The Resurrection:
The 5th Foundational Principle of Christ 

Foundational Principles discussed here:


Foundational Principles of Christ Part 1

I believe there are 3 main resurrections. But blessed are those who partake of the First Resurrection!

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.

The 1st Resurrection started with Christ Himself.

1 Cor 15:20 (NAS) But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.  23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end...

This scripture lists the 3 main resurrections (there may be others) of the First Resurrection. 

It is entirely possible, that the First Fruits not only include Christ, but those who were raised in Matt 27:51-53.

51 And, behold! The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth quaked, and the rocks were sheared,
52 and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose,
53 and coming out of the tomb after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.


These also may be part of the 144,000 as Jesus says they are First Fruits. 

Revelation 14 
1 And I looked, and lo, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion. And with Him were a hundred and forty-four thousands, having His Father's name written in their foreheads.
4 These are those who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, as a firstfruit to God and to the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no guile, for they were without blemish before the throne of God.


We can accept Jesus as the First Fruit of the resurrection, I cannot be as dogmatic with these others, but after many years studying this, this might finally be the answer to the 144,000.

The next step or phase of this resurrection is at the rapture.

1 Cor 15:52 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.

1 Thess 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  


It is my belief that not all who are saved will be resurrected at this time. As I have discussed elsewhere, not all who are saved are part of the kingdom, as I discuss here:


The Gospel of the Kingdom vs. The Gospel of Salvation

So if this is indeed true, then Rev 20:6 tells us then those who are in the kingdom are the ones who get resurrected at this time!

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.

And we can paint this picture more clearly with more scripture. The 2nd half of Rev 7 I believe describes those who have been resurrected at the rapture.

Rev 7:9 After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God,
12 saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these who are arrayed in white robes, and from where do they come?
14 And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes, and have whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. And He sitting on the throne will dwell among them.
16 They will not hunger any more, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and will lead them to the fountains of living waters. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.


I believe this shows those who were ready, had the extra oil, and had their wedding garments ready! Examples of more on these teachings here:


Believing vs. Being Born Again

The Absence of the Wedding Garment

These also are before the throne and serve God through eternity as opposed to those:

Rev 21: MKJV
24 And the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.


Now after the rapture, during the Tribulation, many will die for Christ who were not prepared for His coming. I discuss this preparation here:


Are You Prepared for the Blessed Hope?

I also believe that this group who is resurrected will be separated and be given rewards at the Bema Judgment.

Eternal Judgment: of the Believer

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The 2nd Kind of Resurrection

But shortly after this, judgment and probably the Second Resurrection will be made on the rest. This judgment will seem extreme, and may shock many, but scripture states:

Mark 9: MKJV
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

1 Cor 3: LITV
15 If the work of anyone shall be consumed, he shall suffer loss; but he will be saved, but so as through fire.


Jesus went to Gethsemane, which was an oil press.  One of the Baptisms we need to follow is the denial of self, the Baptism of Suffering. Jesus said we need to deny our self, and there would be consequences if we do not.

Math 16: NKJV 
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?


Luke 9: MKJV
23 And He said to all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.  


The following is not about sin, it is about soulishness, or selfishness. There is no place for this in heaven. The following I believe is the very act of purging the soulishness from those who are saved, and have not denied themselves. The carnal Christians, or even the Earthly ones.

1 Cor 15:47 The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven.
48 Such the earthy man , such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man , such also the heavenly ones.
49 And according as we bore the image of the earthy man , we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man .
50 And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 ś Behold, I speak a mystery to you; we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed;
52 in a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.


What happens to Earthy Christians?

Revelation 14
13 And I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they shall rest from their labors, and their works follow them.

(I believe verse 13 eludes to the idea there will be no more carnal christians after this point, thus why judgment can occur)
14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud. And on the cloud sat one like the Son of man, having a golden crown on His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying in a great voice to Him sitting on the cloud, Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth was dried.
16 And He sitting on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 And another angel came out of the temple in Heaven, also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had authority over fire. And he spoke with a great cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the anger of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, for the space of a thousand, six hundred stadia.


This winepress is the diluted wrath of God, it is not full measure, as seen just a couple verses earlier:

10 he also will drink of the wine of the anger of God, having been mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.

The saved are saved! But they need to be purified from their soulishness. We can read more about this group from the response after this, as seen in the next chapter:

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire. And those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Your ways, O King of saints.
4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteousnesses were made know
n.

The nations need to fear God, and if they don’t this is the result. And this is indeed the nations, as described as those outside New Jerusalem, as mentioned in verse 4.

Rev 21: MKJV 
24 And the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 
26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.


I know this winepress thing is a difficult thing to believe, but it is scriptural.

Lamentations 1:15 The LORD has trampled all my mighty ones in my midst; He has called a gathering against me to crush my young men. The LORD has trod the virgin daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.

Some people believe that Rev 14 discusses the trampling by Jesus at His 2nd Coming at Armageddon. But recently I discovered textual evidence this cannot be true:

Rev 19:
11 And I saw Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war.
13 And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
15 And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of Almighty God.


