'Rev 20:4-6

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Reigning with Christ (Rev 20:4-6)

Persecuted believers are now encouraged with a further revelation of their assured victory. Whereas Satan’s brief time of apparent triumph is replaced by a lengthy imprisonment, the Christians’ brief time of suffering is replaced by a lengthy reign with Christ. They may have been martyred, but now they are raised from death to share the resurrection life with Christ (Rev 20:4; cf. 1 Cor 15:51-57).

This raising of the believers is called the first resurrection. It is followed by the reign with Christ, symbolized by a thousand years. The believers share with Christ in the life of a new era where he rules as King, a position that the ungodly refused to acknowledge when he lived among them in the world. At the end of this reign with Christ there is a second resurrection, this time involving those who are not believers. Theirs, however, is not a resurrection to life, but a resurrection to damnation. They suffer that final punishment which John calls the second death (Rev 20:5-6).