The Ages to Come…..Part 2
October 10, 2012
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 1:9.
“That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past,” Ecclesiastes 3:15.
CONTINUED FROM PART 1
The First Resurrection
I will begin by pointing out that in “the first resurrection” all New Covenant believers are not resurrected at the same time, yet they are still all part of “the first resurrection.” If this seems strange to some readers who have never seriously studied the resurrections, it is easily explained…..
The “first resurrection” is typified in the Scriptures by two natural events.
First, it is typified by the Jewish harvest season.
Second, it is typified by military rank or order.
The inspired Word explicitly states that there is an “order” to the “first resurrection.”
“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 [parousia],” 1 Corinthians 15:22-23.
The Greek word translated as “order” in this passage is the word, “tagma.” This Greek word is a military term used in ancient times by the Grecian armies and later by the Roman Legions. In other words, “the first resurrection” will occur over a period of time according to the rank or Company to which each New Covenant believer belongs.
To demonstrate this truth, in the Greek text 1 Corinthians 15:20 literally reads, “But now Christ has been raised [ek…out] from among the dead, first-fruit of those fallen asleep He became.” See Dr. Berry’s Greek Interlinear New Testament [Textus Receptus]. It is obvious that all of the dead did not rise when Christ arose. Only the Lord was raised out from among the dead. Christ arose and the rest of the dead stayed in their graves. This alone obviously shows a rank or “order” to the “first resurrection.” The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was the Commanding Officer who first came out from among the dead to lead His “sons” to glory, Romans 8:14. Further, that the Lord God is the Commander of our resurrection is clearly set forth in John 11:25-26 and Hebrews 2:9-10. Glory to God!
For the benefit of our readers who have never seriously studied the “order” of the “first resurrection,” I now want to set forth the Scriptural “order”…
1. The Lord Jesus Christ was “the first begotten from the dead,” Acts 26:23; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5. The Lord Jesus Christ was unique in that He was the very first person raised from the dead never to die again. I am well aware that there were dead people restored to life in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, but each one of those people lived for a time and then died again. On the other hand, the Lord Jesus Christ was the Head or “Beginning” of a new “kind” [race; species] of man, James 1:18. The Lord came forth out from among the dead with an immortal “glorified body” no longer subject to death, Romans 6:9; Revelation 1:18. Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
Today every true believer knows that the Lord Jesus Christ in His incarnation was “God in the flesh” and the “Son of God.” But most believers, in their zeal to uphold the “diety” of the Lord, commonly overlook the fact that at His coming into the world He was not regarded as the “Son of God” by the Jewish people or by the Gentile Romans living among the Jewish people. Rather, the Jewish people living at that time knew that Christ had been born of Mary, and therefore they assumed that He was the son of Joseph, Matthew 13:54-57; Mark 6:2-3; Luke 4:22; John 6:41-42. When they looked at the Lord Jesus as He lived and walked among them, all they saw was a man. The Jews who lived in Nazareth had watched this “man” grow up among them from a child to an adult. Therefore they simply regarded Him as just another man. The Lord God is referred to 84 times in the four gospels as “the Son of man,” an allusion to His humanity received from His mother, Mary. It was because the Jews knew Him only as a “man” at His first coming that it was so hard for them to believe that He was “the Son of God.”
It should be obvious that preceding His resurrection only a small “remnant” believed His teachings, followed Him, and came to know that He was indeed the promised Messiah of Israel, the Savior, and the “Son of God,” Matthew 14:33; 16:15-17; John 1:31-34; 1:47-49; 11:25-27. It is also evident that Christ Himself wanted it that way, for on occasion He rebuked the demons who cried out identifying Him as the “Son of God,” Mark 1:34; 3:11-12; Luke 4:33-35; 4:41; James 2:19. Why did the Lord want to keep His true identity unknown? Because the Lord God wanted people to come to Him “by faith” rather than by any human recognition [natural; fleshly] of His true position as “the Son of God.”
But three days after His crucifixion, His position in the eyes of men changed forever. Why? Because He was resurrected out from among the dead, coming forth with an immortal “glorified” body as “the firstborn from the dead” and “the firstborn among many brethren,” Colossians 1:18; Romans 8:29. This passage in Romans sets Christ forth as the “first” or Head of a whole new “kind” [race; specifies] of redeemed mankind referred to in the New Testament as “the sons of God,” Romans 8:14-19; James 1:18; Hebrews 2:10.
Further verification of this truth is clearly stated in describing the resurrection of Christ, “And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulcher. But God raised Him from the dead: And He was seen many days of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee,” Acts 13:29-33; Psalm 2:7; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5.
