Resurrection, the first
'The first resurrection,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part of resurrection, which is salvation and eternal life. There is only one resurrection to life. A second does not happen, and is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.
(References: Apocalypse Explained 6; Apocalypse Revealed 851; Revelation 20:5-6)
Apocalypse Revealed #21
21. To His God and Father. This symbolically means, thus images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love.
In the spiritual sense "God and Father" does not refer to two persons, but God means the Divine in respect to wisdom, and Father the Divine in respect to love. For the Lord has in Him two attributes: Divine wisdom and Divine love, or Divine truth and Divine good. These two are meant in the Old Testament by "God" and "Jehovah," and here by "God" and "Father."
Now because the Lord teaches that He and the Father are one, and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 10:30; 14:10-11), therefore "God and Father" does not mean two persons, but the Lord alone. The Divine, moreover, is one and indivisible. Consequently the statement that Jesus Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father means, symbolically, that they appear before Him as images of His Divine wisdom and of His Divine love. The image of God consists in these two qualities in people and angels.
It may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord that the Divine, which in itself is one, is designated by various names in the Word.
That the Lord is also Himself the Father follows from the following declarations. In Isaiah:
...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..., (whose) name will be called Wonderful..., God, Mighty One, 1 Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
In the same prophet:
You, Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name. (Isaiah 63:16)
And in John:
"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father...."
Jesus said to him, ."..He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how then can you say, 'Show us the Father'... ...Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me...." (John 14:7-9, 11)
See no. 962 below.
Footnotes:
1. The writer follows the rendering of Sebastian Schmidt here, though the word in the original Hebrew text is an adjective modifying "God," as it is interpreted in standard English translations.
