THE FIRST RESURRECTION

 •  12 min. read  •  grade level: 9
T. B. Baines
The saints will return with Jesus when He comes forth to destroy His enemies. After judgment has been executed, and Satan cast into the bottomless pit, the reign of Christ, and of certain others, begins. The Apostle John says: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Rev. 20:4-64And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4‑6).
What does this passage teach us? First, it shows a resurrection which takes place before the thousand years of Christ's reign. Second, it enables us to learn who are the persons then raised. "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them." Who, then, are "they"? They are "blessed and holy," so they must be saints.
But what saints? The persons last named (Rev. 19:1414And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)) are the armies of heaven who came forth with Jesus to make war. They are the partners of His triumph, and as victors we should expect to see them sharing His dominion. They are the only persons mentioned in the context to whom the description could refer. These armies of heaven are the saints who have been taken before to be with Jesus.
The Scriptures have shown us that the saints living when the Lord comes will be changed into His likeness and caught up into His presence, after which they will come forth with Him to judge the world. These scriptures show us that the dead saints also, who are raised when the living are translated, will come with Christ and rule in His company.
Believers—Living Changed or Dead Raised
The apostles were to "sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Yet Peter, whose question drew forth this announcement, was warned that he himself should suffer death. Believers are made joint-heirs with Christ; saints are told that they shall judge the world, and sufferers with Christ are promised that they shall reign with Him, irrespective of their being alive or in the grave at His return.
The promise to the saints at Thyatira—"He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations"—could not be fulfilled to them unless the dead shared this hope with the living. Indeed, the passage so often referred to seems written to prove the absolute identity between the lot of believers, whether living or dead, when Christ comes for His saints. "Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 1 Thess. 4:1414For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14). Bring where, and for what? Bring forth as the sharers of His glory, for which purpose He will first raise them from their sleep, and take them with the living believers to be with Him in heaven.
Our Lord names two kinds of resurrection, though He says nothing of their being separate in time. "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (judgment)." John 5:28, 2928Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28‑29).
Does not the resurrection of life correspond exactly with the resurrection in which they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years? And is not the resurrection of judgment the same as that in which the dead are "judged out of those things which were written in the books"? If so, and surely it would be impossible to call it in question, they are not only distinct in character, but in time. The one is the resurrection of the dead in Christ when He comes for His saints; the other is the resurrection of the rest of the dead which takes place at the end of the world.
Paul, in his defense before Felix, declares "that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24:1515And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. (Acts 24:15). Why speak of the two classes? If he had been disputing with one who admitted the resurrection of the just, but denied that of the unjust, it could easily have been explained, but this was not the case. The division of the two classes, therefore, cannot be readily accounted for, except that the Apostle was regarding their resurrection, not as parts of one event, but as two separate transactions.
Still less could we understand our Lord's declaration to the Pharisee that he should "be recompensed at the resurrection of the just" (Luke 14:1414And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:14)), if the just had not a distinct resurrection from the unjust. The expression "resurrection of the just" scarcely could have been used if the two rose together. But its force is at once recognized if we bow to the truth of "the first resurrection" so plainly taught in the book of Revelation.
Resurrection from the Dead and of the Dead
Though it seems unnecessary to accumulate evidence upon a point so clear, we would call in aid an expression of Scripture often heedlessly uttered. That a "resurrection from the dead" differs from a "resurrection of the dead" is (owing to our constant confusion of the phrases) little understood. Everybody would see the difference between speaking of "the departure of a company" and the "departure from a company." The first implies the departure of the whole assembly; the second speaks of one or more persons out of the assembly. This is just the difference between a "resurrection of the dead," and a "resurrection from the dead." "The dead" is the whole company of dead persons. A "resurrection of the dead" simply means that dead persons are raised. But a "resurrection from the dead" means that one or more persons are raised from among this company of "the dead". So the phrase is invariably used in Scripture. Most frequently it is applied to the resurrection of Jesus. It is used also, however, of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1,231Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (John 11:1)
23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. (John 11:23)), the suspected resurrection of John the Baptist (Mark 6:1616But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. (Mark 6:16)), the resurrection of the poor beggar, for whom the rich man asked (Luke 16:2424And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (Luke 16:24)), and the resurrection of Isaac, which Abraham believed that God was able to accomplish (Heb. 11:1919Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:19)). All these are resurrections of a single person from among the mass of the dead. In nearly all cases where it is used, an exclusive resurrection is evidently intended.
One of these passages is Christ's answer to the Sadducees when they sought to perplex Him about the resurrection. He replies (the answer in Mark is similar): "They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Luke 20:35, 3635But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:35‑36). Here the expression used is the resurrection from the dead. Does the passage imply a general, or an exclusive resurrection? It cannot be a general resurrection, for all those who have part in it are like the angels, are the children of God, and are counted worthy to obtain it and die no more. It must be an exclusive resurrection then.
