Audio Download

The Spiritual Significance of Man vs Men in Scripture

[Studies Aired November 25, 2025]

Introduction

Scripture’s precision extends even to the distinction between singular and plural forms. When we examine the use of man versus men throughout the Bible, God reveals a spiritual principle woven into the very grammar of His Word. This distinction illuminates the relationship between giving personal account and collective identity, between individual experience and unified purpose, and ultimately between the first Adam and the last Adam.

The Hebrew word for man, adam (אָדָם, H120), carries both singular and plural meaning. This same word describes the first created human being and refers to mankind generally. Another Hebrew term, enosh (אֱנוֹשׁ, H582), emphasizes man’s mortal, frail nature—humanity in its weakness and dependence upon God. The Greek equivalent, anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος, G444), likewise functions as both singular and plural, describing an individual human or humanity as a whole. This linguistic flexibility is not accidental but reveals God’s design: we are created as individuals in whom God reveals true identity within a collective whole, and that collective whole manifests through individuals in whom God works conversion.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Here man is singular—the individual Adam—yet this one man contained all humanity within himself. As Paul writes, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). The singular man becomes the representative head of all men, just as Christ, the last Adam, becomes the representative head of all who are in Him.

This study will explore how Scripture uses the singular and plural forms to reveal spiritual truths about our identity in Christ, examining the personal dimension of God’s transforming work alongside the communal reality of the body of Christ.

A Note on Imperatives and Divine Agency

Before proceeding, we acknowledge a crucial hermeneutical principle: Throughout Scripture, when we encounter imperatives and exhortations, we understand these not as commands requiring independent human performance, but as descriptions of what God works in us. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Even our willing and doing originate in His work, not in autonomous human effort. When Scripture says put on, cultivate, or be renewed, these reveal the pattern of God’s transforming work rather than obligations for self-generated human activity. God is the actor; we are the recipients and witnesses of His sovereign work.

The Individual Man: Giving Personal Account Before God

Scripture consistently emphasizes that God requires each individual to give account, using the singular man to establish this personal answering. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). This verse underscores that regardless of our collective identity, each person gives account of his own walk with God—reporting what God has worked in him. The singular man in this context does not hide behind communal identity or shared justification.

The apostle Paul declares, What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19). Here the individual believer is addressed—your body is singular, not plural. God makes each person a distinct temple for His dwelling. This brings both privilege and the necessity of giving account, for if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are (1 Corinthians 3:17).

The Hebrew word ish (אִישׁ, H376), often translated man, emphasizes the distinct person. When Scripture uses ish, it typically highlights what God works personally in each individual—personal action wrought by God, personal faith given by God, personal experience of God’s work. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25). God produces self-control in each person—this is fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not human achievement. The singular form reminds us that God works in each heart individually.

Jesus taught that God requires each to give personal account in the parable of the talents: For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability (Matthew 25:14-15). Though the servants formed a group, each received according to his capacity and would give answer separately regarding his stewardship. The master’s reckoning addressed each servant individually, requiring each man to give account of what he alone had been given—to report what had been accomplished through him.

This personal dimension appears throughout Scripture’s revelation of God’s work in believers. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind (Romans 14:5). But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another (Galatians 6:4). These passages reveal that while we function within a body, God cultivates conviction in each member and works faithfulness in each one individually.

The prophets consistently addressed individuals within the nation. Ezekiel received the word: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him (Ezekiel 18:20). Though Israel existed as a unified nation, God required each person to give account of his own experiences. Communal identity did not eliminate the requirement to give personal account of what God had worked in individual lives.

The Common Men: Collective Identity and Unified Purpose

While Scripture establishes that God requires each person to give account, it simultaneously reveals a communal dimension where men function as a unified whole. The plural form often describes the church, the body of Christ, operating together to fulfill God’s purposes. Paul writes, For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). Individual believers, though many men, form one collective entity in Christ.