What this actually tells the true believer is that while Christ was “the son of God” in His humanity, yet His human flesh temporarily veiled His “diety” from the unbelieving world. Compare the type of Christ in Exodus 34:29-35. The day Christ was resurrected from the dead with an immortal “glorified” body was the day that the veil was removed from Him and the Heavenly Father Himself acknowledged Him as “My Son” that very day. On that day the Heavenly Father acknowledged Christ as the “first begotten” of a new “kind” [race; species] of redeemed mankind who should from that time forth be known as “the sons of God,” Revelation 1:5.
The expression, “sons of God,” as set forth in the New Testment refers only to “new covenant” believers. Just like Christ before His resurrection, we “new covenant” believers are presently “veiled” by our fleshly bodies, however the Scriptures explicitly state that “the whole creation” is waiting “for the manifestation [unveiling] of the sons of God,” Romans 8:19; 8:22-23. Wow! Glory to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! What a “blessed hope,” Titus 2:11-15.
So the “first resurrection” began some 2,000 years ago with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Keep in mind that the inspired Word explicitly states, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [raise up; cause to live; make immortal] your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you,” Romans 8:11. Praise the Lord! Glory to God! Thank you Lord Jesus!
2. The second “order” in “the first resurrection” is set forth in Matthew 27:52-53, “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” This obviously occurred within minutes or hours [?] after the resurrection of Christ. These “saints” are the “first fruits” [plural] of the resurrection which Christ took with Him into glory that Sunday morning following His own resurrection, John 20:17; Ephesians 4:8.
Every serious student of the Scriptures knows that the Jewish observance of “first fruits” comes on “the morrow after the Sabbath” following Passover, Leviticus 23:9-14. On that Sunday morning the Jewish priest entered the Temple with a “sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest,” lifted it up above his head and “waved” it vigorously before the Lord. The lifting up of the sheaf between earth and Heaven and waving the sheaf before the Lord typified the resurrection of Christ and the “first fruit” saints. “And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it,” Leviticus 23:11.
By carefully comparing the accounts of the resurrection of Christ, and of “the saints…which came out of their graves after His resurrection,” it appears that on that Sunday morning at the exact same time the Jewish priest was “waving” the sheaf in the Temple, the Lord Jesus Christ and the “first fruit” saints were before the throne of God in Heaven being accepted as the “first fruits” of the resurrection harvest on behalf of all true New Covenant believers. Since the precious blood of our risen Christ and the “first fruits” of the “first resurrection” harvest were accepted by our Heavenly Father some 2,000 years ago, this means that access into Heaven itself has already been secured for every true New Covenant believer, and every New Covenant believer should then live daily in perfect assurance that the remainder of the “first resurrection” harvest will be gathered in at God’s appointed times. Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-44. Praise the Lord! Glory to God! Hallelujah!
3. The third “order” in “the first resurrection” is the main “harvest” of all true New Covenant believers, which will occur at the time of the resurrection and rapture, 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 3:8; 3:10; 4:1.
I am well aware that some “professing Christians” today do not believe in the Pre-tribulation rapture. Their unbelief will not keep it from happening! It was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who explicitly stated in Revelation 3:10 that He would keep His New Covenant church(es) “from the hour of temptation [peirasmos; tribulation] which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Dear readers, I have been in the Lord’s ministry for 58 years, and in all of these past years I never did learn the “fine art” [???] of making the Lord Himself out to be a Liar by denying the very words which proceeded out of His own mouth. Any serious study of the the Greek word, “peirasmos,” translated as “temptation” in Revelation 3:10, will reveal that the “peirasmos” refers to the first half of the seven year Tribulation. The Lord Jesus explicitly promised that the New Covenant believer will be “kept from” that time, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 5:8-9. Did the Lord God lie? Or is it some “professing Christians” today who are lying while trying to defend their rotten, corrupt, “theology?” Well…..???
Now look at the word “hour” in this same passage. Compare this “hour” with Revelation 14:7. It becomes glaringly obvious that from the Lord God’s viewpoint of the Tribulation, the Lord God Himself considers the seven year Tribulation to be only two hours in length. The first half of the Tribulation is “the hour of temptation” [peirasmos…testing]. The second half of the Tribulation is “the hour of His Judgment” [krisis], 14:7. The fact that the Lord God promised His church(es) that He will keep them “from the hour of temptation” [peirasmos], which is the first half of the Tribulation sets forth Scriptural proof that no true New Covenant believer will ever enter into any part of the Tribulation period. None of it! Not one minute of it! Selah!
