“The Wonders of Christ—The Last Adam Became a Life Giving-Spirit”
Message given by James Reinarz on October 26, 2025
Two Becomings in Incarnation and Resurrection
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1 Corinthians 15:45
Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The Spirit and the Son are distinct but not separate.
1 Corinthians 15:45
Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Galatians 4:6
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
“It is not only unnecessary but entirely unwarranted to read “Spirit” as a denial of the personal distinction between Christ and the Spirit and as irreconcilable with later church formulation of Trinitarian doctrine. Paul is clear about that personal distinction elsewhere… The point is not who Christ is essentially, eternally, and unchangeably, but what he became in history, particularly what he became in history as the last Adam…In view here is what has happened to Christ in history as incarnate, in terms of his true humanity.” – Gaffin, Richard B., Jr. “The Life‑Giving Spirit.” Reformed Faith and Practice, vol. 1, no. 1, May 2016, Reformed Theological Seminary, https://journal.rts.edu/article/the-life-giving-spirit..
So what is this verse saying?
“So, 1 Cor 15:45 expresses the momentous and epochal significance of the resurrection for Christ personally. What Paul brings into view is Christ’s own climatic transformation by the Spirit in his resurrection, a transformation that results in a new and permanent relationship between Christ and the Spirit. The result is a functional unity, a unity in their conjoint activity of such intimacy and inseparability that it is captured most adequately, as the apostle sees it, by saying that in being raised from the dead Christ has become and so now is and remains in his activity the life-giving Spirit. What we are being brought to see, then, is that for Paul, Christ and the Spirit are united in the activity of giving resurrection life.” Gaffin, Richard B., Jr. “The Life‑Giving Spirit.” Reformed Faith and Practice, vol. 1, no. 1, May 2016, Reformed Theological Seminary, https://journal.rts.edu/article/the-life-giving-spirit..
Accomplishing a Perfected Humanity
Hebrews 5:8–9
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
Giving Us New Life
2 Corinthians 3:6
who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Colossians 3:4
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
For our Transformation
2 Corinthians 3:17–18
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