The Hebrew word anashim (אֲנָשִׁים, H582), the plural of enosh, and the Greek anthrōpoi (ἄνθρωποι, G444), the plural of anthrōpos, describe groups functioning as a whole. When God addresses men, He often speaks to the collective people with a shared purpose. Ye men of Israel, hear these words (Acts 2:22). Peter addressed the gathered assembly as a unified people with common identity and destiny.

This communal reality appears clearly in the building metaphor. Peter declares, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Though each believer functions as an individual living stone, God builds these stones together into one spiritual house. The plural stones construct the singular house—many men become one temple. Paul elaborates: Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Notice Paul’s movement between plural and singular: ye (plural) are fellowcitizens (plural), yet together form a holy temple (singular), a habitation (singular). Individual believers maintain distinct identities while simultaneously being formed by God into one collective dwelling place for Himself. This is the mystery of many men becoming one man in Christ.

The concept of the body demonstrates this unity. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Many men with diverse backgrounds are united by God into one body through the Spirit. Paul continues, And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you (1 Corinthians 12:21). Each member remains distinct—the eye is not the hand, one man is not another—yet God causes all to function together as one organism.

This shared identity extends to spiritual warfare. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-11). Though God clothes each believer with this armor individually, He does so within the context of a collective army. The plural brethren suggests communal strength, mutual support in battle, and shared victory through Christ.

Male and Female: The Pattern of Union

Before examining the two Adams, Scripture reveals God’s original design for humanity as both singular and plural. Genesis presents a unique use of man that reveals profound spiritual truth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27). Notice the shift from singular to plural: man (singular) becomes male and female (plural), yet both are encompassed in the one creation of man. This grammatical movement demonstrates that God designed humanity to function as a unified whole from the beginning.

The creation account continues: And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him (Genesis 2:18). God determined to complete the singular man through relationship. When God formed Eve, Adam declared, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Genesis 2:23). Two distinct individuals—man and woman, masculine and feminine—yet both originating from one flesh, designed by God for reunion as one flesh.

This physical pattern establishes a spiritual principle that finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ and the church. Paul reveals this mystery: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). The singular man (Christ) unites with the collective men (the church, His bride) to become one flesh—many members forming one body with one Head.

The relationship between man and woman in marriage thus illustrates the relationship between Christ and the church. As husband and wife are two distinct persons who become one flesh, so Christ and His church are many distinct persons who become one body. The singular man (husband) represents Christ; the singular woman (wife) represents the collective church. Yet the church consists of many separate men and women who together form the bride. The movement between singular and plural throughout Scripture’s teaching on marriage and the church reflects this profound spiritual reality. This pattern of one becoming two, then two becoming one, prepares us to understand the greater mystery of the two Adams.

The First Man Adam and the Last Adam: Representative Headship

The most profound use of singular man versus plural men appears in Paul’s teaching about the two Adams. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Here Scripture uses the singular man to describe representative heads who contain multitudes within themselves. The first man Adam represents all natural humanity; the last Adam (Christ) represents all who bear the heavenly image. One man stands for many men.

Paul elaborates this principle: For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Two singular men determine the destiny of all men. In Adam, the representative head, all humanity participated in death. In Christ, the representative head, all who are His participate in life. The entire Bible concerns itself with these two men—the first man Adam and the last Adam.

The principle of representative headship explains how one man’s actions affect many men. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12). One man (Adam) brought consequences upon all men. This is not merely forensic imputation but representative identification—Adam was not simply the first to sin; he was the head of humanity, the singular man who contained all men within himself.

Similarly, For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). The singular one man (Christ) reverses what the singular one man (Adam) initiated. Christ’s representative headship means that His victory becomes the victory of all men who are in Him. The many find their identity in the One.