I have two Bible studies in print entitled “Peirasmos” and “The Two Hours,” which I will be glad to send to any reader upon request. Or if desired, I will send my entire series of studies on “The Pre-tribulation Rapture.” Each study in the series sets forth Scriptural proof for the Pre-tribulation rapture of true New Covenant believers. If you are a true believer, do not allow any man [or woman] to steal your “blessed hope,” Titus 2:11-15. The Pre-tribulation resurrection and rapture will occur right on schedule at the Lord’s “appointed time,” regardless of how many people rail against it. Look up! Our precious Savior is SOON coming to rescue His bride and His people out of “this present evil world,” Galatians 1:4. Glory to God! Hallelujah!
When the great Pre-tribulation resurrection and rapture “harvest” occurs, every true New Covenant believer’s body will be instantly “changed,” [1 Corinthians 15:51-52] “that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself,” Philippians 3:21. Glory! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
I could write an entire Bible study [or book] on the “change” alone, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to do so. Note just these few points gathered from the inspired Word, and let them encourage and motivate our readers to a deeper study of the “change” we New Covenant believers will experience when the resurrection and rapture occurs…..
Our resurrection and “changed” bodies will be like the body of Christ, Philippians 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2.
We shall be “caught up” to New Jerusalem where Christ sits at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, John 14:1-3; Hebrews 1:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
We shall be “unveiled” to the whole creation as “the sons of God,” Romans 8:18-23.
We shall be neither Jews nor Gentiles, neither bond slaves nor free [not totally independent], neither male nor female, but rather a totally new “creation” [species of mankind], James 1:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:10-11.
We shall bear the “image of Christ” in our new bodies, even as we presently bear the image of Adam in the flesh, Romans 8:29-30; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 2 Corinthians 3:18.
We shall return to “the days of our youth” [the prime of life], Job 33:23-26.
We shall never know sickness, infirmity, or old age again, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.
We shall be equal to the angels of God, Luke 20:34-36.
We shall be ministered to by the angels of God, Hebrews 1:13-14.
We shall inherit all things God has prepared for us as “sons of God” and “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,” Romans 8:14-17; 1 Corinthians 2:9.
We shall rule and reign with Christ over “the world to come,” Hebrews 2:5-8.
We shall serve as “kings and priests” throughout all of “the ages to come,” Revelation 1:5-6.
We shall commute between the earth, where we will reign as kings over the nations with Christ, and New Jerusalem above the earth which will be our eternal home, Revelation 21:2; 21:24-26.
This list just barely “scratches the surface” of what the Lord God has prepared for us who are New Covenant believers, but these few points should thrill the heart and soul of every true New Covenant believer. If any reader claiming to be a New Covenant believer is not blessed by these promises set forth in God’s Word for true believers, then perhaps those readers should carefully study 2 Corinthians 13:5 and 2 Peter 1:10 again, and do some serious heart searching. Only true believers will enter into and experience these glorious promises of God “in the ages to come.” Regardless of one’s “profession,” those who are lost in sin will miss it all, and a vain “religious profession” won’t help a bit, Matthew 7:21-23. Every reader needs to take heed!
4. The next or fourth “order” in the “first resurrection,” following the main “harvest” is always “the gleanings” of the harvest. Study the Book of Ruth for insight into what is meant by “the gleanings.” The resurrection “gleanings” will begin with the resurrection and rapture of God’s “two witnesses” at or near the middle of the Tribulation, Revelation 11:11-12. This may [??] also include the resurrection and rapture of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. Compare Revelation 14:1-3 with Psalm 79:1-3.
It is also at or near the middle of the Tribulation that Old Covenant believers will be resurrected. However, Old Covenant believers will not be “caught up” [raptured] to glory. Rather, Old Covenant believers will be restored to natural life without a “sin nature.” Their “sin nature” will be totally removed, Daniel 11:45 – 12:1-2; Joel 3:20-21; Zephaniah 3:13. In other words, they will be restored to natural life in the same state of sinless innocence that Adam and Eve were in before the fall. The restoration of Old Covenant believers to natural life in such a state of sinless innocence will enable them to inherit the earth exactly as first promised to Adam, and then later promised repeatedly to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David in each of the Covenants the Lord God made with them, “Psalm 105:6-11; Micah 4:1-8; Zechariah 8:11-12; Isaiah 60:21. Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
Those readers who have never studied these truths may want to request my studies entitled “The Covenants and the Dead in Christ” and “Two Peoples Forever.” They will be sent to any reader upon request. fmr7sngn [at] centurylink.net
5. Finally, the fifth and final “order” in the “first resurrection” will be the resurrection of all believers saved during the seven year Tribulation, Revelation 20:4. Millions of people are going to turn to Christ for salvation under the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and God’s “two witnesses” during the first half of the seven year Tribulation, Revelation 7:1-17.
