We have seen in John 5:29 two distinct resurrections; one of the saved, and the other of the unsaved, with a thousand years between.
The first event that Scripture teaches us to look for, is the coming of Christ to take to Himself His heavenly saints (John 14:3; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:1). This is the sure hope given to the believer.
“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The saints living when Christ comes, do not die: their bodies are changed, and made like Christ’s glorious body (1 Cor. 15:51-54; Phil. 3:20, 21). It is after that, that all are manifested at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 4:5), where the Lord will express His approval of what He can of our actions, and also what He must disapprove of. All are in Christ, accepted in the Beloved while on earth, and are now there in bodies of glory. Their acceptance in Christ is unquestioned.
Between the time of His coming for us, and His glorious appearing with us (Titus 2:13), when He comes to reign over the earth, there is a period of about seven years, called the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1). During that time the Jews are brought in again through great tribulation (Matt. 24:21); and there are two companies of martyrs; Revelation 20:4 tells of their resurrection. “They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
This is the last part of the first resurrection. All the blessed and holy are now raised from the dead, and get a heavenly place, but like the Old Testament, saints; they are not a part of the church, the body of Christ (Col. 3:4; 2 Thess. 1:7, 8; Jude 14, 15 Rev. 1:7). All the heavenly saints share the reign of Christ.
(Continued from page 160)
(To be continued)