I think it is appropriate to post about the resurrection at Easter. The resurrection is one of the most important events in the history of the world. All of us have been told the story of the resurrection and I do not wish to turn my blog into a Sunday school class so I will assume that you know the details of the “First Resurrection.” I would like to impart some information about the resurrection of loved ones and even what we may expect from our own experience at resurrection from what we have been given. If you would like to see more of the resurrection of Christ please visit…
http://www.lds.org
and http://www.relfectionsofchrist.org
In “Mormon Doctrine” by: Bruce R. McConkie I would like to use excerpts of his descriptions; pgs 637-641.
“A resurrected being is one for whom body and spirit are inseparably connected in a state of incorruption, a state in which there never again can be decay (corruption) or death (separation of the body and spirit).
What happens when we are resurrected? Not all men will be resurrected at the same time.
There is a timeline associated with the resurrection. I will break it down into the different time periods and their general meaning.
Two great resurrections await the inhabitants of the earth: one is the first resurrection, the resurrection of life, the resurrection of the just; the other is the second resurrection, the resurrection of damnation, the resurrection of the unjust.(John 5:28-29; Rev. 20; D&C 76)
But even within these two separate resurrections, there is an order in which the dead will come forth. Those being resurrected with celestial bodies, whose destiny is to inherit a celestial kingdom, will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection. Their graves shall be opened and they shall be caught up to meet the Lord at his Second Coming.
(These are those that have accepted the gospel of Christ while on earth and had their saving ordinances preformed.)
(Those that accept the gospel in the world of spirits even though they had the opportunity in life will come forth in the) ……afternoon of the first resurrection; it takes place after our Lord has ushered in the millennium. Those coming forth at that time do so with terrestrial bodies and inherit the terrestrial kingdom.
Christ will then reign for 1000 years- the Millennium.
At the end of the millennium, the second resurrection begins. Those that will come forth in the second resurrection will be those individuals that have repented of their sins and developed their character, once they have reached this state they will be resurrected. So we come to understand that the resurrection will be an ongoing event after the start of the first and second resurrections. At the end of the millennium the sons of perdition will be resurrected, but receive no glory.
So the morning of the resurrection if you are in a cemetery some graves will be opened, some will not, yet. That is the purpose of the 1000 years of the millennium. For those to work out their problems and perfect themselves.
I also found it interesting to note that the resurrection is a process. For example: my son Kory was 16 years of age when he died. He will be resurrected to that age and will grow to maturity in a resurrected body. If I have not died before the resurrection I will not be resurrected at the time of Christ’s coming but will be “changed” I like to call it “twinkled” and live my life until the day I am assigned to die. At that time I will receive a resurrected body. After Christ’s return no-one will be buried in the ground. I will have the privilege of raising my son so nothing is lost. It will be a little interesting because the rest of us will have aged.
The perfection of the body is a process also. We see a two great illustrations of this in the Bible. The first is the story of Ezekiel in the valley of the dry bones his vision. The second is the most important and first, Christ himself. He retained the marks in His hand and feet and side. He will have a perfect body at some point but He still has those markings. It will be interesting to see how all that happens. I sometimes wonder if we decide to be cremated if that means it takes longer to pull ourselves together as it were. It will be a glorious time. I look forward to the resurrection with all my heart.
If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear from you.