What is the difference between resurrection and being raised from the dead like Lazarus?
Being raised like Lazarus was a temporary restoration to physical life; he later died again. Resurrection, by contrast, brings a person into the eternal state, never to die again. Scripture presents Christ as the firstfruits of those who have died physically, and resurrection is tied to that eternal state.
Les explains that Lazarus’s raising was only a calling back to physical life, not the same as resurrection, because Lazarus died again. Resurrection is being brought into the eternal state. He connects this to the two resurrections: the resurrection of the just, all believers from Adam until the end of the tribulation, and later the resurrection of the unjust or lost. In I Corinthians 15:20, Christ is risen and become the firstfruits of them that slept, those who died physically; as death came by man, resurrection of the dead also comes by man.