The Earth Under the Curse -- The blessed conditions under which the earth shall exist and man shall live during the millennial era are almost beyond human powers of comprehension, so different are they from all to which history testifies and experience confirms. A reign of righteousness throughout the earth has never yet been known to the fallen race of man. So marked has been the universal curse, so great the power of the tempter, so bitter the selfish strife betwixt man and man and between nation and nation; so general has been the enmity of the animal creation, amongst its own members and toward the being who, though in a degraded state, yet holds the divine commission to the authority of dominion; so prolific has been the soil in bringing forth thorns, thistles, and noxious weeds -- that the description of Eden is to us as the story of another world, an orb of a higher order of existence, wholly unlike this dreary sphere. Yet we learn that Eden was in reality a feature of our planet, and that the earth is destined to become a celestialized body fit for the abode of the most exalted intelligences. The Millennium, with all its splendor, is but a more advanced stage of preparation, by which the earth and its inhabitants will approach foreordained perfection.
Regeneration of the Earth -- The term regeneration translated from the Greek palingenesia, and signifying a new birth, or, more literally, one who is born again, occurs twice FN in the New Testament; while other expressions of equivalent meaning are found. However, the terms are usually applied to the renewal of the soul of man through spiritual birth, by which salvation is made obtainable; though our Lord's use of the term, in the promise of future glory which He confirmed upon the apostles, has probable reference to the rejuvenation of the earth, its inhabitants and their institutions, in connection with the millennial era: "I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." FN
A time of restitution is foretold. Consider the words of Peter, spoken to the people who had come together in Solomon's porch, marveling over the miraculous healing of the lame beggar at the gate Beautiful: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." FN
That the change to a state more nearly approaching perfection is to affect both nature and man is evident from the teachings of Paul, as recorded in his letter to the Romans: "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." FN
Throughout the Millennium, the process of regeneration will continue. Society shall be purified; nations shall exist in peace; wars shall cease; the ferocity of beasts shall be subdued; the earth, relieved in great measure From the curse of the fall, shall yield bounteously to the husbandman; and the planet shall be redeemed.
The final stages of this regeneration of nature will not be reached until the Millennium has run its blessed course. Describing the events to take place after the completion of the thousand years, John the Revelator wrote: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. * * * And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." FN A similar prediction was made by Ether the Jaredite: "And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new." FN This event is to follow the scenes of the Millennium, as the context makes plain.
In the year 1830 of our present era, the Lord said: "When the thousand years are ended, and men again begin to deny their God, then will I spare the earth but for a little Season; And the end shall come, and the heaven and the earth shall be consumed and pass away, and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth. For all old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea; And not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmanship of mine hand." FN
According to the scriptures the earth has to undergo a change analogous to death, and is to be regenerated in a way comparable to a resurrection. References to the elements melting with heat, and to the earth being consumed and passing away, such as occur in many scriptures already cited, are suggestive of death; and the new earth, really the renewed or regenerated planet, may be likened to a resurrected organism. The change has been called a transfiguration. FN Every created thing that fills the measure of its creation is to advance in the scale of progression, be it an atom or a world, an animalcule, or man -- the direct and literal offspring of Deity. In speaking of the degrees of glory provided for His creations, and of the laws of regeneration and sanctification, the Lord, in a revelation dated 1832, speaks plainly of the approaching death and subsequent quickening of the earth: "And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law -- Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it." FN
During the Millennium, the earth will be tenanted by both mortal and immortal beings; but after the regeneration is complete death will no longer be known among its inhabitants. Then the Redeemer of earth "shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying: I have overcome.' FN Before victory is thus achieved and triumph won, the enemies of righteousness must be subdued; the last foe to be vanquished is death: "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." FN
The following partial description of the earth in its regenerated state has been given by the Prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation: "This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's." FN
Attempts have been made to demonstrate an agreement between the teachings of science concerning the destiny of the earth, and the scriptural predictions regarding the ordained regeneration of our planet by which it is to be made fit for the abode of immortalized souls. Without close consideration of the alleged evidence of mutual support between science and the revealed word in this matter, it may suffice to say that the so-called evidence is unsatisfactory, and that science is practically silent on the subject. The geologist views the earth as a body in process of continual change, its surface a heterogeneous mass of fragmental material; he reads, in the record inscribed on its stony pages, the story of past development through many successive stages of progress, each making the globe more fit for habitation by man; he witnesses the work of constructive and destructive agencies now in operation, land masses yielding to the lowering action of air and water and by their destruction furnishing material for other formations now in process of construction -- the general effect of all such being to level the surface by degrading the hills and raising the valleys. On the other hand, he observes volcanic and other agencies operating to increase the inequality of level by violent eruption and crustal elevation or depression. He confesses inability, from his observations of the present and his deductions concerning the past of the earth, to predict even a probable future. The epoch-making declaration of an acknowledged leader in the science is in point: Geology furnishes "no traces of a beginning, no prospect of an end." FN
The astronomer, studying the varied conditions of other worlds, may seek by analogy to learn of the probable fate of our own. Gazing into space with greatly augmented vision, he sees, within the system to which the earth belongs, spheres exhibiting a great range of development -- some in their formative stage, unfit for the abode of beings constituted as are we; others in a state more nearly resembling that of the earth; and yet others that appear old and lifeless. Of the vast systems beyond the comparatively small company under control of our own sun he knows little beyond the fact of their existence. But nowhere has he discovered a celestialized world; and mortal eye could not discern such an orb even if it were within the limits of unaided or telescopic vision as determined by distance alone. We may readily believe in the existence of worlds other than those of structure so gross as to be visible to our dull eyes. In regard to the revealed word concerning the regeneration of earth, and the acquirement of a celestial glory by our planet, science has nothing to offer either by way of support or contradiction. Let us not, because of this, disparage science nor decry the labors of its votaries. No one realizes more fully than does the mind trained to scientific method how much we do not know.
