When the Word of God speaks of the first resurrection, a second one is implied, and, also, that there will not be a general rising of all people at the same time.
The Lord Jesus tells us that there is a resurrection of life, and a resurrection of judgment (John 5:2929And 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 5:29)), and we read, “Blessed and holy is he who hath part in the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:66Blessed 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 20:6)), and that the “rest of the dead,” such as are neither blessed nor holy, “lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” Hence the resurrection of life takes place at least one thousand years before the one of judgment.
It is a solemn, a fearful consideration, that there is a distinction between the very dust of believers and unbelievers. The same family vault may contain their dust, but those who have life in Christ will rise ten long centuries before the others. The former will be awakened flora their slumbers by the voice of Jesus, who is the Life—their Life; the latter, by His voice, as their Judge. The Lord expressly says that he who hears His word, and believes in Him who sent Him, shall not come into judgment, but he is passed from death unto life (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)). The sins of the believer have been borne already. Jesus bore them in His own body on the tree. The believer has thus been judged already in the person of his spotless substitute; and he will not, cannot be judged again as a sinner for his sins, and hence will never stand before the great white throne. He will rise, not to the resurrection of judgment, but to the resurrection of life.
As our resurrection hangs upon Christ’s, all who have life in Him—that is, all who believe—will rise together— “Christ, the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” All who belong to Christ He will gather in; the harvest would be imperfect and incomplete otherwise. From holy Abel to our own day, everyone who is Christ’s shall rise or be changed at His coming. Myriads of redeemed, countless multitudes, shall assemble around “the First-born from the dead.”
When shall these things be? Our Lord, when He was here upon earth, said, “The hour is coming;” the time now surely draws near, the long silence of the grave shall soon be broken, and we shall be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. The trumpet shall soon sound. Let us be continually expecting its call. “We shall all be changed,” while remaining still our own selves, while retaining our own individuality, while knowing each other and rejoicing together, we shall all—the living and the sleeping—be vastly changed.
It is not possible as our bodies now are, subject to death at any moment, or as many beloved saints now are, dust and corruption, that we can inherit the kingdom of God. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” We shall all be changed; our natural bodies will become spiritual bodies. “There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.” We have been like Adam, but we, shall be made like Christ. “As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:44, 49, 5044It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:44)
49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1 Corinthians 15:49‑50)).
What a glorious change from sickbeds, from separations, from this region of frequent and recurring grief, and from these minds and hearts fitful in zeal for and love to our Lord! What a change from the divisions of Christendom, and the contentions and strifes of this mournful wilderness! May God, by His Spirit, enable us to live in the power of that day, to be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord!”