Notice how it corresponds morally with the "first resurrection", about which it is said that those who have part in it are blessed and holy. They are beyond the power of the second death, and are priests of God and of Christ.
Resurrection from Among the Dead
We read that the Sadducees were grieved that the apostles "preached through [in] Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Acts 4:22Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (Acts 4:2). No doubt the resurrection of Jesus was the great subject of the apostles' testimony. But the expression implies something more than the resurrection of Jesus Himself. The apostles preached through (or in) Jesus the resurrection from among the dead.
A few weeks before, the Sadducees had asked Jesus a question meant to turn the resurrection into ridicule, and had been silenced by the answer we looked at in a previous paragraph. This answer revealed not only the fact of a resurrection, but also an exclusive resurrection of those who should be counted worthy to obtain it.
This is the doctrine which the apostles were now proclaiming, with the further truth that this resurrection was through, or in, that same Jesus whom these Sadducees had rejected. They might have been grieved at their preaching "the resurrection of the dead," but could hardly have laid hands on them, inasmuch as the Pharisees, a far more numerous sect than themselves, held the same faith. It was the exclusive resurrection, announced by Jesus, and now proclaimed through Him, that aroused their fury.
In like manner Paul speaks of Jesus as "the firstborn from the dead" (Col. 1:1818And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)), that is, as the first of those who were taken from among the dead. If the resurrection of all the other dead were to be simultaneous, He would not be the first. But He was the only one born from among the dead, the rest having no part in a resurrection from the dead, but merely in a resurrection of the dead.
This expression is not an isolated one. In speaking before Festus and Agrippa, the Apostle declares the testimony of the prophets to be that Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead (Acts 26:2323That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. (Acts 26:23)). Of course, the propriety of the phrase is easily seen respecting Jesus Himself. But here Jesus is declared to be only the earliest of a number to whom the same description is applicable. It is, moreover, as the first-begotten of the dead, or rather, as the first-begotten from among the dead (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)), that Jesus Christ is presented in the opening verses of the Revelation.
Resurrection of the Dead
It may be said—If this is the meaning of the phrase "resurrection from the dead," why is it not used with reference to the dead spoken about in the long argument on the resurrection contained in 1 Cor. 15? The reason is very plain. A "resurrection from among the dead" is also a "resurrection of the dead", so that the latter expression may be employed with as much propriety of the first resurrection as of the second.
How, then, should we expect to have the two phrases used? Surely we should expect that when the object in view was to bring out the exclusive character of the resurrection, the first expression—"resurrection from among the dead"—would be employed. But when the object was to bring out, not the exclusive character of the resurrection, but merely the fact, the latter expression— "resurrection of the dead"—would be more natural. Now the whole argument in the chapter referred to is to show that believers will rise again. This some of the Corinthians were denying.
The Apostle replies by stating God's plan, partly executed already, about the first resurrection. His teaching has no reference whatever to the resurrection of unbelievers. The question of exclusive or general resurrection with respect to believers is not, therefore, touched upon. Christ is the firstfruits, then, "they that are Christ's at His coming" (1 Cor. 15:2323But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:23)), and at the same time even those believers who have not slept will be changed, and death will be swallowed up in victory (vv. 51-54).
Raising of Jesus and believers Looked at in this light, the accuracy of the language is very striking. The only dead named or contemplated in the chapter are Jesus Himself and believers in Him. The raising of Jesus, then, being before the others, is described as a "resurrection from [among] the dead" (vv. 12, 20). The raising of the believers, who comprise the whole of the remaining dead, is not described as a "resurrection from [among] the dead", but simply as a "resurrection of the dead" (vv. 21, 42). In this last case the use of the expression, "resurrection of the dead", was quite sufficient to bring out the truth which the Holy Spirit is teaching.
On the other hand, if bad and good are raised together for judgment, how is it that not a word is said about either the wicked dead or the judgment? The omission is surely most powerfully suggestive.
Though the chapter does not name the resurrection of the lost, it clearly shows when it will take place.
Every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Cor. 15:23-2623But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:23‑26).
After Christ's own resurrection, then the order is: first, the resurrection of them that are Christ's at His coming; second, His reign, closing with the destruction of the last enemy, death; third, the end, when He shall have put all enemies under His feet, and delivered up the kingdom to God. But when the last enemy, Death, is destroyed, the rest of the dead are raised and judged also.
Judgment
Comparing this, then, with the chapter in Corinthians, we see that the order in the two is just the same. First, the resurrection of the saved. Then, the reign of Christ, ending with the destruction of death, and the resurrection and judgment of the lost. Finally, the perfect state, when there shall be no more death. In a word, the chapter teaches, in harmony with the rest of Scripture, that the resurrection of the just and that of the unjust are two different events, the former preceding Christ's reign, and the latter being one of its most solemn, closing acts.
Springing from Unbelief
All our failure, whether sinner or saint,
springs from unbelief of the goodness
that is in the heart of
God toward us.