Resurrection from the Dead -- Closely associated with, and analogous to, the ordained rejuvenation of earth, whereby our planet is to pass from its present dreary and broken state to a condition of glorified perfection, is the resurrection of the bodies of all beings who have had an existence upon it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches the doctrine of a literal resurrection; an actual reunion of the spirits of the dead and the tabernacles with which they were clothed during mortal probation; and transition from mortality to immortality in the case of some who will be in the flesh at the time of the Lord's advent, and who, because of individual righteousness, are to be spared the sleep of the grave. The Bible is replete with testimony regarding the quickening of the dead. Human knowledge of the resurrection rests wholly upon revelation. Pagan peoples have little or no conception of an actual coming forth of the dead unto life. FN
The return of spring after the death-like sleep of winter; the passing of the crawling caterpillar into the corpse-like chrysalis, and the subsequent emergence of the winged butterfly; the coming forth of a living bird from the tomb-like recess of the egg -- these and other natural processes of development have been used as illustrative of the resurrection. Each of them falls short, for in no instance of such awakening has there been actual death. If the tree die it will not resume its leafage with the return of the sun; if the pupa within the chrysalis, or the life-germ within the egg be killed, no butterfly or bird will emerge. When we indulge such illustrations without discrimination, we are apt to conceive the thought that the body predestined to resurrection is not truly dead; and that therefore the quickening that is to follow is not what the revealed word declares it to be. Observation proves that the separation of the spirit from the body leaves the latter veritably inanimate, no longer able to resist the processes of physical and chemical dissolution. The body, deserted by its immortal tenant, is literally dead; it resolves itself into its natural components, and its substance enters again upon the round of universal circulation of matter. Yet the resurrection from the dead is assured; the faith of those who trust in the word of revealed truth will be vindicated, and the divine decree will be carried into full effect.
Predictions Concerning the Resurrection -- The prophets in the past dispensations of the world's history have foreseen and foretold the final conquest of death. Some of them testified specifically of Christ's victory over the tomb; others have dwelt upon the resurrection in a general way. Job, the man of patience under tribulation, sang joyously even in his agony: "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God," FN Enoch, to whom the Lord revealed His plan for the redemption of mankind, foresaw the resurrection of Christ, the coming forth of the righteous dead with Him, and the eventual resurrection of all men. FN
Nephi testified to his brethren that the Redeemer's death was a foreordained necessity, provided in order that resurrection from the dead might be given to man. These are his words: "For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord. * * * And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect." FN
Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, predicted the Savior's birth, ministry, death, and resurrection, and explained the resulting resurrection of mankind: "For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord. Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death -- that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and of things spiritual. But, behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord." FN
The New Testament shows that the doctrine of the resurrection was understood during the time of Christ's earthly mission, and in the succeeding apostolic era. FN The Master Himself proclaimed these teachings. In reply to the hypercritical Sadducees, FN He said: "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." FN To the Jews who sought His life because of His deeds and doctrine He spoke in this way: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." FN
That Christ fully comprehended the purpose of His approaching martyrdom, and the resurrection that was to follow, is proved by His own utterances while yet in the flesh. To Nicodemus He said: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." FN And to Martha, bewailing the death of her brother Lazarus, He declared: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." FN Of His own resurrection He prophesied freely, specifying the time during which His body would be entombed. FN
Two General Resurrections are mentioned in the scriptures, and these may be specified as first and final, or as the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. The first was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; immediately following which many of the saints came forth from their graves. A continuation of this, the resurrection of the just, has been in operation since, FN and will be greatly extended, or brought to pass in a general way, in connection with the coming of Christ in His glory. The final resurrection will be deferred until the end of the thousand years of peace, and will be in connection with the last judgment.