This understanding illuminates Scripture’s constant movement between singular and plural. When Scripture speaks of putting off the old man and putting on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24), it uses the singular to describe both the Adamic nature from which God divests us and the Christic nature with which God clothes us. Yet this singular man manifests in many separate men. Each believer experiences the death of the first man Adam and the life of the last Adam as God works this transformation, yet all share in one collective dying and rising from the old to the new.

The struggle between these two men plays out in every believer’s experience. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would (Galatians 5:17). The first man Adam (flesh) wars against the last Adam (Spirit) within each person, yet this is simultaneously the shared experience of all who are being changed by God from the natural to the spiritual.

Individual Transformation Within United Identity

Scripture reveals that God’s transforming work never occurs in isolation but always within the context of communal identity. God reveals to the singular man his true identity only as He places him among the plural men who form Christ’s body. Conversely, as God works transformation in each singular man, the collective body functions properly according to His design.

Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts illustrates this balance. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (1 Corinthians 12:7). God gives each person spiritual endowment, yet the purpose extends beyond personal blessing—to profit withal means for the benefit of the whole. God’s gifting in individuals serves communal edification. Paul continues, For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-9). God gives distinct individuals diverse gifts, yet all emanate from the same Spirit working through many members to serve the one body.

This interdependence reflects both God’s work in individuals and His work in the collective. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Notice the movement: we all (plural) come to a perfect man (singular). God matures many persons together toward one unified maturity, the fulness of Christ achieved not through any single man but through all men together in Him.

The building metaphor reveals this dynamic. Each believer stands as a living stone, yet God joins these stones properly to form the temple. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:16). God’s work in each part (the effectual working in the measure of every part) contributes to collective growth (maketh increase of the body). Paul also writes, But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him (1 Corinthians 12:18). God sovereignly places each member; the singular man cannot reach maturity apart from the plural men, nor can the communal body mature if God’s work in separate members remains incomplete.

This principle appears in Jesus’ teaching about the vine and branches. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5). God causes each branch to maintain distinct identity and to abide in Christ, yet no branch exists independent of the vine or the other branches. God gives life to the singular man only through connection to Christ and simultaneously through connection to the collective body.

The Wisdom of Men Versus the Wisdom of God

Scripture uses the plural men to describe human wisdom and systems that stand opposed to God’s wisdom. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). The collective wisdom of natural men—their philosophies, reasonings, and traditions—cannot comprehend spiritual truth. The plural emphasizes the accumulated knowledge of many minds all functioning from natural understanding.

Paul continues, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-7). The wisdom of men represents collective human understanding operating from the first man Adam—natural, carnal, limited to the five senses. This stands opposed to the wisdom of God, which comes through spiritual revelation to those being transformed by the last Adam.

James further clarifies this distinction: This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:15, 17). The contrast between earthly and heavenly wisdom parallels the contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam—one earthly, the other heavenly.

The distinction between singular and plural illuminates this truth. When Scripture speaks of the natural man, it uses the singular: But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). The singular man describes the unified Adamic nature shared by all unregenerate humanity. Yet when describing the collective wisdom produced by this nature, Scripture uses the plural men—for many individuals operating from the same natural mind produce a body of thought called the wisdom of men.

Similarly, spiritual wisdom operates both individually and communally. God gives spiritual understanding to each believer: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (James 1:5). God gives wisdom when the singular man seeks it from Him. Yet this wisdom, given by God to many persons, forms a collective spiritual understanding that transcends any single person’s perception. The body of Christ, with its many members all receiving from the same Spirit, manifests wisdom that no singular man could produce—wisdom that God alone generates through His people.

From Natural Man to Spiritual Man

Scripture traces God’s work in transforming humanity from the natural to the spiritual, using singular man to describe both states. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15:47-49). The two singular men represent two communal realities—two humanities, two natures, two kingdoms.

God works in every believer this transition from being in the first man to being in the last man. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The singular man experiences transformation by virtue of being placed in Christ. This is not merely moral reformation but fundamental change of identity—from being in Adam to being in Christ, from the first man to the last Adam—all wrought by God’s sovereign work.

