The Two Resurrections

The Scriptures speak of the resurrection of those who have died in the past and also of those who will die in the future. The Greek word translated as “resurrection” is “anastasis”, which basically means to bring back to life from the dead. In the Bible, we are told that there will be two resurrections: 1) Resurrection of the Righteous, that is, those who died who had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This would consist of two groups: a) Those who died after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ who had a saving faith in Him, i.e. Christians b) Those who died before the crucifixion who placed their faith in the yet future Messiah who would die for their sins 2) Resurrection of non-believers, that is, those who rejected the savior of the world. This, again, would consist of two groups: a) Those who died after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ who rejected Him as their Lord and Savior b) Those who died before the crucifixion who did not believe in or place their faith in the yet future Messiah who would die for their sins We read about the two resurrections in the following verses: - "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (NKJ: John 5:28-29) - “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years …. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (NKJ: Revelation 20:4-6,12-15) Conservative biblical scholars are in general agreement regarding the existence of these two resurrections. However, the debate begins when the discussion gets more specific in the areas of timing of the resurrections, and the question on whether our bodies are resurrected at the same time are souls go to heaven or sometime after. Let us take a look at the various areas of debate/discussion relating to the resurrection of believers. Soul Sleep – Is there a Period of Time When the Souls of Those Who Die “Go To Sleep”, Waiting To Be Resurrected? The first topic to address is the concept of “soul sleep”, which is the concept that those who have died prior to the rapture of the believers have their souls basically fall asleep until the time of the resurrections. This concept is most definitely contrary to biblical teaching for the following reasons: 1) In the book of Luke, Jesus tells the story of two men who had previously died, and where they ended up after their death (Of note is that some will say this story in Luke was just a parable told by Jesus to give light on some spiritual principle; however, this is not the case for one very specific reason, that is, a proper name was used, i.e. Lazarus. In parables, proper names are never used, and would have made no sense in doing so. The fact that a proper name was used is direct proof that this is a true and actual story of the history of these two men): "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, "desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then 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.' "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " (NKJ: Luke 16:19-31) In this actual story of two men, we are told by Jesus that when they died, their souls were not put to sleep, but that they were completely aware of their location and surroundings immediately after their deaths. 2) The words of Jesus on the Cross to the criminal who was crucified next to Him: “And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’" (NKJ: Luke 23:43) Jesus promised this criminal, who had just confessed His saving belief in Jesus, he would that very day, after his death, be with our Lord in heaven. That is, Jesus did not refer to some future point in time at which time this man would ultimately be in heaven, but said, “today”. There was to be no interim state of being between the criminals death, and being in heaven. 3) Paul, in his epistles, had the expectation of being with Jesus right after his death: “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (NKJ: II Corinthians 5:8) “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” (NKJ: Philippians 1:21-24) Of note in this verse is that if Paul had the expectation of his soul “going to sleep” after his death, to be resurrected at some future date, then it would make no sense for him to be struggling with his feelings between wanting to stay here on earth to preach the gospel, or to leave this earth to be with Christ. Therefore, based on the above, it is clearly evident that when believers die there is no interim period where they are neither here on earth or in heaven with the Lord. Immediately after a Christian dies and leaves this earth, they are instantly in the presence of the Lord in heaven. Does the Physical Resurrection of Our Bodies Occur at the Same Time as our Souls Going to Heaven, that is, Immediately After Death, or at a Future Point in Time? We have already discussed and proven in the prior section that the concept of “soul sleep”, that is, an interim period between death of the physical body and our souls going to heaven to be with the Lord, is not biblically correct. Scriptures tell us that we are in the presence of our Lord in heaven immediately after we die. With this in mind, let us now examine the Scriptures that speak of sleep after death: - “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:13-18) - “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 15:50-57) - “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (NKJ: Daniel 12:2) If our souls are immediately with the Lord after we die, then it would follow that that which remains asleep must be our physical bodies after our souls have departed to heaven. Further, we read in Paul’s epistles concerning the receiving of our heavenly bodies: - “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 15:20-23) - “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (NKJ: Philippians 3:20-21) Paul is encouraging those in Christ concerning the resurrection of our bodies at the Coming of our Lord and Savior, that is, at the rapture. Believers in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, do not receive their permanent heavenly bodies at death. This will have to wait until Christ comes for His people. Hence, there is an interval of time between death and the resurrected state of our bodies. Resurrection of our bodies, that is, for believers, is in the future When Are Believer’s Bodies Resurrected (The First Resurrection) The general resurrection of the physical bodies of the righteous, that is, believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will occur in three phases: Phase I: The Church At the rapture, the Church will be raptured to heaven with their heavenly bodies. First, those who had already died, and then those who are living at the time of the rapture: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:13-18) The rapture event is specifically for the Church-age saints, and does not include the Old Testament saints. As noted by John F. Walvrood: “Actually the fact that Christ comes for His church, that is, the saints of this present age, before the tribulation does not have any real connection with the