On several occasions Paul uses the word “firstfruits” relative to the salvation process experienced by those who know, believe and obey Christ’s example and Words. In the Middle East some fruit trees produce a mini-crop of fruit prior to the coming forth of the larger crop at harvest time. This fruit is called “firstfruits.” The trees produce only a tiny amount of this fruit which is extremely sweet and very expensive. God uses the firstfruits analogy to characterized His New Covenant saints–His church–the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). His firstfruits (those being converted in this age) are very few in number (Mat. 7:13,14) and very sweet (righteous-1 Pet. 4:18), for whom He paid a high price (1 Cor. 7:23). They are the first of His harvest of souls–the “firstfruits of His creation”–His New Covenant Church–(Jam. 1:8) which came into being on the Day of Pentecost some 2000 years ago. For this reason His firstfruit saints celebrate Pentecost each year at the appointed time (1 Cor. 5:7,8).

Jesus is the first of God’s firstfruits–His holy, sanctified ones (saints). “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20). Jesus is depicted as the firstborn of all creation, the firstborn from the dead and the firstborn of those to come (Col. 1:15,18/Rom. 8:29). These saints are those who will rise from the dead at the return of Jesus to set up the earthly Kingdom of God in the Holy Land as the Great Tribulation is drawing to a close.  Read The Kingdom of God.  Key word–Kingdom.  It is about these saints that Paul states in Philippians 3:20,21 that Christ will “… transform our lowly (flesh) body that it may be conformed to (be like) His glorious (spiritual) body.” Sec- ond Corinthians 5:1-5 speaks of this change from an earthly (flesh) body to a “building” not made with hands–spiritual/ eternal. First Corinthians 15 is dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus Christ followed by the resurrection of the righteous dead (those in Him) at the time of His return. In verses 44,49,50 Paul notes that the saint’s physical body will be raised up as a spiritual body and that, just as we HAVE born the image (appearance) of the earthly (physical), we WILL then bear the image of the heavenly (spiritual), which is necessary in order to enter the Kingdom of God, just as Jesus told Nicodemus. This transformation is beautifully described in First Thessalonians 4:13-17: “… for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first …,” followed by those saints in Christ who are alive at His coming. Thus we will always be with Him in His the Kingdom of God on earth. See First Corinthians 15:42-54 for another depiction of the transformation that takes place when one is born again and made capable of entering God’s kingdom.

That all who have ever died will be raised from the dead at some point in time is brought out in John 5:25,29,30. Here Jesus states: “… the hour is coming when ALL who are in the grave will hear His voice and will come forth.” The Scriptures reveal that not all will be raised at the same time. That both the just(tified) and the unjust(tified) will be resurrected is brought out in John 5:29, Daniel 12:2 and Acts 24:15. In order to understand the second and third resurrections we must return to the first resurrection. Revelation 20:4: “And I saw thrones and they that sat on them who … lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” These are the firstfruits who will rise to meet Jesus in the first resurrection at His return, and who will accompany Him to the Holy Land where they will establish the Kingdom of God on earth. Then John saw the souls of those who would be beheaded for accepting Jesus during the Great Tribulation.

Notice that the first sentence of the next verse is parenthetical (the insertion of another subject). The inserted words involve the second resurrection: “But THE REST OF THE DEAD (the dead not in the first resurrection) LIVED NOT UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED.” These will rise in the second resurrection following the millennium (the thousand year reign of God on earth called the Kingdom of God).

Following the insertion, the last sentence in verse 5 refers back to verse 4, saying about it, “… this is the first resurrection”–referring to the firstfruits who will rise to meet Jesus upon His return and who will rule and reign with Him in the Kingdom of God. About these He says in verse 6, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death (Lake of Fire) has no power (they will not die again), but (who) will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him (on earth) a thousand years.” Revelation 5:9,10 reveals that the saints will assist the Lord in the kingdom: “You have made them (the saints) to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on earth” for 1000 years (the millennium).

The second resurrection will be a resurrection to physical life of the billions of people who have never heard the Name by which we must be saved (Jesus), those who were born into one of the Middle Eastern religions (Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc.) and never found their way out, as well as those who have spent their lives in the Counterfeit Church system. None of the above have ever heard the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) preached or taught and have been counseled by their leaders not to seek it out on their own or to listen to those who minister it. Each of the above will have lived their lives in total ignorance of God’s Truth, hearing and believing only what they had been told by their leaders. Over their eyes Satan has constructed a veil which prevents them from hearing, believing and obeying God’s whole Truth. These, along with the unchurched masses who have never heard of Jesus Christ, God will resurrect following the millennium and offer them the opportunity to hear His Truth, accept it and obey it. Those who refuse will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with those who rise in the third resurrection.

In summary, the second resurrection will involve two classes of people: 1) those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ and 2) those who have been involved in the Counterfeit Church or other of the world’s “isms” throughout their lives and, like their church counterparts, have remained ignorant of God’s Truth.

Those who will rise in the third resurrection will also be resurrected to physical life (Rev. 20:13-15). These are those who have known the Truth and, having rejected it, will be cast into the Lake of Fire. This group includes: 1) those of the true Church of God who, having known the Truth, have fallen away from it, 2) those comprising the Counterfeit Church who have had access to the Truth (the Bible) but have settled for the “commandments of men,” “wind and doctrine,” etc. Some of these will have been shown the ways of the Lord but will have rejected it, and 3) those of the various world religions who, having been introduced to God’s Truth, rejected it.

An estimated 99% of people who have lived on earth have never heard the Name of Jesus Christ or the gospel He taught. Of those who have heard, the vast majority have rejected it due to Satan’s influence over their lives. Has God condemned these ignorant souls to the Lake of Fire? Will He not give them the opportunity to hear, believe and obey the Truth? God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Therefore, everyone who has ever lived must be given the opportunity for eternal life. Otherwise, He is not the just God He claims to be (Acts 22:14). Upon coming to God’s Truth one of the first things the true believer must realize is that those loved ones who had spent their lives in the Counterfeit Church are not doomed to the Lake of Fire. Having been shielded by Satan from God’s Truth, they will be brought back to life in the second resurrection and shown the Truth for the first time. If they accept it and obey it they will be allowed to live on a new earth governed by Jesus Christ and His saints who will reside in the Kingdom of God headquartered in New Jerusalem where Father and Son reside. If not, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with those who were raised in the third resurrection.

Those who will come to life in the first resurrection comprise the Church of God (not the denonination), who have spent their converted lives walking the narrow path of strict obedience to God’s Word. These, as He warns, will be very few in number.