of our spiritual transformation, we are called to live out our faith in the natural world, reflecting Christ's character and love.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the order of natural and spiritual creation affect your view of spiritual growth and maturity?

2. In what ways can you see the transition from natural to spiritual in your own life, and how can you encourage this transformation?

3. How does the promise of resurrection influence your daily decisions and priorities?

4. What practical steps can you take to live more in line with the spiritual reality that Paul describes?

5. How can the contrast between Adam and Christ in Romans 5 help you understand the significance of Jesus' role in your spiritual journey?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 2:7
This verse describes the creation of Adam from the dust, highlighting the natural origin of humanity before the spiritual transformation.

1 Corinthians 15:45
Just before verse 46, Paul refers to Adam as a "living being" and Christ as a "life-giving spirit," setting the stage for the natural-spiritual progression.

John 3:6
Jesus speaks of being born of the flesh and the Spirit, emphasizing the necessity of spiritual rebirth following natural birth.

Romans 5:12-21
Paul discusses the contrast between Adam and Christ, elaborating on the transition from sin and death to righteousness and life.
The Divine OrderT. Jones, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:46
The Law of the Psychical and the SpiritualS. Cox, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:46
The Natural and the SpiritualH. M. Booth.1 Corinthians 15:46
The Natural Precedes the SpiritualF. W. Robertson, M.A.1 Corinthians 15:46
The True DevelopmentJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:46
The Two Grand Types of CharacterD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:46
The Exposition and Defence of the ResurrectionJ.R. Thomson 1 Corinthians 15:1-58
Objections to the Resurrection; Replies Thereto; Conclusions InvolvedC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 15:35-50
The Resurrection BodyE. Hurndall 1 Corinthians 15:42-53
Adam and ChristJ. Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
Christ the Archetype of AdamW. Anot, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
Natural and Spiritual LifeJ, Lyth, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
The First and the Last Adam S. Cox, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
The Last AdamA. Gray.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
The Second Adam A Quickening SpiritW. Dodsworth, M.A.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
The Two AdamsD. Thomas, D.D.1 Corinthians 15:45-50
The Wonderful ContrastHomiletic Monthly1 Corinthians 15:45-50
People
Adam, Cephas, Corinthians, James, Paul, Peter
Places
Corinth, Ephesus
Topics
Afterward, Afterwards, Animal, Howbeit, However, Isn't, Natural, Nevertheless, Physical, Spirit, Spiritual
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 15:35-54

     5136   body

1 Corinthians 15:42-49

     2421   gospel, historical foundation

1 Corinthians 15:42-50

     6139   deadness, spiritual

1 Corinthians 15:42-54

     4010   creation, renewal

1 Corinthians 15:42-55

     9110   after-life

1 Corinthians 15:45-46

     5381   law, letter and spirit

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

     5023   image of God
     5082   Adam, significance
     5492   restitution

Library
The Image of the Earthly and the Heavenly
Eversley, Easter Day, 1871. 1 Cor. xv. 49. "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." This season of Easter is the most joyful of all the year. It is the most comfortable time, in the true old sense of that word; for it is the season which ought to comfort us most--that is, it gives us strength; strength to live like men, and strength to die like men, when our time comes. Strength to live like men. Strength to fight against the temptation which
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Third Sunday after Easter Second Sermon.
Text: First Corinthians 15, 20-28. 20 But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fourth Sunday after Easter
Text: First Corinthians 15, 35-50. 35 But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come? 36 Thou foolish one, that which thou thyself sowest is not quickened except it die: 37 and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind; 38 but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one flesh of men,
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Fifth Sunday after Easter
Text: First Corinthians 15, 51-58. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Paul's Witness to Christ's Resurrection.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15, 1-10. 1 Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, 2 by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and that
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Small Duties and the Great Hope
'But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you; for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 10. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; 11. And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 13. But I would not have
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Christian and the Scientific Estimate of Sin
"Christ died for our sins."--I COR. XV. 3. Nothing is more characteristic of Christianity than its estimate of human sin. Historically, no doubt, this is due to the fact that the Lord and Master of Christians died "on account of sins." His death was due, as we have seen, both to the actual, definite sins of His contemporaries, and also to the irreconcilable opposition between His sinless life and the universal presence of sin in the world into which He came. But it is with the Christian estimate
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

Outward and Inward Morality
OUTWARD AND INWARD MORALITY I Cor. xv. 10.--"The Grace of God." Grace is from God, and works in the depth of the soul whose powers it employs. It is a light which issues forth to do service under the guidance of the Spirit. The Divine Light permeates the soul, and lifts it above the turmoil of temporal things to rest in God. The soul cannot progress except with the light which God has given it as a nuptial gift; love works the likeness of God into the soul. The peace, freedom and blessedness of all
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

April the Sixth First-Hand Knowledge of Christ
"Last of all He was seen of me also." --1 CORINTHIANS xv. 1-11. And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also found the dynamic of the immortal hope. "Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

