Resurrection in Review Part 2 - Andy Woods

Here is, at long last, the second part of Andy Wood's message on Resurrection. According to the Bible, everyone will resurrect; some to eternal life, others to a judgment of disgrace and contempt. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. - John 5:28-29 ...having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. - Acts 24:15

• In Luke 16;19-31, Jesus relates the agonies the unrepentant man suffers in Hades.
• In Luke 23:43, the thief on the cross goes to Paradise with Christ because he believed in Him.

God's plan consists of two general resurrections after Christ's. Andy's chart indicated that one resurrection is of the believers in Christ. In his graph (which I am unable to draw in this medium) under the believers' resurrection line, the chart lists three different times of resurrections as in the harvest cycle described in Leviticus.

1. First Fruits (Christ) Leviticus 23:10 ("...you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest.")
2. General (at the Rapture) Lev. 23:1-12
3. Gleanings (at the beginning of the Millennium) Leviticus 19:9-10 (...you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, ...you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger.)

Gleanings were for the poor. In the resurrection, Rev. 20:4-5 includes the Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs. (And I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.) The Unbelievers' resurrection line goes directly to post-millennium (after the thousand year reign of Chris). Daniel didn't see the thousand years between the last two resurrections when he predicted the resurrection in the verse: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. - Dan. 12:2 Andy explained it is like viewing a mountain range from afar. You see only the peaks, but not the valleys that span between them. Christ's resurrection is attested by witnesses in 1 Cor 15:1-11. ...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.

His resurrection is the heart of the gospel.

Psalm 16:10 is one of many Old Testament predictions of the resurrection. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

The mystery is the rapture - a generation of Christians to be spared from death, instantaneously at the last trump of God. Revelation 20:4-5 describes the first resurrection in a series, not the first. Rev. 20:12-15 gives the bad news for unbelievers: And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Hades is a place of conscious torment, awaiting final judgment just as post-conviction inmates await transport to prison. Unbelievers are not written in The Book of Life, but they will be judged by the deeds written in them. The Deeds books determine the level of punishment in hell. Another way to view the timeline of the resurrections is the Order of Tagma. When the king welcomed his army back from war, they were specifically positioned for the march.

1. Conquering General: Christ (1 Cor. 15:23) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end.
2. Officers: Believers at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
3. Soldiers: Old Testament Saints and Tribulation Martyrs (Rev. 20:4) ...and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
4. Captives/Slaves: Unsaved from all the ages of the world (Rev. 20:5) The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This life is like a grain of sand on a seashore. Our choice for or against Christ determines our eternal destiny.

In summary, everyone will be resurrected. The question is: where do we spend eternity?

Born once, die twice.

Born twice, die once.