Part 2 – Four Resurrection Groups

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Resurrection for God’s Three People Groups.

Today, Israel remains ‘set aside’ by God. No one can join them or be added in to them today or inherit the earth. The Apostolic Messianic church was fully “diminished (cf. Rom. 11:12) in Acts 28:28.

Israel today is not now open to new membership as it will be again during the Tribulation and Millennium. But the greatest of all of God’s out-callings is still open today. There is still an opportunity to believe and join “the body of Christ,” and to enjoy an earliest Resurrection called “the Rapture,” and for each member to be manifested with Him … in ‘eternal heavenly Glory.’

“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall Ye Also Appear With Him In Glory.” (Col. 3:4)

As we study the Scriptures, we note that God has not dealt with all men in all ages in the same manner. We have come to call these times of change,the DISPENSATIONS.” They are not so much periods of time as they are descriptive of relationships in the way that God deals with men during each ensuing age.

The earliest dispensation of mankind we have the ‘creation of Adam’ long before Abraham and Israel. God’s requirement for righteousness and salvation was always spelled out and largely violated. But after Adam’s sin, there were those such as Adam and his son Abel, who were required to make a sacrifice of an innocent animal’s blood, which the LORD Himself had modeled as a prescription to cover the sin of Adam and Eve. Later Noah also offered blood sacrifices and he did as he was instructed to build the Ark to be saved. Such men were thus faithful to what ‘God required of them during the dispensations of ‘Conscience’ and ‘Human Government.’ This would be before Israel became a nation having ‘the dispensation’ of “the Law.” Considering these who I will call Pre-Israel faithful ones, it then brings us to the following questions.

Were they saved? Were they faithful to what God required of them? The answer is Yes, to both questions.

Since they all died “saved” they no doubt will not see “eternal destruction (1Thes 1:9) in “the lake of fire,” they will be resurrected in one of the four coming resurrection groups that our Bibles describe. This below is the recounted order of the four coming resurrection groups,’ according to the Holy Scriptures. Points 3 and 4 below speak of a ‘dual’ resurrection that occurs simultaneously.

Let’s now consider these four (4) Resurrection Groups in order of their future Resurrections.

  1. First, we know the members of “the body of Christ” will be “caught up together” to “meet the Lord in the air” at the Rapture of “the church, which is His body” (1Thes. 4:13-18, 1Cor. 15:51-55).

Then we believers “must all appear” at “The Judgement Seat of Christ” as our first stop in heaven and there is a good reason for this,

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; (so) that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:11 (KJV)

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, [with] silver, precious stones,[or with] wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every ‘man's work’ shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try [test] every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide [survives the fire] which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a ‘reward.’ 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss [of reward]: but He Himself Shall Be Saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (KJV)

Obviously, wood, hay, stubble will not stand the test of fire. Unlike the “Great White Throne” Judgment at the end of the ages for the lost unbelievers who have rejected Christ, which occurs at the end of the Millennium, this “Judgement Seat of Christ” is a judgment of the ‘believers only.’ At the “Judgement Seat of Christ” He will determine what “rewards” believers will receive or not receive for their works. This will be based upon whether these works were “good” and performed under the guidance and empowerment of “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesusliving through them or … were the works done through their self-will and self-effort for one’s own glory.

So, there are two “sorts (or kinds)” (v13) of ‘good works’; 1) those of a wrong motive for self-glorification and, 2) those of the Lord working His will in and through us. Every believer will be judged as which sort (or kind)” of good works they offered unto the Lord (1Cor 3:13 above).

The light of “the fire of God” on that day reveal the unacceptable works of ‘our hands’; 1) as occurred when Cain offered vegetables as the fruit of the earth demonstrating his self-godhood or, … will God see ‘the works that He had prepared for us’ to be performed by “the Spirit” of the crucified and Resurrected Christ, to the praise of His Glory? Paul writes of the salvation of grace believing Gentiles, indicating that our “good works” have no place in our salvation.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that NOT of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 NOT of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus Unto Good Works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them [His good works].” (Eph. 2:10)

The Apostle Paul tells us one day “the trump of God will sound” and “the dead in Christ shall rise first and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.” Then follows the ‘Judgement Seat of Christ.’

