Commentaries:
<< 1 Corinthians 15:48 1 Corinthians 15:50 >>
1 Corinthians 15:49
I Corinthians 15:49 shows the end of the process, which it encompasses in just a brief phrase, "we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." We were born into the human family, and we have borne the image of that family, an image that all of mankind has in common. All of us have the human spirit. We may be different ethnically. We may look different from the person sitting next to us, but now in Christ Jesus He is building a commonality, one God intends us to use to increase our fellowship with Him, as well as increase and deepen the respect and fellowship that we have for each other until we come to bear the image of the heavenly. Then, of course, the fellowship will be in totality. That is where Christians are headed.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Truth (Part 4)Related Topics: Fellowship | Fellowship of Believers | Fellowship with God | Image and Likeness of God | Image of Christ | Image of God | Image of the Heavenly | Image of this World | Image, Spiritual | Transformed into His Likeness
1 Corinthians 15:49
Jesus Christ was resurrected bodily, yet He was composed of spirit. When we are resurrected, it will also be bodily. We, too, will be "quickening"—life-giving, composed of spirit.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part One)Related Topics: Eternal Life | Jesus Christ's Resurrection | Quickening by the Spirit | Resurrection to Immortal Life | Spirit Beings | Spiritual Body
1 Corinthians 15:42-49
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): HopeRelated Topics: Angels | Begettal of the Holy Spirit | Begotten of God | God's Image | God's Nature | God's Work | God's Workmanship | Image and Likeness of God | Image of Christ | Image of God | Image, Spiritual | Spirit Beings | Spirit of God | Steadfastness | Transformed into His Likeness
1 Corinthians 15:49
Are we sons of Adam? Why do we have this image? Why are we like him? Because we are his offspring! We have been born into this earth, the offspring of Adam, as Acts 17 clearly proves. When we are resurrected we will bear the image of our Father. We will be just like Him (I John 3:2), even as we are now just like Adam was. We will be God!
Incidentally, the word image means "that which corresponds to and reproduces the original." No image—whether it is a reproduction in a flat mirror, a three-dimensional hologram, or a living child of a parent—is an exact replica or image, because each person has his own peculiarities. That is so evident and logical that everybody should be able to understand that nobody can be God exactly as God is God, because each person is an individual personality. We will be a reproduction of Him, but we will be unique—because we are who we are, and He is who He is. He has His life and His history, and we have ours. However, we will still be God. We will be just as much "God" as a baby in the human family is a "human" like its parents.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part One)Related Topics: Adam's Geneology | Adam's Offspring | Adam, Sons of | Family of God | God as Family | God as Parent | God's Children | God's Family | God's Geneology | Image | Image and Likeness of God | Image of Adam | Image of Christ | Image of God | Image of the Heavenly | Image of this World | Image, SpiritualOther Forerunner Commentary entries containing 1 Corinthians 15:49:
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 1:26-27
Genesis 1:26-27
Genesis 3:4
Genesis 3:19
Genesis 13:14-15
Luke 1:26-30
Luke 1:41-42
John 20:1
Romans 1:7
1 Corinthians 1:2
1 Corinthians 1:7-8
1 Corinthians 15:49
2 Corinthians 1:1
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Ephesians 1:1
Philippians 1:1
Revelation 7:3-8
Revelation 14:1-5
Revelation 20:1-3
Revelation 20:4-6
Revelation 20:11-15
<< 1 Corinthians 15:48 1 Corinthians 15:50 >>
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What Does 1 Corinthians 15:49 Mean?
As offspring of Adam, born into the human family, mankind bears Adam's image, possessing the human spirit and sharing a common humanity. When resurrected, believers will bear the image of their Father, becoming just as much God as a child is human like its parents. "Image" means a reproduction corresponding to the original, yet each individual remains unique, since no reproduction is an exact replica. The heavenly Man is Jesus Christ. Restored to His former glory, He returned to the kind of body He had as the model for Adam—composed of spirit, not flesh, yet possessing shape and solidity, as proven when He was touched after His resurrection. Believers will be resurrected bodily and composed of spirit. Now, in Christ, God builds a commonality deepening fellowship until that image is fully realized.