April the Seventh if Christ were Dead!
1 CORINTHIANS xv. 12-26. "If Christ be not risen!" That is the most appalling "if" which can be flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade! "Your faith is vain." It has no more strength and permanency than Jonah's gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Sudden Conversions.
"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain."--1 Cor. xv. 10. We can hardly conceive that grace, such as that given to the great Apostle who speaks in the text, would have been given in vain; that is, we should not expect that it would have been given, had it been foreseen and designed by the Almighty Giver that it would have been in vain. By which I do not mean, of course, to deny that God's gifts are oftentimes abused and wasted by man, which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Paul's Estimate of Himself
'By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.'--1 COR. xv. 10. The Apostle was, all his life, under the hateful necessity of vindicating his character and Apostleship. Thus here, though his main purpose in the context is simply to declare the Gospel which he preached, he is obliged to turn aside in order to assert, and to back up his assertion, that there was no sort of difference between him and the other recognised teachers of Christian truth. He
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Unity of Apostolic Teaching
Whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.'--1 COR. xv. 11. Party spirit and faction were the curses of Greek civic life, and they had crept into at least one of the Greek churches--that in the luxurious and powerful city of Corinth. We know that there was a very considerable body of antagonists to Paul, who ranked themselves under the banner of Apollos or of Cephas i.e. Peter. Therefore, Paul, keenly conscious that he was speaking to some unfriendly critics, hastens in the
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Certainty and Joy of the Resurrection
'But now is Christ risen from the dead ... the first fruits of them that slept.'--1 COR. xv. 20. The Apostle has been contemplating the long train of dismal consequences which he sees would arise if we only had a dead Christ. He thinks that he, the Apostle, would have nothing to preach, and we, nothing to believe. He thinks that all hope of deliverance from sin would fade away. He thinks that the one fact which gives assurance of immortality having vanished, the dead who had nurtured the assurance
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Remaining and Falling Asleep
'After that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.'--1 COR. xv. 6. There were, then, some five-and-twenty years after the Resurrection, several hundred disciples who were known amongst the churches as having been eyewitnesses of the risen Saviour. The greater part survived; some, evidently a very few, had died. The proportion of the living to the dead, after five-and-twenty years, is generally the opposite.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Death of Death
'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. 21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.... 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (for the trumpet shall sound;) and the dead shall
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Power of the Resurrection
'I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; 4. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.'--1 COR. xv. 3, 4. Christmas day is probably not the true anniversary of the Nativity, but Easter is certainly that of the Resurrection. The season is appropriate. In the climate of Palestine the first fruits of the harvest were ready at the Passover for presentation in the Temple.
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

On the Atonement.
"How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."-1 Cor. xv. 3. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."-2 Cor. v. 21. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."-Rom. v. 8. "The Lord is well pleased for his Righteousness' sake: he will magnify the law and make it honorable."-Isa. xlii. 21. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood,
Charles G. Finney—Sermons on Gospel Themes

Victory Over Death.
Preached May 16, 1852. VICTORY OVER DEATH. "The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."--1 Cor. xv. 56, 57. On Sunday last I endeavoured to bring before you the subject of that which Scripture calls the glorious liberty of the Sons of God. The two points on which we were trying to get clear notions were these: what is meant by being under the law, and what is meant by being free from the law? When
Frederick W. Robertson—Sermons Preached at Brighton

Thoughts on the Last Battle
When I select such a text as this, I feel that I cannot preach from it. The thought o'ermasters me; my words do stagger; there are no utterances that are great enough to convey the mighty meaning of this wondrous text. If I had the eloquence of all men united in one, if I could speak as never man spake (with the exception of that one godlike man of Nazareth), I could not compass so vast a subject as this. I will not therefore pretend to do so, but offer you such thoughts as my mind is capable of
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

"Alas for Us, if Thou Wert All, and Nought Beyond, O Earth"
We will try and handle our text this morning in this way. First, we are not of all men most miserable; but secondly, without the hope of another life we should be--that we are prepared to confess--because thirdly, our chief joy lies in the hope of a life to come; and thus, fourthly, the future influences the present; and so, in the last place, we may to-day judge what our future is to be. I. First then, WE ARE NOT OF ALL MEN MOST MISERABLE. Who ventures to say we are? He who will have the hardihood
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

A Leap Year Sermon *
"One born out of due time."--1 Corinthians 15:8. PAUL THUS DESCRIBES himself. It was necessary that Paul, as an apostle, should have seen the Lord. He was not converted at the time of Christ's ascension; yet he was made an apostle, for the Lord Jesus appeared to him in the way, as he was going to Damascus, to persecute the saints of God. When he looked upon himself as thus put in, as it were, at the end of the apostles, he spoke of himself in the most depreciating terms, calling himself "one born
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 46: 1900

Resurgam
I propose this morning, as God shall enable, to listen to that voice of spring, proclaiming the doctrine of the resurrection, a meditation all the more appropriate from the fact, that the Sabbath before last we considered the subject of Death, and I hope that then very solemn impressions were made upon our minds. May the like impressions now return, accompanied with more joyous ones, when we shall look beyond the grave, through the valley of the shadow of death, to that bright light in the distance--the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

28TH DAY. A Joyful Resurrection.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "This corruptible must put on incorruption."--1 COR. xv. 53. A Joyful Resurrection. Marvel of marvels? The sleeping ashes of the sepulchre starting at the tones of the archangel's trumpet!--the dishonoured dust, rising a glorified body, like its risen Lord's? At death, the soul's bliss is perfect in kind; but this bliss is not complete in degree, until reunited to the tabernacle it has left behind to mingle with the sods of the valley. But tread lightly on that grave,
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

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