What does the apostle Paul mean when he says, “As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:48)?

Just as Adam was formed from dust, so are his descendants: subject to weakness, decay, and death. And just as the heavenly Man is, so is he who unites with Him and shares in His heavenly glory.

The scholar Origen says, “... if you remain in that which is first, which is of the earth, you will be rejected, unless you change yourself, unless you have been converted, unless, having been made ‘heavenly,’ you have received ‘the image of the heavenly.’”¹³²⁴

Maximus of Turin , says, “Adam is formed from the mire (cf. Gen. 2:7) by the hands of God, while Christ is formed in the womb by the Spirit of God.”¹³²⁵

St. John Chrysostom says, “What then? Did not this Man too die? He died indeed, but received no injury therefrom, yes, rather by this He put an end to death.”¹³²⁶

And Peter Chrysologus says, “But, let us hear what follows: ‘As was the earthy man, such are the earthy; and as is the heavenly man, such also are the heavenly.’ How will it be possible for those who were not born thus as heavenly men to be found heavenly men? Not through their remaining what they were born, but by continuing to be what they were when reborn. Brethren, that is why the heavenly Spirit by a mysterious injection of His light fecundates the womb of the virginal Mother. He desired to bring forth as heavenly beings those whom an origin from an ancestral stock of earth had brought forth as earthy men, in a wretched state. He wanted to bring them to the likeness of their Creator. So, let us who have already been reborn, and reformed to the image of our Creator, fulfill what the Apostle commands.

“‘Therefore, even as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, let us bear also the likeness of the heavenly.’ Let it be granted that all this was a necessity: that we, formed from earth, could not produce heavenly fruits; that, born from concupiscence, we could not avoid concupiscence; that we, born from the powerful attractions of the flesh, had to carry the base load of its attractions; that we, accepted into this world for our home, were captives to its evils. Yes, let us who have been reborn to the likeness of our Lord (as we mentioned), whom a Virgin conceived, and the Spirit enlivened, and modesty carried, and integrity brought to birth, and innocence nourished, and sanctity taught, and virtue trained, and God adopted as His sons-let us bear the image of our Creator in a perfect reproduction. Let it be a reproduction not of that majesty in which He is unique, but of that innocence, simplicity, meekness, patience, humility, mercy, and peacefulness by which He deigned to become and

1324 Origen of Alexandria, Homilies on Genesis 9 (FOTC 71:151).

1325 Maximus of Turin, The Sermons of St. Maximus of Turin 50A.2 (ACW 50:122).

1326

St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 42.1 (NPNF I/12:255) amended.

to be one with us. May the bothersome itch of vices cease, and the fatal allurements of sins be overcome, and damnable rage, the source of crimes, be checked. May all the fog of worldly display be dispelled from our senses. May all the illusion of worldly desire be cast out of our minds. May we desire Christ’s poverty which stores its everlasting riches in heaven. May we preserve complete holiness of soul and body, that we may bear and enhance our Creator's image in ourselves, in regard not to its size, but to our way of acting.”¹³²⁷