Paul’s statement, ‘The first man
[is] from the earth, earthly: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.’ (1 Cor
15:47), is a contrast between Adam’s dust origins and the origin of Christ—the Lord
was born from above. Paul does not mention birth, but he does mention
heaven and being from heaven in a context of coming into existence.
John 3 is helpful here because Jesus uses the concept of birth from above
(v. 6 KJV mg., cf. v. 31) in a context which makes the same contrast as Paul—between
the earthly and the heavenly. It is difficult to resist the inference that Paul
is quoting John, and inviting his readers to make a reference to Christ’s
miraculous birth. Both John and Paul are using Jesus’ birth from above to model
the new spiritual birth of believers. (Andrew Perry, Before He Was Born:
Combating Arguments for the Pre-existence of Christ [7th ed. [4th revision];
Staffordshire, U.K.: Willow Publications, 2022], 339 n. 1)
