It's fine to say 'the last of the works of the creation', since he was only created on Friday. But what is Rebbi Ami mean when he says 'the first for punishment'? Which punishment is he referring to? If you say the punishment of the snake (i.e. the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge), but did Rebbi not say in a Beraisa that in matters of greatness we give precedence to the greater one, whereas when it comes to punishment, we begin with the less important one (in this case the snake, which was punished before Adam).

Eliezer Chrysler