The First Resurrection -- -Christ's Resurrection, and That Immediately Following -- The facts of Christ's resurrection from the dead are attested by such an array of scriptural proofs that no doubt of the reality finds place in the mind of any believer in the inspired records. To the women who came early to the sepulchre, the angel who had rolled the stone from the door of the tomb spoke, saying: "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." FN Afterward the resurrected Lord showed Himself to many FN during the forty days' interval between His resurrection and ascension. FN Subsequent to the ascension He manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western hemisphere, as already noted in another connection. FN The apostles, as we shall see, ceased not to testify of the genuineness of their Lord's resurrection, nor did they fail to proclaim the resurrections of the future.
Christ, "the firstfruits of them that slept," FN "the firstborn from the dead" and "the first begotten of the dead" was the first among men to come forth from the grave in an immortalized body; but soon after His resurrection many of the saints were brought from their tombs: "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." FN
Alma, the Nephite prophet, whose writings antedate by many decades the birth of Christ, clearly understood that there would be no resurrection prior to that of the Redeemer, for he said: "Behold, I say unto you, that there is no resurrection -- or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption -- until after the coming of Christ." Furthermore, Alma foresaw a general resurrection in connection with Christ's coming forth from the dead, as the context of the foregoing quotation shows. FN Inspired men among the Nephites spoke of the death and resurrection of Christ FN even during the time of His actual ministry in the flesh; and their teachings were speedily confirmed by the appearance of the risen Lord among them, FN as had been foretold by earlier prophets. FN
In the latter days the Lord has again manifested Himself, declaring the facts of His death and resurrection: "For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance." FN
Resurrection at the Time of Christ's Second Coming -- Soon after the bodily departure of Christ from earth, the apostles, upon whom then devolved the direct responsibilities of the Church, were found preaching the doctrine of a future and universal resurrection. This teaching appears to have formed a very prominent feature of their instructions; for it was made a cause of complaint by the Sadducees, who assailed the apostles, even within the sacred confines of the Temple, the accusers "being grieved that they [the apostles] taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." FN Paul gave offense by the zeal with which he preached the resurrection, as witness his contention with certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics; in the course of which some said: "What will this babbler say? Other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection." FN The discussion was continued on Mars' Hill, where Paul preached the Gospel of the true and living God, including the tenets of the resurrection: "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter." FN He declared the same truth to Felix, governor of Judea; FN and when brought in bonds before Agrippa, the king, he asked, as if dealing with one of the principal accusations against him: "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" FN
The resurrection was a favorite theme with Paul; in his epistles to the saints, he gave it frequent and prominent attention. FN From him also we learn that an order of precedence is to be observed in the resurrection: "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 firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." FN
It is expressly asserted that many graves shall yield up their dead at the time of Christ's advent in glory, and the just who have slept, together with many who have not died, will be caught up to meet the Lord. Paul thus wrote to the saints in Thessalonica: "Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. * * * For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." FN
To the three Nephite disciples, who had asked the blessing of John the beloved apostle, Christ promised: "And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory, ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality." FN
Through the medium of latter-day revelation the Lord has said: "Behold, I will come; and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory, with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off. But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud." FN Of the many signs and wonders which shall attend the Lord's glorious coming we have this partial description: "And the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him. And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven -- They are Christ's, the firstfruits; they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him." FN
Such are some of the glories to attend the resurrection of the just. And the company of the righteous will include all who have lived faithfully according to the laws of God as made known to them; children who have died in their innocence; and even the just among the heathen nations who have lived in comparative darkness while groping for light, and who have died in ignorance. This doctrine is made plain by modern revelation: "And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection." FN The Millennium then is to be inaugurated by a glorious deliverance of the just from the power of death; and of this company of the redeemed 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." FN
The Final Resurrection -- "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." FN So testified the Revelator after having described the glorious blessings of the righteous, who are given part in the first resurrection. The unworthy will be called to the judgment of condemnation, when the regenerated world is ready to be presented to the Father. FN
The contrast between those whose part in the first resurrection is assured, and those whose doom it is to wait until the time of final judgment, is a strong one, and in no case do the scriptures lighten it. We are told that it is right for us to weep over bereavement by death, "and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection." FN In the present day, the voice of Jesus Christ is heard in solemn warning: "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." FN
The vision of the final scene is thus described by John:. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." FN As the scriptures conclusively prove, the resurrection is to be universal. While it is true that the dead shall be brought forth in order, each as he is prepared for the first or a later stage, yet everyone who has tabernacled in the flesh shall again assume his body; and, with spirit and body reunited, he shall be judged.
