Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Ok I get it. So ... the last Adam did not become a life-giving spirit.
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Who said that? I certainly didn't.
CONTEXT - CONTEXT - CONTEXT.
Remember the verse that immediately proceeds verse 45?
"It is sown a
natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a
natural body, there is also a
spiritual body".
(vr 44 emphasis mine)
Remember the two verses that immediately follow verse 45?
But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
The first
man was from earth, a man of dust; the second
man is from heaven.
(vrs 46,47 emphasis mine)
The context is one of contrasting bodies. Adam received a natural body. The Lord Jesus, in his resurrection received a spiritual body. Earlier Paul contrasts the seed with the full-grown plant. The Greek language is precise. The apostle Paul was precise. The first MAN was from earth, a man of dust - why did Paul say such a thing? Surely the Corinthians already new such an elementary thing. The second MAN is from heaven. PAUL IS CLEARLY MAKING A CONTRAST. Earlier in the chapter - "it is sown...it is raised" and again, "it is sown it is raised". Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became (or was made) a man, a human being with a physical body, but in his resurrection, became - the context is clearly one of receiving - a life giving spirit.
As some of the commentators have pointed out, the Person of the Holy Spirit is certainly active in this becoming - of course he is, anything "spiritual" by very definition should involve the activity of the Holy Spirit. I like how Richard Gaffin describes this spiritual body - "it embodies the fullest outworking, the ultimate outcome, of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer, along with the renewal to be experienced by the entire creation." (Gaffin - LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT)
Now, one more final contrast, and I will leave you all with this one for now:
Just as we have
borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also
bear the image of the man of heaven.
(vr 49 emphasis mine)
How shall we "bear the image" of Jesus Christ. If Witness Lee is to be believed then we will all become the Holy Spirit 