Please note verse 13 is past tense! He already had His garment stained in blood! he came from Heaven this way! This scripture has put doubt away from me on my understanding this truth. 

How can everyone be kings if there are no nations to rule? Remember:

Rev 21: MKJV 
24 And the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 
26 And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.


Luke 14: NKJV 
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 
35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”


They are not fit for the land which is the Kingdom, nor are they fit for the dunghill which is Hell or the Lake of Fire, so they are cast out. Out where? Outside New Jerusalem.

I have taken these teachings and put them into a video. You will find this video at the bottom of this page.

I discuss more in depth this Outer Darkness, the place outside New Jerusalem in more detail here:


Outer Darkness

I also discuss this group being without a wedding garment here:

The Absence of the Wedding Garment​

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Part 2: The blood

I am now going to discuss the relevance of the blood, and this isn’t about the wonderful work of the Blood of Christ.

Leviticus 17:11

For the soul (or life) of the flesh is in the blood… Jubilee Bible 2000 translation

for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; Darby Bible Translation

When Jesus was in Gethsemane, He sweat tears of blood.

Luke 22:44 And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus' blood is precious but it also represents the soul. Jesus NEVER sinned , but He did have a moment of soulishness. He, Himself, dealt with this and said three times in Gethsemane:

Matt 26:
38 Then He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Wait here and watch with Me.
39 And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.


42 He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.

44 And He left them and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same word.


So not only do we need a new Body for the new Earth but blood is not allowed in heaven.

1 Cor 15:50 And I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

Thus this is why Jesus will take out the blood of those unprepared, they are full of soulishness which must be emptied because they did not deny themselves.

Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, for the space of a thousand, six hundred stadia.

I have my doubts this is real physical blood, as blood is part of the body and does not go with us to heaven when we die, but our soulishness does!

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The 3rd Part of the First Resurrection remains a mystery yet to me. I have not fully studied it out, but it appears that right as or right before He comes down from heaven Jesus will raise those killed during the Tribulation.

Matt 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.


Revelation 20 
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years.


There may be another resurrection at the end of the Millennium, one which is implied, but never stated in Scripture. It is possible that some believers will die a physical death during the Millennium. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed” (Isaiah 65:20). On the other hand, it is also possible that death in the Millennium will only come to the disobedient.

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The Third type of Resurrection is that of the wicked and unsaved.

Daniel 12 
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.


John 5:28 Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear His voice,
29 and shall come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have practiced evil to the resurrection of condemnation.


Rev 20
11 And I saw a great white throne, and Him sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And a place was not found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead in them. And each one of them was judged according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.
15 And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.


I need to note one important detail here, concerning the 2nd type of Resurrection, that of the saved nations. The scripture in Rev 20 troubled me greatly concerning them. As I do not believe them in the Book of Life, because those in the Book are allowed in New Jesrusalem. But in Rev 20 we see those not in the book are thrown in the Lake of Fire. While I contend they will taste the wrath of God, it will not be in full measure (the Lake of Fire) but diluted (the Winepress of His Wrath) but just today, I finally saw in Rev 20:12 it is the dead who are not in teh Book of Life. This now helped me to realize that Rev 14 is not only a judgment but a resurrection! Thus the saved nations are alive at this point and are not being judged at the Great Throne judgment. The Book of Life used here is to confirm that these people are not born again and thus judged by their works, those from Hades.

 
I discuss in greater detail the false doctrines of purgatory from Catholics on the following link. It is discussed in the bottom 3rd of the page:

Concerning Purgatory, Works, & other matters

Here are some great links on the subject of the believers judgment (listed by order of quality-1st best):

THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST--PART I by Thomas W. Finley 

THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST--PART II by Thomas W. Finley 

The Judgment Seat of Christ by WhatSaithTheScripture.com 

Judgment Seat of Christ by Dr. Douglas D. Stauffer 


Other pages of note:

The Second Coming of Christ and the Millennial Kingdom by bible.org - a detailed look at what transpires when Jesus returns at the end of the Tribulation

For a detailed look at the kinds and stages of the Resurrections, please read the middle section of the page on the following link labeled "SAINTS AND THE KINGDOM (4-6)"


The Reign of Christ and the Great White Throne (Rev 20:1-15)

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the Judgment Seat of Christ - a great but short look at these events (short as there isn't much Bible revelation on this)

Page's of mine related to this subject: 


 Eternal Judgment: of the Believer

 Foundational Principles of Christ - Part 1

Foundational Principles of Christ - Part 2 The Doctrine of Baptisms

The Rapture

Are You Prepared for the 2nd Coming? 

The 2 1/2 Tribes that didn't cross over

Prophecy 

The Gospel of the Kingdom Part 1

The Lake of Fire
 - another part of the Foundational Principle of Eternal Judgment  

Outer Darkness


Here is my video of the Winepress Judgment:

 

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