resurrection of the Old Testament saints including the resurrection of Israel, but is instead a special event pertaining to the saints of this age alone. This is borne out in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where it is declared that at the rapture “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” The technical expression of “the dead in Christ” refers to those who are in Christ by the baptism of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). Dispensationalists usually agree that the baptism of the Spirit, freely predicted throughout the gospel period and prophesied by the Lord Himself on the day of His ascension, took place on the Day of Pentecost and describes the peculiar relationship of the saints of the present age to Christ in that they are declared to be positionally in Christ. A careful search of the New Testament in many cases where the expressions in Christ or in Him are used will demonstrate that never in any context are these expressions used for saints other than those in the present age. The introduction of this restrictive clause in Christ to describe the dead who are raised therefore limits the resurrection to the saints of the present age. The concept that saints in the present age have the technical description of being in Christ in contrast to saints of other ages does not deny that Christ represented the whole world when He died and that as the last Adam He represented humanity. It is rather that saints in this present age have a peculiar privilege of a special inness which is related to the baptism of the Spirit which occurred for the first time on the Day of Pentecost. Although it is true that the expression “the dead” is found without restriction in 1 Corinthians 15:52, it clearly does not mean all the dead, for all premillenarians agree that the wicked dead are not included. It is also quite clear that the resurrection which occurs at the rapture is the resurrection out from among the dead (cp. Phil 3:11). Accordingly, as far as the New Testament is concerned, there is no clear evidence that the resurrection of Israel occurs in connection with the rapture and the evidence on the contrary is that the rapture restricts its resurrection to those who belong to the church, the body of Christ, formed by the baptism of the Spirit beginning on the Day of Pentecost.” (Article: “Contemporary Interpretative Problems:—The Resurrection of Israel” by John F. Walvrood) Phase II: Tribulation Saints Believers who die after the rapture of the church, including the tribulation saints, will have their bodies resurrected at the Second Coming of Christ. We read in the book of Revelation: “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.” (NKJ: Revelation 6:9) Note that what is seen under the altar in heaven are the “souls” of the tribulation saints, indicating that they had not as yet received their resurrected heavenly bodies. Then, after the Second Coming of our Lord, we read in the book of Revelation: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (NKJ: Revelation 20:4-5) John sees the souls of those who died during the tribulation period, and then notes that these will rule with Christ for the 1,000 years, and that they are part of the “first resurrection.” These souls receive their resurrected bodies at or right after the Second Coming of Christ, and then will be able to rule and reign with Christ here on earth. Phase III: Old Testament Saints After the Second Coming of Christ, the Old Testament saints will have their bodies resurrected. We have clear Scriptural evidence of this in the book of Daniel: “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (NKJ: Daniel 12:1-2) The reference is made to “those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”, which is a direct reference to their bodily resurrection. The resurrection of these Old Testament saints is said to occur after, “…a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation”, which is a reference to the time of the Great Tribulation, the last three and one-half years of the seventieth week of Daniel, which ends with the Second Coming of Christ. What Initially Happened To the Souls of Those Who Died Prior to the Resurrection? The answer to this question regarding what happened to the souls of those who died prior to the resurrection was given to us by Jesus Himself in a story He told to His disciples regarding two actual men who had previously died: "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then 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.' "But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, 'for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' "And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'" (NKJ: Luke 16:19-31) The souls of those who died prior to the resurrection were sent to an interim location that was divided into two sections with a large chasm separating the two parts: 1) “Abraham’s bosom”: This section was for those who died looking forward to, and having faith in, the prophesied Messiah to come. This was a place of comfort. 2) Hades: This section was for those who died in denial, and did not have faith in, the prophesied Messiah to come. This was/is a place of torment. The souls of those in “Abraham’s bosom” were there only for an interim time, for when Jesus Christ died on the Cross, and then was resurrected, these souls went to heaven. However, for those in Hades, their soles will remain there until the Great White Throne Judgement of God at the end of the Millenium, and then these souls will be cast into the Lake of Fire to be in torment for eternity. When Will the Resurrection of the Unbelievers Occur (The Second Resurrection) We read in the book of Revelation concerning the resurrection of those who rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior: “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ... Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (NKJ: Revelation 20:5, 11-15) The resurrection of the unbelievers will occur right after the millennial reign of Christ here on earth. CONCLUSION: Since the time of the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the souls of all who died possessing a saving faith in Jesus Christ are with the Lord. Further, as well, we who are alive are assured of being in the immediate presence of the Lord when we pass from this earth. And on that future day, when the Lord returns for His bride, the Church, at the rapture, we will receive the blessing of a resurrected heavenly body. Yet future, at the Second Coming of Our Lord, at the end of the period known as the Great Tribulation, those saints who died during the tribulation period, and the Old Testament saints will too receive their resurrection bodies. Then we all shall rule and reign with Christ for 1,000 years, and be with Him for eternity. Finally, at the end of the millennium, at the Great White Throne Judgment of God, the second resurrection will occur for all those who rejected our Lord, and they will stand before our Lord in judgment. Their final destiny being the Lake of Fire to be tormented for eternity.