What two groups does God divide all people into?
God’s overall division of all people is only two groups: the lost and the saved. The saved are resurrected and in the Lord’s presence, while the rest of the dead, being the lost, remain in their original state until the thousand years are finished.
Les explains that as far as God is concerned overall, there are only two groups of people: the lost and the saved. In the context of these resurrections, all believers from Abel through the tribulation are resurrected and in the Lord’s presence. Since the saved are already resurrected, “the rest of the dead” must be the lost. The lost will not have anything happen to them until the thousand years were finished; they stay in their original state, which is hell as we understand it, during the thousand years of the Kingdom rule. The last part of verse 5 refers back to the people in verse 4 and calls this the first resurrection.