By Kerry Trahan

August 9, 2015

Inquiry is often made in regards to:

1) How many Resurrections occur?

2) In what order do they occur?  And

3) When do they occur?

This brief outline was compiled in the hopes of bringing clarity to some in response to such questions.

First, the Old Testament addresses the subject of Resurrection on several occasions, but very little can be gleaned from it in regards to either their sequence or timing. The New Testament, on the other hand, adds a great deal of clarity to the subject; beginning with the following words of Jesus:

• Joh 5:28-29 Marvel 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.

 

So there are Two Basic Resurrections: [1]

• The First Resurrection—“to life”
• The Second Resurrection—unto “damnation”

All included in the first resurrection receive eternal life

All included in the second or final resurrection receive eternal judgment at that time

 

The most extensive treatment in the NT on the subject is found in 1Corinthians 15

The language indicates that an “order” (v23) is to be recognized in regards to the four stages involved in the First Resurrections

… This signifies a “timing” of the resurrections…

 

 Timing of the Resurrections:

The Four Stages of the First Resurrection Include: ^[2]

• Christ as the beginning of the resurrection program (1Co 15:22-23)
• The church age saints at the rapture* (1Th 4:16)
• The tribulation period saints (Rev 20:4, 5b), together with…
• The OT saints at the second advent of Christ to the earth (i.e., at end of trib.) (cf. Dan 12:2; Isa 26:16-19-21)

   The Second (/final) Resurrection has but one stage:

• The unsaved dead at the end of the millennial age (Joh 5:29b; Rev 20:5a, 11-14)

Note: Scofield maintains that the OT saints go up with the church age saints at the time of the rapture; but Isa 26:16-21 appears to clearly indicate that their resurrection does not occur “until the indignation [i.e., the Tribulation] be overpast”

~

 

 

 More on the “Order” of Resurrections in 1Co 15:

The phrase “every man in his own order” in 1Co 15:23 (which might in some cases be interpreted as referencing divisions of rank);

… Refers to the Resurrections occurring as in a procession—such as that of passing groups in a parade

This sequential interpretation is supported by the context:

• Use of the word “afterward” (v.23), which signifies a lapse of time
• Use of the word “then” (v.24 – eita, rather than tote), which also carries with it the idea of sequence

Note: this interpretation requires that they are “in Christ” (v22) be distinguished from “they that are Christ’s at his coming” (v23)

 

 Resurrection-Related Points & Passages: [3]

• Believed by the patriarchs (Gen 22:5 with Heb 11:19; Job 19:25-27)
• Revealed through the prophets (Isa 26:19; Dan 12:2, 13; Hos 13:14)
• Miracles of the dead being restored to life are recorded in the OT (2Ki 4:32-35; 13:21).
• Jesus restored life to the dead (Mat 9:25; Luk 7:12-15; Joh 11:43-44)
• Jesus predicted His own resurrection (Joh 10:18; Luk 24:1-8)
• A resurrection of bodies followed the resurrection of Christ (Mat 27:52-53)
• The apostles raised the dead (Act 9:36-41; 20:9-10)
• The mortal body will be related to the resurrection body as grain sown is related to the harvest (1Co 15:37-38); that body will be incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual (1Co 15:42-44, 49)
• The bodies of living believers will, at the same time, be instantaneously changed (1Co 15:50-53; Phi 3:20-21).
• This “change” of the living, and resurrection of the dead “in Christ” is called the “redemption of the body” / “redemption of the purchased possession” (Rom 8:23; Eph 1:13-14)
• After the thousand years the “resurrection of damnation” occurs (Joh 5:29)

Note: The resurrection-body of the wicked dead is not described

• The wicked are “judged… according to their works,” and “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone” (Rev 20:7-15)

~

 

  Additional Passages on the Subject of Resurrection:  (Joh 5:25-29; 11:26; 14:1-3; Rom 8:19-23; 1Co 1:8; 15:20-28, 51-57; 2Co 5:1-9; Phi 3:7-11; 1Th 4:13-18; 2Th 2:1; Heb 9:28)

 

 2Co 5:1-8—A Matter to Consider:

Not a few have interpreted 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 as a special disclosure that there is an intermediate body to be occupied in the period between the believer’s death and the coming of Christ. …

The thought here expressed is that the redeemed do not desire a disembodied state, which state is inevitable if there be no intermediate body. The body described in this passage is said to be ‘from heaven,’ rather than from the grave. Being of heavenly origin, it belongs to those realities which are eternal. That it belongs to things eternal does not require that it be employed forever. Certainly, the final body of glory is secured only at the coming of Christ. And, as certainly, the body of 2 Corinthians 5:1–8 is provided that there may be no moment of disembodiment. These two facts seem to compel the conclusion that there is an intermediate body.” ^[4]

 

 

^[1] Chafer, L. S. (1993). Systematic theology. Originally published: Dallas, Tex. : Dallas Seminary Press, 1947-1948. (Vol. 2, Page 156). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

[1] Most of the content of this outline was gleaned from Chafer, Scofield, & Pentecost

^[2] Cf. Pentecost, Dwight J. Things to Come. (Page 411). Zondervan Publishing House.

[3] Gleaned mostly from Scofield, C. I. Reference Bible, p. 1228.