There are two resurrections, each followed by a judgment. At the first resurrection, the dead in Christ are raised (and those who are alive and remain will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air) to face the Judgment Seat of Christ. At the second resurrection, all who died without God throughout all ages will be raised to face the judgment of condemnation or the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation. 20:5; Luke 14:1).
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and they shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [condemnation] (John 5:28, 29).
In eternal judgment, God will deal with us as a total person. He will first gather us together and reunite our bodies with our souls and spirits. It is for deeds we have done in our physical bodies, which includes thinking thoughts in our minds, that we are judged. The things we have done and the habits we have formed make us the kind of person we will be at the time of judgment.
The first resurrection and judgment.
The first resurrection and judgment will be for believers only. At the coming of Christ at the last trump, God will bring with Him the souls and spirits of all who have died in Christ and reunite them with their bodies. This is the first resurrection. At this time, those who are still living upon the Earth and who are in Christ will be caught up to join them. Immediately all believers will face Christ at the Judgment Seat (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).
God’s decision to judge believers separately is not an arbitrary one. There is a reason. Believers will have already experienced two judgments: the judgment of sin in Christ in their place (2 Corinthians 5:21) and self- judgment (1 Corinthians 11:31, 32). We are promised exemption from wrath and condemnation because we have been willing to identify ourselves with the judgment of sin through Christ, and we have been judging ourselves. God is faithful to keep His promises.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him (Romans 5:9).
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 (John 5:24).
Believers have become new people-a literal new creation. The Judgment of the Cross and self-judgment have produced real and lasting change. At the Judgment Seat of Christ this change is completed, and they are assigned their rewards and positions in the everlasting kingdom. One honor they will receive is the right to assist in judging angels at the Great White Throne Judgment (1 Corinthians 6:3).
The second resurrection and last judgment.
The second resurrection does not take place until a thousand years after the first resurrection (Revelation 20:515). This is the judgment of condemnation which results in the wicked angels and men being cast into the lake of fire or hell. All the unsaved dead from Cain until the end of this age will be judged at this time. This sentencing of those who have rejected God’s grace to everlasting conscious separation from God is called “the second death.”