Our resurrection after death can be a confusing topic for believers because it’ll happen several times to different groups of people. We know that after Jesus was crucified the resurrected Christ appeared to his disciples and over 500 other people in his glorified body. This is important because it proves Jesus is God and since he rose from the dead it means we will too. Not only that, we will receive a resurrection body just like the one Jesus has. We know that the resurrected Jesus walked through walls, disappeared at will and traveled long distances in the blink of an eye. Our new bodies will be mature like we were in our thirties. Our glorified bodies will never age or get sick. We’ll have our glorified bodies forever in heaven. I see four different resurrections for believers:
1. At the time of Jesus’ death – Prior to the death of Jesus, the souls of all the righteous dead went to Paradise within the earth. I’m talking about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Moses, Joshua, all the prophets and anyone else God deemed righteous. Their eternal spirits from God couldn’t enter heaven because of the stain of sin on their spirits from birth because of Adam’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. God hates sin and will not allow it in heaven. One of the spiritual laws of heaven is the wages of sin is death. The righteous dead in Paradise had to wait for the arrival of the Son of God as the only one worthy to die in their place so they could all go to heaven. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary paid the sin debt of all those saints in Paradise. During his three days in the earth Jesus went down to Paradise and gave the saints a new spirit without sin and he also gave them their new resurrection bodies. This is the first resurrection. Jesus then escorted these saints directly to heaven. Some of these resurrected saints later appeared in Jerusalem as a witness to the resurrection of Christ and the glory of God.
Matthew 27:51-53 – Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
2. At the end of church age – When the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah God then temporarily turned away from Israel and turned to the Gentiles (us) to build his church and spread the gospel of Christ. Almost 2000 years have passed and we’re still in the church age today, which is also referred to as the time of the Gentiles. The church age officially began on Pentecost, fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, when God sent the Holy Spirit to earth to indwell believers. The church age will end when Jesus comes to rapture all believers to himself, both dead and alive. We will meet Jesus in the clouds and he will give us our resurrection bodies before taking us back to heaven with him. This is the second resurrection.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 – 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.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 – For the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. 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.
3. At the end of the tribulation period – The rapture of the saints ends the church age and triggers the last seven years of human history which we refer to as the tribulation. With the church now in heaven God will turn his focus back to Israel where he’ll save a remnant of his chosen people. The tribulation period will last exactly seven years and it will end with the second coming of Jesus to the earth where he will set foot on the Mount of Olives. Jesus will save Jerusalem from destruction and destroy the nations attacking Israel. There will be people who were saved after the rapture took place but who also died prior to the return of Jesus. These saints will receive their resurrection bodies at this time, known as the great Day of the Lord. This is the third resurrection.
Revelation 20:4 – 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 worshipped 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.
4. At the end of the millennium – At his second coming Jesus will establish the kingdom of God on earth with himself as King. Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem for 1000 years. Not everyone will be killed during the tribulation period and those people who survived will become a part of the millennial kingdom. The life span of these people will be greatly lengthened much like the patriarchs of old who lived to be hundreds of years old. These people will eventually die but they will not receive their resurrected bodies until after the millennium is over, which will be the end of the age. This is the fourth resurrection.
Revelation 4:5 – But the rest of the dead (who died during the millennium) did not live again until the thousand years were finished.
After this last resurrection of the saints comes the Great White throne judgement of Jesus. The eternal spirits of all the unsaved of all ages go straight to hell upon their death. At this time all of them are resurrected bodily to stand before Jesus in judgment. God is reciprocal and fair to saint and sinner alike. Believers will be glorified in heaven so God gives them a glorified physical body for that purpose which is theirs to keep forever. What God does for the believer he will also do for the nonbeliever. Since sinners are to be condemned in hell forever God will give them a condemned body suitable for hell. The nonbeliever’s physical body will be a dead, decomposing, cadaver full of worms (maggots).
Hebrews 9:27 – And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
It’s obvious to me those going to hell have physical bodies because Revelation says an angel will grab hold of the lost and physically throw them into the lake of fire. You don’t “grab” and “throw” something that’s not physical. Three verses in the book of Mark never made any sense to me until now. In the book of Mark Jesus is talking about those in hell where he is quoted as saying, “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Jesus says it three times and I don’t recall God ever saying something in the Bible three times together like that so it must be really important for us to know. Those who have died without accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are eternally dead. Why would God give a living resurrected body to those who are already dead in their sin? He won’t and he can’t. Those nonbelievers who are dead in their sin get the corpse they deserve for eternity.
Mark 9:44,46,48 -(Jesus speaking about those in hell) – Their worm does not die, and the fire is nor quenched.
The unsaved will burn in hell forever but they will not be consumed by the fire and neither will the maggots infesting their rotting corpses. I can’t think of anything more repulsive to me than that. The flesh of all dead bodies is eaten by worms (maggots) as part of nature’s normal decomposition process. Those in hell will spend an eternity in a rotting corpse which will be very similar to those zombies we see in these “walking dead” movies and television shows. That’s not a pretty picture is it? If you’re not a believer let me urge you right now to go seek God while there is still time. The Bible says if you seek God you will find him and God cannot lie. You have everything to lose by waiting but you have everything to gain by taking action now. As Christians we have almost 2000 years of historical evidence, research, documentation, proof, and personal testimony that prove beyond any doubt that Jehovah is the one and only living God whom we are to worship. God has made everything in the universe for his pleasure and he’s waiting to meet you personally.
John 5:28-29 – (Jesus speaking) – For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth-those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Job 19:26 – And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.
Isaiah 1:18 – Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Revelation 20:15 – And anyone nor found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.