Ambrosiaster : This means that just as we have borne the corruptible body of the earthly Adam, so we shall in the future bear an incorruptible body, like that of the resurrected Christ. — COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES Augustine of Hippo : Therefore, given that our nature sinned in paradise, we are now formed through a mortal begetting by the same divine providence, not according to heaven but according to earth—not according to the Spirit but according to the flesh. We have all become one mass of clay, a mass of sin. Since therefore we have forfeited our reward through sinning, and since, in the absence of God's mercy, we as sinners deserve nothing other than eternal damnation, who then does the man from this mass think he is that he is able to question God and say: "Why have you made me this way?" If you want to know these things, do not be clay, but become a son of God through the mercy of him who has given to those believing in his name the power to become sons of God, although he has not so given, as you might want, to those desiring to know divine things before they believe. — QUESTIONS 68.3 Cosmas Indicopleustes : And as we have borne, he says, the image of the earthly, that is, the mortality and infirmity and corruption of Adam, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly, that is, of Him who hath already gone before and ascended into heaven after the resurrection from the dead. I speak of Christ according to the flesh, who has become powerful and incorruptible and immortal and glorified, and we in like manner have, with Him, become heavenly. — The Christian Topography, Book 7 Cyril of Jerusalem : They are also a "heaven" "bearing the likeness of the heavenly man," since God is dwelling in them and mingling with them. — MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 5.11 Irenaeus : The flesh, therefore, when destitute of the Spirit of God, is dead, not having life, and cannot possess the kingdom of God: [it is as] irrational blood, like water poured out upon the ground. And therefore he says, "As is the earthy, such are they that are earthy." But where the Spirit of the Father is, there is a living man; [there is] the rational blood preserved by God for the avenging [of those that shed it]; [there is] the flesh possessed by the Spirit, forgetful indeed of what belongs to it, and adopting the quality of the Spirit, being made conformable to the Word of God. And on this account he (the apostle) declares, "As we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, we shall also bear the image of Him who is from heaven." What, therefore, is the earthly? That which was fashioned. And what is the heavenly? The Spirit. As therefore he says, when we were destitute of the celestial Spirit, we walked in former times in the oldness of the flesh, not obeying God; so now let us, receiving the Spirit, walk in newness of life, obeying God. Inasmuch, therefore, as without the Spirit of God we cannot be saved, the apostle exhorts us through faith and chaste conversation to preserve the Spirit of God, lest, having become non-participators of the Divine Spirit, we lose the kingdom of heaven; and he exclaims, that flesh in itself, and blood, cannot possess the kingdom God. — Against Heresies Book V Irenaeus : Since, therefore, in that passage he recounts those works of the flesh which are without the Spirit, which bring death [upon their doers], he exclaimed at the end of his Epistle, in accordance with what he had already declared, "And as we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, we shall also bear the image of Him who is from heaven. For this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Now this which he says, "as we have borne the image of him who is of the earth," is analogous to what has been declared, "And such indeed ye were; but ye have been washed, but ye have been sanctified, but ye have been justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." When, therefore, did we bear the image of him who is of the earth? Doubtless it was when those actions spoken of as "works of the flesh" used to be wrought in us. And then, again, when [do we bear] the image of the heavenly? Doubtless when he says, "Ye have been washed," believing in the name of the Lord, and receiving His Spirit. Now we have washed away, not the substance of our body, nor the image of our [primary] formation, but the former vain conversation. In these members, therefore, in which we were going to destruction by working the works of corruption, in these very members are we made alive by working the works of the Spirit. — Against Heresies Book V John Chrysostom : "As we have borne the image of the earthy," i.e., as we have done evil, "let us also bear the image of the heavenly," i.e., let us practise all goodness. But besides this, I would fain ask thee, is it of nature that it is said, "he that is of the earth, earthy," and, "the Lord from heaven?" "Yea," saith one. What then? Was Adam only "earthy," or had he also another kind of substance congenial with heavenly and incorporeal beings, which the Scripture calls "soul," and "spirit?" Every one sees that he had this also. Therefore neither was the Lord from above only although He is said to be "from heaven," but He had also assumed our flesh. But Paul's meaning is such as this: "as we have borne the image of the earthy," i.e., evil deeds, "let us also bear the image of the heavenly," the manner of life which is in the heavens. Whereas if he were speaking of nature, the thing needed not exhortation nor advice. So that hence also it is evident that the expression relates to our manner of life. Wherefore also he introduces the saying in the manner of advice and calls it an "image," here too again showing that he is speaking of conduct, not of nature. For therefore are we become earthy, because we have done evil: not because we were originally formed "earthy," but because we sinned. For sin came first, and then death and then the sentence, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Then also entered in the swarm of the passions. For it is not simply the being born "of earth" that makes a man "earthy," (since the Lord also was of this mass and lump,) but the doing earthly things, even as also he is made "heavenly" by performing things meet for heaven. — Homily on 1 Corinthians 42 Methodius of Olympus : -for the soul is not corruptible or mortal; but this which is mortal and corrupting is of flesh,-in order that, "as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly? ". For, "as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." — Methodius From the Discourse on the Resurrection Origen of Alexandria : But you indeed then bore "the image of the earthly"; now, however, having heard these things, cleansed by the Word of God from all that earthly mass and oppression, make "the image of the heavenly" shine forth in you. — HOMILIES ON Genesis 13.4 Origen of Alexandria : For just as a coin or denarius bears the image of the emperors of the world, so he who does the works of "the ruler of these darknesses" bears the image of him whose works he has: which image Jesus here commanded to be rendered back and cast off from our face, and that image to be taken up according to which from the beginning we were fashioned to the likeness of God. The logical sequence of these things Paul too has expressed, saying: "as we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly". So then, what he says: "render what is Caesar's to Caesar", this he means: lay aside the person of the earthy, cast off the earthly image, so that, putting upon yourselves the person of the heavenly, you may be able to render "what is God's to God". — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Luke 39 Tertullian : Therefore, when exhorting them to cherish the hope of heaven, he says: "As we have borne the image of the earthy, so let us also bear the image of the heavenly," -language which relates not to any condition of resurrection life, but to the rule of the present time. — Against Marcion Book V