John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:21

"For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead." — 1 Corinthians 15:21 (ASV)

Since by man came death. The point to be proved is that Christ is the first-fruits, and that it was not merely as an individual that he was raised from the dead. He proves it from contraries, because death is not from nature but from man’s sin. Therefore, since Adam did not die for himself alone but for us all, it follows, that Christ in like manner, who is the antitype, did not rise for himself alone; for he came that he might restore everything that had been ruined in Adam.

We must observe, however, the force of the argument; for he does not contend by similarity or by example, but resorts to opposite causes to prove opposite effects. The cause of death is Adam, and we die in him: therefore Christ, whose office it is to restore to us what we lost in Adam, is the cause of life to us; and his resurrection is the foundation and pledge of ours. And as the former was the beginning of death, so the latter is of life. In the fifth chapter of the Romans (Romans 5), he develops the same comparison; but there is this difference, that in that passage he reasons concerning spiritual life and death, while here he discusses the resurrection of the body, which is the fruit of spiritual life.