The Wonderful Contrast
Homiletic Monthly
1 Corinthians 15:45-50
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.


I. ADAM WAS A LIVING SOUL, which includes —

1. Reason; thus above the brute, and able actively to glorify God. They passively praise Him.

2. Spirituality, or knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness in mind and soul. Nothing can comprehend holiness but the image of that holiness.

3. Happiness. Holiness is happiness; God infinitely happy, because infinitely holy. He must delight in His own image, and for us to wear that image is a greater honour than, if it were possible to be invested with creative power.

4. Immortality. We are immortal, but not independently so; God alone is (1 Timothy 6:16).

II. THE LAST ADAM A QUICKENING SPIRIT. He quickens —

1. From spiritual death (Ephesians 2:5).

2. The afflicted (Psalm 119:50).

3. The backslider (Hosea 14:4).

4. From the grave (Philippians 3:20, 21).We manifest our oneness with Adam by our disobedience, and our oneness with Christ by our obedience. The most glorious work of God is the renewal of a human soul, and its transition from grace to glory. How grateful we should be that God has promised that His work within us shall be as perfect as His work for us (Ephesians 5:14).

(Homiletic Monthly.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

WEB: So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.




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