Four Bodily Resurrections

Here I will address four Biblical bodily resurrections.

The very first bodily resurrection from the dead is that of the Lord Jesus Himself.

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except (unless) a corn (grain) of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Thus Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection, saying but if He dies He will bears many grains. Christ is the grain or “Seed” (1Pet 1:23, Gal 3:16) of God the Father, whose resurrection life brought light and life to all who will believe to receive Him and His life… making them the “many sons of God.”

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (I Cor. 15:20).

There was great sorrow when the body of Jesus was carried from the cross to the tomb. The signal seemed to say, ‘Jesus Christ defeated.’ But three days later the fog lifted and it was announced, ‘Jesus Christ defeated the enemy!’ Through Christ we have complete victory over our enemies of sin, death, and Satan, and we have new life, a glorious hope, and the certainty of our own resurrection one day.

But the subject of resurrection in God’s Word is one that needs to be “rightly divided.”

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23).

In 1Corinthians 15, Paul speaks of the resurrections, plural, both the prophetic resurrections and also one according to “the revelation of ‘the mystery, which had been kept secret since the world began,” (Rom 16:25).  In 1Cor 15:23-28, Paul outlines the prophetic “order” of resurrections, and he begins with Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

As Paul spoke of the gospel of salvation in verses 1-4, making it clear that Christ’s resurrection was prophesied: “He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (I Cor. 15:4 cf. Psa. 16:10). In verses 20 and 23, Paul refers to Christ’s Himself resurrection as being the “firstfruits,” meaning Christ’s resurrection is a foretaste of what is to come.

Christ’s own bodily resurrection guarantees the great harvest of bodily resurrections yet to come.

These two are bodily resurrections yet to come. 1) The Messianic kingdom saints who will dwell on the New Earth; and 2) the members of “the Gentile church, which is the Body of Christ,” who will precede the Kingdom saints by being “caught up” or raptured (1Thes 4:13-18) to “dwell eternal in the heavens” (2Cor 5:1b).

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23).

Notice above how Paul says they (not “we,” not the body of Christ) that are Christ’s at His Coming” (1Cor. 15:23), speaking of the resurrection of the prophetic Kingdom saints after Christ’s second coming. These saints will be raised and ushered into the earthly, millennial reign of Christ on earth. This is Biblically referred to as the “first resurrection,” and it includes all the saved of the prophetic Kingdom program, or in other words, all the saved from the past (prior to this dispensation of grace and the body of Christ) and also all the future martyred Tribulation saints.

The “First Resurrection” (of the Old Testament Saints & Martyrs of the Tribulation period):

As Revelation 20:6 states,

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection: on such the second death (the Lake of Fire) hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and Shall Reign With Him A Thousand Years.

Following the Thousand-year (Millennial) Kingdom Reign, when Christ “must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” (I Cor. 15:25), comes the time when “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15:26). This comes the ‘Great White Throne Judgment,’ then “death and hell” will be “cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14) and on earth “there shall be no more death” (Rev. 21:4).

The Second Resurrection (to Judgment):

The second resurrection, or “resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29), of all the unsaved of all ages will take place at this time, when they will be fitted with bodies to stand before the Lord at the Great White Throne Judgment and then endure the everlasting punishment of death in “the Lake of Fire.”

The Secret Resurrection (the Rapture):

After Paul gives this prophetic sequence of events regarding the first and second resurrections, in verse 1Cor 15:51 he brings up a ‘secret coming’ and a ‘secret resurrection’ – the ‘catching away’ that is commonly referred to as the Rapture of the church which is “the body of Christ” (Eph 1:22b-23a)… which was not ever before revealed until Paul received revelation of it from the ascended Lord in heaven.

“Behold, I shew you a MYSTERY (secret); We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed (Gk., allasso, made different), In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (ICor. 15:51-52, cf. 1Thes 4:13-18).

The “first resurrection” and this secret resurrection are two (2) different resurrections. The prophesied “first resurrection” will take place immediately after Christ’s prophesied second coming to earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom.

By contrast, the Secret Resurrection will take place at Christ’s Secret Coming, at the Rapture (1Thes. 4:13-18). This coming of Christ and our resurrection (rapture) is part of the “revelation of the mystery” (Rom. 16:25), the message which had been hid in the mind of God and revealed first to the Apostle Paul (cf. Eph. 3:1-9). All the previous resurrections, such as Christ’s resurrection, the first resurrection of the Kingdom saints, and the resurrection of damnation were revealed in the Old Testament (Isa. 53:10; Dan. 12:2)… but not the resurrection of “the Body of Christ” by the Rapture.

Now notice how the personal pronouns change from “they” to “we” here as Paul applies this secret coming of Christ and resurrection to “the Church, which is the Body of Christ”: We (the members of the body of Christ) shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed” (I Cor. 15:51).

The Rapture is the bodily resurrection for the members of “the Body of Christ” only. This is not referred to or revealed outside of Paul’s thirteen epistles that reveal the Mystery (secret) program for the church. (Note: Matt 24-25, Luke 21, et al, all refer to the 2nd coming of Christ to earth, not the catching away of the members of “the body of Christ.”)

  • Our Rapture to “meet Him in the clouds” and then be taken to heaven is our secret resurrection.  This is part of “the Mystery program for the members of the Gentile church, which is “the body of Christ.”
  • Several years later, at Christ’s second coming, which will be seen openly (Rev 1:7), and its first resurrection for the O.T. Kingdom saints and the Tribulation martyrs belongs to the Prophetic program for Israel on earth.

Thankfully “… our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, (so) that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body” (Phil. 3:20-21). Paul says we should “comfort one another” (1Thes 4:18) with these words of our being caught up to be with Him eternal in the heavens” (2Cor 5:1b).