What is the order of the resurrection according to 1 Corinthians 15:23?
1 Corinthians 15:23 states the resurrection order: every man in his own order. Christ is first, the First Fruits, which included Jewish believers raised from the graves in Matthew 27. Afterwards, those who are Christ’s at His coming will be raised, referring to church-age believers. Thus resurrection occurs in ordered stages, not all at one event.
Les explains that 1 Corinthians 15 deals with the doctrine of the resurrection, which is basic to the Christian faith. At verse 20, Paul shifts gears and breaks down how the resurrections will take place, showing they are not all one event. First came the First Fruits when Christ rose from the dead, along with the Jewish believers who came out of the graves in Matthew 27, and they comprised the First Fruits. Then verse 23 gives the order: every man in his own order, first Christ, the First Fruits, and afterwards those who are Christ’s at His coming, which would be the believers of the church age.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.