Christ the Firstfruits, the Last Adam’s Victory, and the Kingdom

Paul reverses the hypothetical: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Firstfruits are the beginning of a harvest that guarantees more to come. Christ’s resurrection is therefore not an isolated miracle; it inaugurates the resurrection harvest.

Paul sets Adam and Christ over against one another: through a human came death; through a human comes resurrection. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,” each in the order God appoints. Christ then reigns until every enemy is placed beneath his feet, language drawing on Psalm 110:1 and Psalm 8:6. The last enemy destroyed is death.