From the First to the Last — The Spiritual Body, the Earthly Family, and the Gift of Life
Two Resurrections — Different Glory, One Shepherd
In our previous study, we examined the great crowd coming out of tribulation. Their robes had been washed, they received shelter, and the Lamb continued shepherding them toward fountains of living waters.
Their story did not end with their emergence.
Now we turn to the nature of resurrection itself. Scripture describes those who participate in the First Resurrection, over whom the second death has no authority. It also describes the rest of the dead, who appear later before the throne when the books are opened.
These are not descriptions we should merge simply because both involve receiving life.
And we should not create additional resurrections every time Scripture describes another group, appointment, or experience.
The distinction before us is between the incorruptible spiritual body and the wider restoration of mankind to earthly life.
The First Resurrection — The Spiritual Body
Paul asks an important question in 1 Corinthians 15:35: How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body do they come?
His explanation begins with a seed. What is sown does not emerge in precisely the form in which it was planted. God gives it a body according to His purpose.
Paul then distinguishes different kinds of flesh and different kinds of Glory before returning to the resurrection.
The natural body is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor and raised in Glory. It is sown in weakness and raised in power. Read 1 Corinthians 15:35–49.
Paul later describes the mortal putting on immortality and the corruptible putting on incorruption. Read 1 Corinthians 15:50–54.
This is no ordinary restoration to the life previously experienced in the flesh.
Within our First and Last study, Jesus is the First, the head. The anointed body is prepared through the Spirit, and the appointed union reaches completion with the Bride, the last joined one.
We have examined this through Ephesians 2, the mystery of Ephesians 5, and the gathering of those appointed to belong to Christ.
Now consider Revelation 20:4–6.
John describes those who came to life and reigned with Christ. He calls this the First Resurrection and declares that the second death has no authority over those participating in it. Read Revelation 20:4–6.
That assurance belongs to the nature of the life they have received.
What has been raised incorruptible cannot afterward become corruptible again.
This is the distinction we must carry forward when examining the rest of the dead.
The Rest of the Dead — Another Appointed Resurrection
Revelation 20:5 distinguishes the rest of the dead from those participating in the First Resurrection.
Later, John sees a great white throne. The dead, great and small, stand before it. Books are opened, including the book of life, and judgment follows. Death and Hades give up the dead in them. Read Revelation 20:11–15.
Notice the difference in the descriptions.
The First Resurrection is associated with incorruptible life and freedom from the authority of the second death. The later account brings the dead, the opened books, and judgment into view.
We have already considered Jesus' words in John 5:24–29. He speaks of those hearing his voice and passing from death into life, then describes an hour when those in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth.
We must continue distinguishing spiritual death from physical death, just as we did when examining Jesus' instruction to let the dead bury their dead. Read Luke 9:59–60.
These distinctions help us understand why restoration to life does not automatically mean participation in the incorruptible spiritual body.
Consider Lazarus.
Jesus calls Lazarus from the tomb after four days. Lazarus comes out alive, still bound in burial cloths. Others are instructed to release him. Read John 11:38–44.
Lazarus receives life, yet his resurrection is not described through Paul's language of an incorruptible spiritual body.
Life restored to the earth and life raised in incorruption are distinguishable gifts.
And that brings us to those who believed their hope was gone.
The Dry Bones — Hope Restored to Those Cut Off
In Ezekiel 37, the bones are described as exceedingly dry. YHWH (יהוה) asks whether they can live, and Ezekiel leaves the answer with Him.
Breath enters them. They rise and stand upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then YHWH (יהוה) identifies the bones with the whole house of Israel, who say their hope has perished and they have been cut off. He promises to open their graves and bring them into their land. Read Ezekiel 37:1–14.
We have already distinguished this multitude from the two witnesses associated with the two sticks later in the chapter.
The valley of dry bones is not another description we should automatically assign to the Bride or the two witnesses.
Instead, it brings us to a greater restoration of those who believed themselves lost.
Isaiah 26:19 also calls the dead to awaken, while Isaiah 25 describes death being swallowed up and tears being wiped away. Read Isaiah 25:6–9 and Isaiah 26:19–21.