The process continues throughout the believer’s life as God progressively transforms. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). The plural we all indicates shared experience—God works this transformation in all believers—yet God causes each singular man to behold the Lord’s glory. God’s transforming work in individuals and His transforming work in the community proceed simultaneously as many men become one man in Christ.

This transformation manifests in practical righteousness. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). The singular man describes both the nature from which God divests us and the nature with which God clothes us. This putting off and putting on is God’s transforming work in us, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). God works in each believer to divest him of the first man Adam and to clothe him with the last Adam, yet this is the shared experience of all who are in Christ—making it both individual and communal reality.

The Son of Man: Individual and Common Identity in Christ

Jesus’ favorite self-designation, Son of man, reveals the profound connection between singular and plural, individual and collective identity. The Greek phrase ho huios tou anthrōpou (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, G5207, G444) literally means the son of the man or the son of mankind. Christ identifies Himself with humanity while simultaneously standing as representative head of a new creation.

Daniel’s vision prophesied this title: I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14). The singular Son of man receives a kingdom comprising all people, nations, and languages—the One represents the many, and the many find their identity in the One.

Ezekiel was addressed as son of man ninety-three times throughout his prophetic ministry, emphasizing his identification with frail, mortal humanity (enosh) even as he received divine revelation. Christ’s use of this title thus connects Him both to prophetic ministry and to identification with humanity’s weakness, yet He transcends both as the perfect man who brings redemption.

Jesus used this title to describe both His suffering and His glory. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works (Matthew 16:27). As Son of man, Christ identifies with humanity in redemptive suffering, yet as Son of man, He exercises divine authority to judge all men. The singular title encompasses both personal mission and collective representation.

The title also emphasizes Christ’s role as the last Adam. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man (John 5:27). Christ’s humanity qualifies Him to judge humanity, yet His humanity is not that of the first man Adam but of the last Adam—the spiritual nature being God’s outcome from the beginning. Calling Himself Son of man, Jesus declares both identification with mankind and distinction from corrupt mankind. He is the true man, the pattern man, the representative head in whom all men find redemption.

Moreover, Christ’s body—the church—shares in this identity. Paul writes, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). God makes believers sons through union with the Son. The singular Son of man extends His sonship to many sons, God creating a collective sonship. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). The singular Son brings many sons to glory, yet all these sons find their sonship only in Him as God works this identification.

Conclusion: Many Members, One Body

The scriptural distinction between man and men reveals the beautiful tension between giving personal account and communal identity that defines the Christian life. God calls each of us as singular men to experience personal relationship with Him, to receive holiness, to manifest faithfulness. Yet God reveals our true identity only within the collective whole, only as He places us among the many men who together form the one body of Christ.

This tension between singular and plural, between one and many, ultimately resolves in Christ. He is the singular representative head who contains all men within Himself. In the first man Adam, all died; in the last Adam, all are made alive. The entire Bible tells the story of God’s work transforming humanity from the first man to the last, from the natural to the spiritual, from the separate Adam to the unified Christ.

As individuals, we each give account before God—reporting what He has worked in us, testifying to His transforming power. Our personal transformation never occurs in isolation. God builds us together as living stones, fits us together as members of one body, grows us together toward the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:16). God causes every part—each singular man—to function according to its measure, yet the goal is not individual perfection but communal maturity. We are many members, yet one body. We are many men, yet one man in Christ Jesus.

This is the great mystery Paul revealed: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones (Ephesians 5:30). Just as Eve came from Adam’s side, so the church comes from Christ’s pierced side. Many persons form one unified bride for the one Bridegroom. The singular man and the plural men both find their ultimate meaning and fulfillment in Christ, who is both the individual Son of God and the collective head of a new creation. In Him, God reveals that we are simultaneously distinct persons who give personal account and unified members with shared identity—many men becoming one man, one new man in Christ Jesus our Lord.