F.F. Bruce: "a man of dust"
Who is the "first man" in this passage?
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. (NRSV)
The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. (KJV)
(1 Corinthians 15:47 – click for more translations)
As assumed here by F. F. Bruce, it makes good sense to understand that Paul's "first man" here was Jesus himself:
While Paul had no doubt about the personal identity of the earthly Jesus and the heavenly Christ, he equally had no doubt that the heavenly Christ's mode of existence was different from that of the earthly Jesus. When he affirms that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" 1 Corinthians 15:50 — i.e., the resurrection order — he makes it plain that this is as true of the Lord as of his people. The earthly Jesus was a man of woman born who endured a real death; but the risen Christ, while still man, was now vested with heavenly humanity, a different order of humanity from that of this present life. "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven." 1 Corinthians 15:47. While the creation narrative of Genesis 2:7 tells how "the first man, Adam, became a living soul," the character of the new creation is disclosed in the affirmation that "the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" 1 Corinthians 15:45. The risen Christ, for Paul, exists no longer in a body of flesh and blood but in a "spiritual body" 1 Corinthians 15:44.
