Not … first in this context refers in one sense to time; we have an earthly body and then a body filled with God’s Spirit. But first in this verse may also imply “less important.” Jewish interpreters of the Old Testament had a saying: “A new act of God supersedes the old.” Paul may have meant something similar, where the two items are in order of increasing importance. Translation models reflecting this idea are the following: “The physical comes first and then the spiritual,” or “For the physical comes first and then the spiritual replaces it.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .