1 Corinthians 15:49
1 Corinthians 15:4949And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
For the Watchtower, 15:49 is applied exclusively to the anointed 144,000 — they alone bear the image of the heavenly One and are raised to heavenly life. The "great crowd" bears only the earthy image and will be restored to a perfected earthy state at Armageddon. The verse is read as the Scripture-anchor for the heavenly-only hope of the remnant.
Paul's "we" in 15:49 is the same "we" who shared Adam's image. Every believer who bore the earthy image because he descended from Adam will also bear the heavenly image because he is united to Christ. Pair with — "he will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body" — and — "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." The trajectory of salvation is bodily transformation into the image of the risen Christ, for every Christian. The JW two-class reading splits Paul's "we" into two groups Paul never splits. Ask at the door: "Which 'we' are you in — the earthy 'we' of verse 48 or the heavenly 'we' of verse 49? Paul speaks of one 'we' that crosses from one image to the other."