  1. We also know the Righteous ‘of Israel,’ the believing Jews, Gentile Proselytes, and the Martyrs of the Tribulation, who were faithful under the terms of the dispensation of “the Law” will be resurrected to Co-Reign on earth with Christ (Rev. 5:10, 20:6) in the Millennial Kingdom.

The land of Israel, the city of Jerusalem and the eternal Kingdom was promised to those of believing Israel’s little flock remnant. Jesus said; “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) They are the ‘faithful lineage of faithful Abraham as the ‘father of all the faithful.’ (read Rom. 4:12) of all ages.

  1. The ‘Damned Lost Unbelieving Souls’ of All Ages: Having dealt with the eternal destiny of the grace believing members of “the body of Christ,” and the believers of the Nation Israel, we now turn to the ‘damned lost unbelieving souls of all ages.’ They will be raised from their “graves to “stand” at the “Great White Throne” Judgement when “the BOOKS are opened.” Since their names will not be found in the Lamb’s BOOK OF LIFE they will be consumed to ashes in “the lake of fire.”

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the 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 which were in it; and death and hell [Gk. hades, ‘the grave’] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man ‘according to their WORKS.

14 And death and hell were cast into ‘the lake of fire.’ This is the second death. 15And whosoever was NOT found written in the BOOK OF LIFE was cast into ‘The Lake of Fire.’ (Rev. 20:11-15 (KJV)

This then brings us to a serious question. What of those whose “works” are deemed to be genuinely “good works,” as much a possible during that age when they were alive on earth. This below should resolve our question.

  1. QUESTION: When and how will the Faithful Righteous of the PRE-ISRAEL AGES be raised from their graves and how will they be judged?

We could say the final resurrection of those who will appear at “The Great White Throne” will be of;

1) the lost unbelieving souls and,

2) those who heard, believed and obeyed the words they had heard from God.

So, we could say this final judgement involves a dual resurrection; both of 1) the damned and, 2) the faithful Pre-Israel believers who are resurrected in a dual resurrection, but with two different outcomes as seen below. (see Revelation 20:1-15, above)

Question: Wasn’t Adam faithful to make sacrifices after seeing God slay and animal to gather skins and cover his sins? We know Adam’s son, Able, knew to make the blood sacrifice. Able must have learned it from his dad, Adam and he is declared to be righteous Able in Matt. 23:35. Also, wasn’t Noah faithful to ‘build the ark’ as he was instructed by words from God in the face of mockers? Ought they be damned only because they lived in a time before Israel’s salvation under the Law and before today’s age of the grace of God? The answer to our QUESTION below should enlighten us.

I believe all of the righteous faithful ones who lived and died … before Israel, such as Adam, Abel, Noah, and many, many more, will be among those whose “works” will be judged as to be ‘faithfully genuine.’ They were faithful to what they knew of God at that time. This will be noted in the “BOOKS of Revelation 20:12, thus qualifying them to have their names recorded in “the book of life.”

So far as I can find from the scriptures, the only hope for the Pre-Israel faithful ones is the resurrection that occurs with the “GREAT WHITE THRONE.” This is the final resurrection, one in which there will be a judgement as to eternal lifeor eternal destruction (2Thes. 1:9). Those resurrected and judged at The Great White Throne… according to their ‘works of faith.’

All the earlier resurrections (1-3 above) have a predetermined status for those resurrected. These are the;

1) The Righteous of Israel, 2) the members of “the body of Christ”, 3) the damned, lost, unbelieving, souls.

Those saved to “eternal life at the “GREAT WHITE THRONE” will no doubt take part in the eternal kingdom on the NEW EARTH, and what the Bible calls PARADISE restored to the New Earth (Rev. 2:7) in the New Jerusalem. These faithful Gentiles before Abraham and even the repentant criminal at the Cross will be in that number.