But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
But every man in his own order, х tagmati (G5001)] - rank. The Greek is not abstract, but concrete: image from troops, 'each in his own regiment.' Though all shall rise, not all shall be saved; nay, each shall have his proper place-Christ first (Colossians 1:18); after Him the godly who die in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16), in a separate band from the ungodly; then "the end" - i:e. the resurrection of the rest of the dead. Christian churches, ministers, and individuals, seem about to be judged first "at His coming" (Matthew 25:1-30); then "all the nations" (Matthew 25:31-46). Christ's own flock shall share His glory "at His coming," which is not to be confounded with "the end" or general judgment (Revelation 20:4-6; Revelation 20:11-15). The latter is not here discussed, but only the tint resurrection-namely, that of those united with Him by justifying faith; not even the judgment of all Christian professors (Matthew 25:1-30) at His coming, but only the glory of them "that are Christ's," who alone, in the highest sense, "obtain the resurrection from the dead" (Luke 14:14; Luke 20:35-36; Philippians 3:11). Christ's second coming is not a mere point of time, but a period beginning with the resurrection of the just, and ending with the general judgment. The ground of the universal resurrection (Acts 24:15) is the union of all mankind in nature with Christ, their representative head, who has done away with death, by His death in their stead: the ground of believers' resurrection is not merely this, but their personal union with Him as their "Life" (Colossians 3:4), effected causatively by the Holy Spirit, instrumentally by faith as the subjective, and ordinances as the objective means.