The Book of Mormon is definite in the description of the literal and universal resurrection: "Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death; The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost,; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life." FN
Consider also the following: "The death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death. And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still." FN
So far has the word of revealed truth extended our knowledge regarding the destiny of the human race. Beyond the regeneration of the earth and the final judgment of the just and the wicked we know little, except that a plan of eternal progression has been provided.
The Regenerated Earth
I create new heavens and a new earth -- Isa. 65:17; see also 51:16 and 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; read verses 4-13.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away -- Rev. 21:1; see also Ether 13:9.
The earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom and shall be quickened -- D&C 88:25, 26.
The earth to be given to the righteous for an inheritance -- D&C 45:58; see also 56:20.
All old things shall pass away, and all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth -- D&C 29:24; see also 101:24.
The earth, in its sanctified, immortal, and eternal state -- D&C 77:1. This earth, in its sanctified state, will be as crystal, and will be a Urim and Thummim -- D&C 130:9.
Blessed condition of the inhabitants of the sanctified earth -- D&C 101:26-31; compare Isa. 65:20-25.
He shall reign whose right it is to reign -- D&C 58:22.
The Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world, including the redemption of the righteous -- Moses 7:67.
Resurrection from the Dead
Yet in my flesh shall I see God -- Job 19:26; see also verses 25 and 27, and 14:13, 14.
God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave -- Ps. 49:15.
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise -- Isa. 26:19; see also 25:8.
Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, and the resurrection to follow -- Ezek. 37:1-14.
Some to awake to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt -- Dan. 12:2.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death -- Hos. 13:14.
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living -- Matt 22:32; read verses 23-32.
For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just -- Luke 14:14.
For the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will -- the Father hath given to the Son to have life in himself -- all that were in the graves were to hear his voice, and they shall come forth some to the resurrection of life, and others unto the resurrection of damnation -- John 5:21-29.
The Lord's promise concerning the raising of the righteous from the dead -- John 6:35-54.
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live -- John 11:23.
Christ's predictions of his own death and resurrection: he showed to the disciples that he would be killed and be raised again the third day -- Matt. 16:21; see also 17:22, 23; 20:17-19; Mark 8:31; 9:9; Luke 18:31-34; John 2:19-22; 12:23-33.
Other predictions of the resurrection of Christ: He suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men -- 2 Nephi 9:22. For behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind -- Helaman 14:15. Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead -- Mosiah 15:20. He layeth down his life and taketh it again that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead -- 2 Nephi 2:8, 9. The Lord's death and resurrection revealed to Enoch -- Moses 7:47.
Actuality of the Resurrection of Christ
The angel at the sepulchre said: He is not here: for he is risen as he said -- Matt. 28:6; read verses 5-18.
Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here -- Mark 16:6; read verses 1-14.
The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon -- Luke 24:34; read verses 30:46.
The risen Lord appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem and showed them his pierced hands and side -- John 20:19, 20; read verses 15-29.
I am he that liveth, and was dead -- Rev. 1:18.
The resurrected Lord appeared to the Nephites, and was proclaimed by the Father -- 3 Nephi 11:7. He showed to the people the wounds inflicted by the crucifiers -- verses 14:16; see also verse 11.
One to be ordained to be a witness, with the rest of the apostles, concerning the Lord's resurrection -- Acts 1:22.
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death -- Acts 2:24; read verses 22:32.
That there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust -- Acts 24:15.
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? -- Acts 26:8; see also verse 23.
It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again -- Rom. 8:34; see also 14:9; 1 Cor. 6:14.
Paul's testimony that Christ died, was buried, and rose again -- 1 Cor. 15:3-8; read verses 3-55; see further 2 Cor. 4:14.
Christ, the firstborn from the dead -- Colos. 1:18; see also Acts 26:23; the firstfruits of them that slept -- 1 Cor. 15:20; the first begotten of the dead -- Rev. 1:5.
And he hath risen again from the dead -- D&C 18:12; see also 20:23.
Resurrections Past and Future in Established Order
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose -- Matt. 27:52, 53; compare Helaman 14:25; 3 Nephi 23:9.
Resurrections among the Nephites immediately following the resurrection of Christ -- 3 Nephi 23:10; read verses 9-13.
Resurrection of the just and of the unjust -- Dan. 12:2; John 5:29; Acts 24:15; Alma 33:22; Helaman 14:18; Mormon 7:6; D&C 76:15-17, 39, 50, 65, 85;43:18.
They who have slept in their graves shall come forth -- D&C 88:97; 133:56; the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are ended -- 88:101.
Intelligence attained to in this life will rise with us in the resurrection -- D&C 130:18.
Only contracts and relationships entered into by sealing for eternity shall be valid after the resurrection -- D&C 132:7.
All to be resurrected but every man in his own order -- 1 Cor. 15:22, 23; read verses 22-44.
State of the soul between death and the resurrection -- Alma, chap. 40.
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