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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Judgment, Redemption, and the First Resurrection, #4
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 4:3)
These are the sons of God. They will go through the earth, destroying all sin and bringing the government of Christ to every nation.
The second death has no authority over them because Christ has delivered them completely from every trace of Satan. The second death has authority over all sin, whether it is in a Christian or not. It only is as we are delivered completely from sin that it can be true of us that the second death has no authority over us.
We notice in Philippians 3:11 that the Apostle Paul was seeking to attain the first resurrection from among the dead, the resurrection of the royal priesthood:
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection [Greek, out-resurrection] of the dead. (Philippians 3:11)
The term "resurrection," as employed in Philippians 3:11, properly should be translated out-resurrection. It is the word for resurrection with a preposition prefixed to it. Paul was not seeking to attain the general resurrection of the dead, because all persons will be raised from the dead and stand before Christ. Rather, Paul was seeking to attain the out-resurrection, the resurrection out from among the dead, the first resurrection.
It is important that the believer understand it is the royal priesthood that will be raised from the dead and ascend to meet the Lord Jesus at His appearing. The first resurrection is a special resurrection, the resurrection of the rulers of the Kingdom of God. It is not the general resurrection of the dead.
Only the blessed and holy, those who have learned to trust in the Lord instead of in their own reasonings, those who have shunned involvement in the economic system of the world except for their necessities—and sometimes to the point of being denied their necessities (as the Lord leads)—will be raised and ascend to meet the Lord when He appears. The remainder of the dead will not be raised from the dead until the end of the thousand-year period.
It is essential, therefore, that the disciple understand what he has to do in order to be qualified for participation in the first resurrection.
One of the principal concepts to be mastered is that of the relationship of the redemption of our body to our being delivered from sin. The first resurrection has to do with complete freedom from sin. It is the final, climactic act of our redemption from the hand of Satan. The last enemy that will be destroyed is physical death (I Corinthians 15:26).
The first resurrection is the answer to Paul's cry:
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24)
We have stated before that there often is confusion between the judgment of Satan and the judgment of the individual. Satan was judged and condemned on the cross of Calvary. The Lord Jesus bore our sins in His own body, thereby releasing us from the authority of Satan. The Lord Jesus will come again, this time to remove from the earth, beginning with His firstfruits, all of the presence and works of Satan. This is a further judgment of Satan.
Satan was condemned on the cross, and those who place their trust in Christ have been delivered from the condemnation that abides on Satan and his works.
To be continued.