Wednesday, November 5, 2014
John 5:24-29 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; 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."
MILLENNIAL MYTH BUSTERS: MYTH 3: THE TWO PHYSICAL RESURRECTIONS
Closely connected to the teaching of the Rapture is the teaching of two physical resurrections. In order to say that believers will be taken from this earth at a different point than unbelievers, Scripture must reveal two different physical resurrections -- one for believers and one for unbelievers. Revelation 20 is again used to support this idea. However, Revelation 20 only speaks of one resurrection, from v. 6: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."
Although Revelation 20 doesn't speak of two resurrections, other portions of Scripture do. In fact, the key text to understanding what is meant by the "first resurrection" in Revelation 20 comes from another one of the apostle John's writings, the verses above from his Gospel account. Notice how John records the words of our Savior, which clearly speak of two resurrections. The first resurrection (vv. 24-25) is the awakening of a heart dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) to a heart alive through faith in Jesus. This resurrection is conversion, which is why Jesus speaks of it happening right now, in present time. The second resurrection (vv. 28-29) is the physical resurrection of the dead on judgment day, which is why Jesus speaks of it as a future event.
When we look at Revelation 20:6 in the context of the rest of Scripture, the meaning of John's vision becomes clear. He is not speaking of two physical resurrections, rather the first resurrection of conversion from unbelief to faith in Christ. Truly, as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (in the context of the second resurrection), those who believe in Christ, whether living or dead, will not suffer eternal death. In Revelation 20, John calls eternal death the "second death." This is why Paul speaks in 1 Thessalonians 4 of the Christian's death being like sleep (vv. 13-15), for the believer in Christ will get up from death at the word of Jesus -- like the little dead girl Jesus said was only "sleeping" before He took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" (Luke 8:54).
