Today, I want to talk about the first resurrection, and there are going to be two key passages
we're going to look at, 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 20.
First Corinthians 15, 22 reads, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all
be made alive, but every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that
are Christ's at his coming, then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power,
for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
So right there you have the order of the resurrection.
You have Jesus Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, and
then cometh the end.
So really you could put it this way.
You have the firstfruits, which is Jesus, just one person rising from the dead, Jesus
Christ.
He was the firstfruits.
Then you have what the Bible calls the first resurrection.
That is what takes place at Christ's coming, and then you're going to have a second resurrection
that takes place after the millennium.
That's what the passage said.
It said Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, then
cometh the end, and it says it's after he's already reigned.
Now let's go to Revelation chapter 20 and begin reading in verse number 4.
The Bible reads,
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.
And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word
of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection, and what I want to point out there is that when the Bible
says this is the first resurrection, that group includes people who were beheaded for
not receiving the mark of the beast.
So my question is this.
If there's a pre-trib rapture, if the first resurrection is pre-tribulational, then why
does it include people who have not received the mark of the beast and people who refuse
to worship his image?
Now those who believe in a pre-trib rapture will say, well, you know, when the Bible says
the first resurrection, it doesn't really mean the first resurrection, it just means
the first kind of resurrection, the first resurrection.
And they say it happens in stages, and so it's just a different stage.
But here's the problem with that.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible very clearly laid out the timeline of the resurrection.
Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christed is coming, then cometh the end.
And keep reading and it's obviously clearly talking about the millennium.
So there's no room for all these multi-stages of, you know, the three raptures or five raptures
or seven raptures that the pre-tribulation crowd will often teach.
No, there's no room for that.
The Bible is real clear.
It's just Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christed is coming, then cometh
the end.
That's the first resurrection.
The Bible says, we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep.
And so that is talking about the dead in Christ rising first at His coming.
That is the first resurrection and it includes people who refuse to take the mark of the
beast because it happens after the tribulation.