All true believers today would like to see a great soul winning revival sweep over the whole earth. Some today set forth Joel 2:28-32 as supposed “proof” that such a revival “must” occur before the rapture. Is that so? I remind our readers that there is still such a thing as “rightly dividing the Word of truth,” [2 Timothy 2:15] regardless of the fact that few “professing Christians” today make much of an effort to put it into practice. The prophecy in Joel 2:28-32 will indeed be fulfilled, but not during this present dispensation! It will be fulfilled during the first half of the Tribulation as the 144,000 saved and sealed Jewish evangelists carry “the gospel of the kingdom” to every place on the earth where there is one living person to hear it, Matthew 24:14. Millions of people out “of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues,” will then turn to Christ for salvation, Revelation 7:9-14.
Sadly, a serious study of Revelation 4 – 19 reveals that every person who is saved during the Tribulation will be put to death by the Anti-christ and his wicked followers, Revelation 6:8-11; 9:15; 9:18; 9:20-21; 11:7-10; 12:13; 12:17; 13:7; 13:10; 13:15; 14:12-13; 15:2; 16:5-6; 17:6; 18:20; 18:24; 19:1-2; 20:4. These “professing Christians” today who are so “gung ho” to go through the Tribulation in order to be “purified” and “prove their love” for the Lord Jesus Christ, and their “worthiness” to be taken into Heaven, ought to get serious about studying the Word and learning how to “rightly divide” it! There is NOTHING desirable about going into and through the Tribulation period! Absolutely nothing!
“Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! [the Tribulation] to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light…….Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brighteness in it,” Amos 5:18-20.
If some today really want to “prove their love” for the Lord, then they need to stop depending upon their own “works” and “righteousnesses” [Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:9-18] for salvation and stop teaching the blasphemous doctrine of “salvation by works.” True believers are saved “by grace…….through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5. True salvation of every soul is by “faith” in the finished work of Christ which He did on Calvary’s cross when He shed His own precious innocent blood for us who were altogether guilty and undeserving of such love. It is the precious “blood of Christ” [plus nothing] which washes away the sin of the truly repentant believer, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:12-14; Hebrews 9:11-14; 9:22-28; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 1:5. These “Christian religionists” [???] today who are so eager to go through the Tribulation need to realize that entering into the Tribulation will never make them one whit more “pure” or “worthy” than the precious blood of Christ makes any true believer, Romans 10:8-13. If one is really not a true believer, but only a lost “religionist,” going into the Tribulation will not buy them a drop of water in hell. Any reader who is depending upon anything other than the precious blood of Jesus Christ for salvation, does not have salvation! May the Lord God have mercy! Wake up to truth!
It is explicitly stated in Revelation 20:4,” …..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 worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived [were resurrected to life] and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Right here John was shown the martyred souls of those saved during the Tribulation enter into their immortal “glorified” bodies to live and reign with Christ.
The bodily resurrection of these last Tribulation saints will complete all five “orders” of the “first resurrection.” This is clearly indicated by the Lord’s statement to John, “This is the first resurrection,” Revelation 20:5. This statement is in the aorist perfect tense in the Greek text. In other words, the “first resurrection” is over, finished, completed, done, at an end! The “creation” of a new “kind” [species] of redeemed man will cease at that time. There is no indication in the Scriptures that anyone will ever again be given an immortal “glorified” body from that time forth. I am not being dogmatic on this point, and am wide open to any further Scriptural enlightenment.
Notice that Revelation 20:6 explicitly states, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” How could it be stated any plainer? The “first resurrection” began with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It then continued through each “order” as pointed out in this study. Each “order” of the “first resurrection” is composed of New Covenant believers. It is New Covenant believers who are being “created in Christ Jesus” as a new “kind” [race; species] of mankind for the specific purpose of ruling and reigning with Christ over His Millennial Kingdom, and also within the eternal “Kingdom of God” as “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,” Romans 8:14-17. Such truth is confirmed right here in this inspired Scripture. Glory to God! Praise the Lord!
Conclusion
We New Covenant believers are to be resurrected as “sons of God” [Romans 8:19-23] with immortal “glorified” bodies like the glorious body of our Lord, Philippians 3:20-21. As the “sons of God,” with God’s own nature inplanted within us [2 Peter 1:3-4], we will be spiritually equipped to rule and reign with our Lord Jesus Christ over His glorious Kingdom for the first thousand years. However, numerous other prophetic Scriptures reveal that the Lord’s Kingdom will not be limited to only “a thousand years,” but that it will be an “everlasting” Kingdom, Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14; 7:27; Ezekiel 43:7; 43:9. Glory to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
What a glorious future all true New Covenant believers have awaiting them, and what wonderful things we are going to experience in “the ages to come,” Ephesians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 2:9. Glory to God! Praise the Lord! Thank you Lord Jesus!