Now remember Revelation 7, where God wipes away the tears of the great crowd.
The language of resurrection, deliverance, and comfort invites comparison.
Within our developing study, these passages illuminate the wider earthly resurrection after the judgment of the spiritual powers that held mankind under deception.
And we must preserve our earlier observation about Ezekiel's arrangement: the restoration in chapter 37 should not be forced chronologically before the conflicts in chapters 38–39 simply because those chapters appear afterward.
We have been examining the visions through the same attention to recapitulation and appointed events that guided our Revelation study.
Those who believed themselves cut off are not beyond the saving purpose of YHWH (יהוה).
Different Glory — Not Different Worth
Paul describes heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, declaring that their Glory differs. He also distinguishes the Glory of the sun, moon, and stars, and says that one star differs from another in Glory. Read 1 Corinthians 15:39–44.
Why bring that distinction into our study?
Because different appointments do not mean that one life has no value compared with another.
We have examined the members of Christ's spiritual body through 1 Corinthians 12. Paul describes different members with different functions, each necessary within the body.
But the body in that passage concerns those joined to Christ through the Spirit.
It does not automatically include every person who receives life, benefits from the Spirit, or follows the Shepherd.
The spiritual body has its appointed responsibilities. The restored earthly family has its own place within the purpose of YHWH (יהוה).
Receiving life upon the earth is not a failure to receive something better.
Remember the original blessing in Genesis 1:26–28. Male and female were created in God's image, blessed, and instructed to be fruitful and fill the earth.
The earth was not presented as something without value.
And the restoration of life upon it should not be dismissed simply because Scripture also describes heavenly Glory.
This brings us back to the garden, where taking what had not been given became part of the account of disobedience.
Why should anyone covet an appointment YHWH (יהוה) has entrusted to another?
Faithfulness is not measured by possessing someone else's responsibility.
The One Shepherd — Different Appointments
In John 10:16, Jesus speaks of other sheep he must bring. They will hear his voice, and there will be one flock under one Shepherd.
That promise does not require every sheep to belong to the same resurrection appointment.
It directs our attention to the Shepherd who gathers and cares for them.
In our previous study, we saw the Lamb guiding the great crowd toward living waters after they came out of tribulation.
Now consider the distinction between being joined to Christ's body in Spirit and receiving guidance from the Spirit.
The anointed body is described through union, incorruptibility, and participation in the First Resurrection.
The wider earthly family receives life through Christ and continues under his shepherding, without needing to become the completed spiritual body.
We have also discussed those who demonstrated faith without possessing the same knowledge or appointment.
The centurion trusted that Jesus could heal through his word. The Canaanite woman persisted despite the obstacle before her. Apollos taught accurately concerning Jesus, yet received a more accurate explanation from Priscilla and Aquila. Read Matthew 8:5–13, Matthew 15:21–28, and Acts 18:24–28.
Their accounts remind us that faith, knowledge, and appointment require careful distinction.
Someone may possess genuine faith while still needing understanding.
And someone receiving life through Christ need not occupy the same place as those joined to his incorruptible spiritual body.
The same Shepherd can care for both without erasing their distinctions.
The Second Death — Why the Distinction Matters
Revelation 20:6 says the second death has no authority over those participating in the First Resurrection.
That statement becomes especially meaningful when we consider the later judgment.
In Revelation 20:11–15, the dead stand before the throne, and the opened books bring judgment into view. The lake of fire is identified as the second death.
We have examined the difference between ignorance under deception and deliberate rejection after receiving genuine enlightenment.
Paul himself speaks of receiving mercy because he acted ignorantly in unbelief. Read 1 Timothy 1:12–16.
And in 2 Timothy 2:24–26, he describes those caught in the devil's snare who may come to repentance and escape through knowledge of the truth.
This is important when considering how many people have lived under spiritual deception.
Yet Scripture also warns concerning those who knowingly reject after receiving understanding.
Hebrews 6:4–8 describes those who have been enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, yet afterward fall away.
Hebrews 10:26–29 brings deliberate sin after receiving knowledge of the truth into view. Read Hebrews 6:4–8 and Hebrews 10:26–29.
