Editorial journey
The first Adam received life and lost it; the last Adam gives life. St Paul himself calls Adam "the figure of him that was to come".
Written by HonestApologist's editors. The labels below are our own reading, checked against the Bible texts on this site; they are not part of the cross-reference dataset. Scripture in the notes and steps: King James Version (with Apocrypha). Old Testament steps can also be read in the Septuagint.
Man is made in the image of God and called to His likeness.
26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Explore connections from here · Read in the Septuagint (Brenton)
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 1
God forms man from the dust and breathes into him the breath of life: "man became a living soul."
7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Not listed in the cross-reference dataset.
Explore connections from here · Read in the Septuagint (Brenton) · Read beside step 1
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 2
After the disobedience, death enters: "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
Also in the cross-reference dataset (19 votes).
Explore connections from here · Read in the Septuagint (Brenton) · Read beside step 2
Called a type in Scripture The New Testament text itself calls the earlier figure a type (Greek typos). Connects to step 3
Through one man death entered the world and spread to all. St Paul calls Adam a typos, "the figure of him that was to come". Orthodox teaching reads this passage as the spread of death and corruption to all, not as the inheritance of Adam's personal guilt.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
the figure of him that was to comeτύπος τοῦ μέλλοντοςAlso in the cross-reference dataset (19 votes).
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 4
"As by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
18 Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
“He commenced afresh the long line of human beings”
St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.18.1. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (tr. Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut), via New Advent. Read the source
Also in the cross-reference dataset (45 votes).
Editorial note A link of theme drawn by our editors. Connects to step 3
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Also in the cross-reference dataset (6 votes).
Quotation The later text quotes the earlier one, often saying so ("that the scripture might be fulfilled"). Connects to step 2
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." St Paul quotes Genesis 2:7 and names Christ the last Adam.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.
48 As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soulman became a living soulAlso in the cross-reference dataset (42 votes).