Hi Atkin,
In response to last post:
Rev 20:55 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
The second sentence in there may be confusing. The NIV puts the first sentence in brackets which helps.
Verses 4 and 6 spell out WHO those are that are in the first resurrection . Those people will reign WITH Christ for 1000 years.
The first sentence of verse 5 tells us the rest of the dead lived not again until the 1000 years are finished.
does the rest of the dead come to life in Heaven or earth?
The rest of the dead come to life as described here.
1 Thess 4
15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
The rest of the dead or those who have fallen asleep precede those who are alive at the parousia.
So here is the sequence....
There is the 1000 year reign WITH Christ...
The 1000 year reign ends(verse 5)
The rest of the dead come to life, are raised, resurrected....
then the parousia.....
It doesn't say in these verses whether the dead come to life a millisecond before those who are physically alive at the parousia or whether it is years or what...just that they precede those who have fallen asleep.
In all of this is the proof you ask for, biblical proof because that is all there is.
The 1000 year reign HAD to occur in Heaven because that is where Jesus is until His parousia.
What happens in the resurrection just prior to or at the parousia is a whole new topic and is not dealt with in these verses we have been talking about.
The other poster raised a very important point.. how can humans resurrect in heaven? .. You have no grounds for that conclusion.
HOW? I don't know how, they live in the spiritual body talked about in 1 Cor 15, but nowhere does it explain the mechanics of such a thing.
And yes, I do have grounds for the conclusion. The bible allows for no other conclusion.
In response to second last post:
Are you implying a vision of EARTH EVENTS cannot be seen by one receiving a heavenly vision??
NO. Which means the next few questions do not apply.
So why do you assume that the vision John saw represented ONLY THINGS IN HEAVEN.
Why do you assume the vision John saw REPRESENTED anything...John saw it as he saw it.
1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
Then take the example of the 1000 year reign which occurs in Heaven. Of course things in the vision were playing out in Heaven as far as the vision is concerned.
THE VISION IS JUST a message, not necessarily meaning that what John saw was restricted to actually taking place in Heaven.
And not necessarily meaning it did not take place in Heaven either as the 1000 year reign points out.
YOU CANNOT ASSUME it was in heaven
You cannot assume otherwise unless you ignore what the bible verses say at Rev 20:4-6 and 1 Thess 4:15.
HOW CAN HUMAN BEINGS RESURRECT IN HEAVEN.? your point is flawed.
Human resurrection CANNOT TAKE PLACE in heaven... HOW is this possible.?
This is the same as from the first post and apparently it can because the bible said it did.
In response to your third last post:
The first resurrection is the RESURRECTION to life of those people killed as described in Revelation 20:4
Yes, but obviously a spiritual resurrection to a spiritual life.
The 1000 years is not a resurrection, it is A TIME PERIOD while the resurrection refers to the coming to life, spiritual or otherwise , of those who were killed as described in Revelation 20:4.
Correct, Rev 4 and 6.
The sequence of events is
1-RESURRECTION TO LIFE OF THE SOULS .. that is the first resurrection
2- Then they reigned for 1000 years
Yes, that is correct, then...
Rev 20 5
5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)
Then read 1 Thess 4:14, 15.
That takes us to the parousia.
Next you consider that Jesus returned to Heaven more than just once. I have never read thru looking for that, but I don't recall any rock solid proofs of it. The example verses you give require a fair assumption. However, I don't see why it would matter.
Hence the visions of the souls who resurrected could easily be the saints of Matthew 27:52 who RESURRECTED and their physical death is not SPIRITUAL DEATH hence they had spiritual life even after whether they died physically again after MATTHEW 27:52.
If you want to include these as part of the 'first' resurrection, go ahead. It changes nothing as far as the sequence of events goes regarding Rev 20 and 1 Thess 4.
The saints who resurrected in mathew 27:52 did not die AGAIN SPIRITUALLY hence if you claim the resurrection was spiritual, well, their souls did not die spiritually since they were saints in Christ.
They were 'holy' people so I assume they were slated for eternal life.
So you see if you want to include those holy people who came up out of the tombs as being part of the first resurrection, you have to accept that they are 'living' spiritually in Heaven as we speak. So consider that for a moment... there is spiritual heavenly life in Heaven...The biblical verses say that the 1000 year reign is also in Heaven, what's so difficult to understand there if you believe that those saints from Matthew 27 have been doing this for the last 2000 years anyway?
So now it's been me answering and it's my turn to ask?
How can the 1000 year reign WITH Christ be on earth if Christ is in Heaven when this biblically happens?
Justme
HENCE CHRIST WAS NOT LIVING ON EARTH WHEN HE SPOKE TO JOHN IN 96AD.
, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 
