Christ is now compared and contrasted with Adam. We all descended from Adam who was formed out of the dust of the earth. Then Christ came who is a "life-giving spirit" (again we need to remind ourselves that spirit and spiritual do not imply ghostlike!). The order was natural first, then the spiritual. So it is with all of us. At the moment we have a natural body, later we will be given a spiritual body (which will be 100% real).
We all have the same characteristics as Adam, and we know this. Our bodies are of the same stuff, they decay and wear out in the same way (albeit some more gracefully than others!). We are all corrupted by sin.
In exactly the same way, all who are in Christ will have the same characteristics as Christ. We will have a resurrection body like His, we will be completely free from sin like Him, we will be completely committed to the Father like Him.
Not only will the resurrection happen, it must happen. Our present bodies cannot inherit the kingdom. We have to die and rise again in order to receive our full inheritance. Death has indeed lost its sting, for it no longer spells the final defeat, but the doorway to our new bodies. Now this most definitely does not mean we should wish to die! We have a purpose here and now, and we should love life. God is the only One who can and should decide when we die, but we need have no fear of death.
All of us will be changed. This will happen when Christ returns. If we have died before then, then we will be raised from the dead just as Christ was raised from the dead. If we are still around we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Either way it is all good!
In the resurrection of Christ we have the victory over sin and death.
Paul then closes this section with a typical instruction. All this talk of what happens after we die must not give us any pie in the sky kind of thoughts, no notions of just waiting around to go to heaven. We are to stand firm and to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. Because of the resurrection we know that life here matters, it has a purpose, and that purpose will be achieved. So we are to give ourselves fully to the Lord in this life, knowing that it is all worthwhile.
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