Ambrose of Milan : Man arose because man died. Man was raised up again, but it was God who raised him. Then he was man according to the flesh. Now God is all in all. Now we no longer know Christ according to the flesh, but we have the grace of his flesh. We know him as the first fruits of those who rest, the firstborn of the dead. Unquestionably the first fruits are of the same species and nature as the rest of the fruits.… Therefore, as the first fruits of death were in Adam, so also the first fruits of the resurrection are in Christ. — On the Death of Satyrus 2.91 Athanasius of Alexandria : For by the sacrifice of his own body he both put an end to the law which was against us and made a new beginning of life for us, by the hope of resurrection which he has given us. For since from man it was that death prevailed over men, for this cause conversely, by the Word of God being made man has come about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life. — On the Incarnation of the Word 10 Basil of Caesarea : If the sojourn of the Lord in the flesh did not take place, the Redeemer did not pay to death the price for us. He did not by his own power destroy the dominion of death. If that which is subject to death were one thing and that which was assumed by the Lord another, then death would not have ceased performing its own works, nor would the sufferings of the God-bearing flesh have been our gain. He would not have destroyed sin in the flesh. We who had died in Adam would not have been made alive in Christ. — LETTER 261, TO THE CITIZENS OF SOZOPOLIS Cosmas Indicopleustes : For just as he ordained to introduce death on account of the sin of the first man, so also, through the obedience of the Lord Christ according to the flesh, he ordained the resurrection and the renovation and the gathering together of the whole creation. For, as Paul says, as by man came death, so by man the resurrection from the dead has been brought into the world. This is the great salvation, and dispensation and wisdom of God, who has produced all things and has again restored them. — The Christian Topography, Book 5 Cyril of Alexandria : He tasted death on behalf of every man in his flesh, which was able to suffer without him ceasing to be life. Accordingly, even though it is stated that he suffered in his flesh, he did not receive the suffering in the nature of his divinity but in his flesh which was receptive to suffering. — LETTER 55.34 John Chrysostom : "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." But if by a man, doubtless by one having a body. And observe his thoughtfulness, how on another ground also he makes his argument inevitable. As thus: "he that is defeated," saith he, "must in his own person also renew the conflict, the nature which was cast down must itself also gain the victory. For so the reproach was wiped away." But let us see what kind of death he is speaking of. — Homily on 1 Corinthians 39 Tertullian : Now that falls down which returns to the ground; and that rises again which falls down. "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection." Here in the word man, who consists of bodily sub stance, as we have often shown already, is presented to me the body of Christ. — Against Marcion Book V