Christ was the first of all men to emerge from the tomb with spirit and body reunited, a resurrected immortalized Soul. Therefore, is He rightly called "the firstfruits of them that slept," as also "the firstborn from the dead," and "the first begotten of the dead." (1 Cor. 15:20; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5.) The victory over death thus achieved by the foreordained Redeemer of the race was positively and abundantly foretold. That a literal resurrection shall come to all who have or shall have lived and died on earth is quite as strongly attested in Scripture. Two general resurrections are specified; these we may distinguish as the first and the final, or as the resurrection of the just and that of the unjust respectively. Hear the words of Christ Himself relating to the dead and their assured coming forth: "For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:28, 29.) The first resurrection began with that of Jesus Christ and was continued thereafter as we read: "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." (Matt. 27:52, 53.) The resurrection of the just is to be made general at the time of the Lord's approaching advent in glory; but a fixed gradation is established as Paul averred: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." (1 Cor. 15:20-23.) The Millennium is to be inaugurated by a glorious redemption of the righteous from the power of death; and of them it is written: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." (Rev. 20:6.) Of the unworthy we read in thrilling contrast: "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Of the imminence of His coming and in further specification of the distinction between the resurrection of the just and that of the unjust the Lord has said through revelation in the current age: "Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. For the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens shall shake and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations, Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again." (D&C 43:17, 18.)