1 Corinthians 15:47

'The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.'

For the first man, the source of the life of all men, is earthy, and is of the earth, as are they. But the second man is of Heaven. Paul has now come to the point where he feels that he can speak of what is heavenly without it simply being connected with sun, moon and stars, but rather being seen as that which is greater than the stars. Again Genesis 2 is in mind. Man was made of the earth, and as such returned to the earth. But the second man was not only made of earth, He was of Heaven. That is central to what He is.

By sin man had lost that heavenly part of himself, and had shut himself up ever to be earthy. But the second man was of Heaven. He had not lost that heavenly part of Himself. It was central to what He was. And although He had come as earthy, although He was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), it was in order to be the source of that new heavenly life for men.

So they must see that life in Christ has changed everything. Those who have that life are no longer just living souls, they have received life from above, heavenly life, coming from the Life-giver Himself Who while on earth could say that He was the man from Heaven (John 3:13) and could claim 'I am the life' (John 14:6; John 11:35). They can thus not only be described as citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20), but are in their bodies imbued with heavenly life which will come to its full fruition in the resurrection. Even while on earth they dwell in Christ in the spiritual realm, in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).