Jesus also warns concerning blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Read Matthew 12:31–32.
These warnings cannot be treated as though confusion, incomplete knowledge, and deliberate rejection were identical.
Within our study, those receiving the incorruptible First Resurrection are already beyond the authority of the second death.
Those restored afterward to earthly life must continue faithfully under the guidance they receive.
The gift of restored life does not make deliberate rebellion harmless.
But neither should we condemn those who have not yet been freed from deception as though they had already rejected truth with full understanding.
YHWH (יהוה) knows what each person has received, what was hidden from them, and how they respond when truth is revealed.
The Purpose of the Kingdom — Service, Not Position
Revelation 5:9–10 describes those purchased from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation and made a kingdom and priests.
We have preserved the distinction between the elders who sing and those described in their song.
The kingdom-priestly appointment brings responsibility, not merely position or honor.
Jesus taught this when the mother of the sons of Zebedee requested favored places for them. Rather than encouraging competition, Jesus instructed his disciples that greatness among them was expressed through service. Read Matthew 20:20–28.
Now remember Jesus washing his disciples' feet.
The one serving was also their Teacher and Lord.
The act did not diminish his authority. It demonstrated the character of the service he expected from those following him.
The purpose of the completed spiritual body is not to place its members above everyone else for their own benefit.
It belongs to the greater work of restoration.
The Shepherd serves. The appointed priests serve. And the life provided through Christ reaches beyond those prepared first.
Where the Word Leads
We began with Paul's description of the spiritual body being raised incorruptible and compared it with Revelation's First Resurrection, over which the second death has no authority.
We then considered the rest of the dead, the opened books, and the restoration promised through Ezekiel and Isaiah.
Different Glory reminded us that different appointments do not mean different worth. The One Shepherd brought us back to the unity of God's saving purpose without requiring every person to receive an identical resurrection.
And the second death reminded us why genuine enlightenment, continued faithfulness, and deliberate rejection must be carefully distinguished.
Two resurrections. Different appointments. One Shepherd.
The question I leave with you is this:
If YHWH (יהוה) has prepared incorruptible life for those joined to Christ and earthly life for the wider restored family, why should either gift be diminished by comparing it with the other?
Life belongs to the One who gives it.
And what He gives is worth receiving with gratitude.
Threads to Follow
- The natural and spiritual body: 1 Corinthians 15:35–54.
- The First Resurrection and the rest of the dead: Revelation 20:4–15.
- Spiritual death and physical resurrection: Luke 9:59–60; John 5:24–29.
- Lazarus called from the tomb: John 11:17–44.
- The dry bones and opened graves: Ezekiel 37:1–14.
- Death swallowed up and the dead awakening: Isaiah 25:6–9; 26:19–21.
- Different Glory and distinct responsibilities: 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; 15:39–49.
- The original earthly blessing: Genesis 1:26–31.
- One Shepherd and other sheep: John 10:11–16.
- Faith and understanding: Matthew 8:5–13; 15:21–28; Acts 18:24–28.
- Ignorance, repentance, and the devil's snare: 1 Timothy 1:12–16; 2 Timothy 2:24–26.
- Enlightenment and deliberate rejection: Hebrews 6:4–8; 10:26–29; Matthew 12:31–32.
- The kingdom and the purpose of service: Revelation 5:8–10; Matthew 20:20–28; John 13:1–17.
Connected Studies in This Series
- Post Five — The First and the Last: Christ as the First and the completion of the appointed union.
- Post Six — The Bride: One Woman, Not the Multitude: The singular Bride and those associated with her.
- Post Eighteen — The First Resurrection: The incorruptible body and the second death.
- Post Nineteen — The Two Sticks: The joined pair, their companions, and the wider household.
- Post Twenty — The Dry Bones: The restoration of those whose hope had perished.
- Post Twenty-One — The Great Crowd: Coming Out of Great Tribulation: The washed multitude and the Lamb's continued shepherding.
The books were opened…
🌿 Studies by Maria Emilia ~ 🗺️ Continue exploring: Visit Bible Books to find studies organized by book of the Bible, along with related studies and links.
Comments
Post a Comment