The First resurrection ! rev 20:5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. What is this First Resurrection here ? Remember Jesus said this in jn 11:25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: Jesus christ in any true and complete fashion is the first to rise from the dead, and never to die againcol 1:18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.rev 1:5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,Here in rev 1 5 Jesus, speaking of His resurrection from the dead, is the First Born from the dead, The child to be born First..or in this case to be resurrected first from the dead..this denotes in The Fathers plan, many more children would be born or begotten from the dead as well..remember Jesus speaks of God as His Father and our Father right after his resurrectionjn 20:17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.so Jesus was the firstborn of many brethern rom 8:29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. BTW, His brethern were just as purposed and planned as He was, before the world began, so as His resurrection was purposed and planned, so was theirs, as he was foreknown by The Father, so were they.So the First resurrection in any true sense of the word, must be centered in the resurrection of Jesus christ..There simply cannot be anymore firster than Jesus christ resurrection, for in all things he must have the preeminenceSo how is it John is saying in the revelation, blessed are they who have part in the First resurrection ?The word for part in the greek is:meros which means:a parta) a part due or assigned to one
lot, destiny2) one of the constituent parts of a wholea) in part, partly, in a measure, to some degree, as respects a part, severally, individually
any particular, in regard to this, in this respectJohn is basically saying, blessed are those who had part in Jesus christ resurrection, as part of the whole, as a memebr of His bodyThe elect, or the church are members of His body, we are his parts, 1 cor 12:12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.13For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14For the body is not one member, but many. So in a very real sense, when Jesus christ as the head of the sheep, rose from the grave, all His sheep took patr in that resurrection and rose with himheb 13:20Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, When the God of peace brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus christ, the great sheperd of the sheep, he in essence brought from the dead all the sheep as wellThis indicated that He had accepted His offering himself as a sin offering for them, and that He had forgiven them all their sinsAnd, not only that, but it ensured their personal new birth by His resurrectionThis is what peter is speaking of in 1 pet 1:2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,Peter here is merely connecting our [the elect] newbirth with Jesus christ resurrection from the dead, for he was the firstborn, and ours followed in time according to Gods purpose for us to be born again..1 cor 15:8And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. solomon says we are born according to Gods time and purpose ecc 3:1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to dieremeber one of the definitions for part above is:
lot, destinySo its our appointed lot or destiny by God..when to be born and when to die, in both physical and spiritual life..When Jesus christ died as the sheperd of the sheep, all the sheep died also with him, and as Jesus christ was raised from the dead to newness of life, so likewise the sheep did as well, unto newness of liferom 6:3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. As jesus christ rising from the dead, displayed by the glory of the Father, so too, our newbirth, being begotten again, is by the glory of the Father, so is our believing according to the same principle.eph 1:19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,So believing on christ makes manifest the mighty working of God, and the reality that we have eternal life by being seated in the heavenlies with him alreadyeph 2 informs us of what ?4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: Amen, see the connection ? The fact that we recieve a newbirth in time is because of our part in the first resurrection [with Jesus christ]and this placed us in the heavenlies with him, sitting together with himfor this cause, we believe in Jesus christ according to Gods mighty powerThis is an awesome truth, and not many are going to be able to recieve it..but blessed are those who will..So thats what rev 20 6 means, the blessed ones are the ones who were in christ and died and rose with him from the grave, hence in time being born again..so those being born again are those who are the blessed ones and hath part in the first resurrection..They shall reign and in fact are reigning with christ, even now..
