The terms first resurrection and morning of the first resurrection are sometimes used interchangeably¹ to identify anyone resurrected to the celestial kingdom,² without making any distinction between those who are glorified angels and those who are exalted Gods.³ To be more precise, only people worthy of exaltation⁴ will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection.⁵ Unexalted angels of the celestial kingdom will come forth in a second stage of the celestial resurrection, called the afternoon of the first resurrection, that will begin after the Second Coming.⁶

Two distinct groups of exalted saints take part in the morning of the first resurrection.⁷ The first group consists of people that died or were translated⁸ before the time of Christ.⁹ This group was resurrected with exalted bodies immediately after Christ's resurrection in the meridian of time.¹⁰ The second group consists of exaltation-worthy people from all ages that will be resurrected with exalted bodies immediately before the Second Coming and then throughout the millennium as their circumstances permit.¹¹ This second group includes exaltation-worthy people that will still be alive at the Second Coming. Some of these will change instantly from mortality to immortality without tasting death.¹² For them, death and resurrection will occur in the same moment in the twinkling of an eye.¹³ Other exaltation-worthy people living at the Second Coming will be temporarily transfigured or translated while still in their mortal condition pending receipt of all their gospel ordinances.¹⁴ After the Second Coming these millennial (terrestrial) mortals¹⁵ will multiply and replenish the earth¹⁶ in its transfigured and paradisiacal condition.¹⁷ The Lost Ten Tribes are another group of translated saints that will stand with Christ on mount Zion at the Second Coming, to be resurrected to an exalted state after they receive their temple ordinances during the millennium.¹⁸

Exaltation-worthy people who take part in the morning of the first resurrection‒including the living who are quickened, the translated, and the resurrected dead‒will be privileged to descend with Christ in glory at the Second Coming.¹⁹ They are the 144,000 Servants that John saw as a great multitude of disembodied and exaltation-worthy spirits in Revelation 7:4-8²⁰ and again as exaltation-worthy saints in Revelation 14:1-5.²¹ They will rule and reign with Christ during the millennium²² as exalted kings and queens.²³ They are the priests of God and of Christ that are seated on thrones in Revelation 20:4-6.²⁴ They will be Gods,²⁵ who receive a far greater and exceeding weight of glory than even the unexalted angels of the celestial kingdom.²⁶

The resurrection of exalted people is called the morning of the first resurrection²⁷ because the morning corresponds with their status as the first fruits in the resurrection of the just.²⁸ They are privileged to come forth first in the morning because they are obedient to all the laws and ordinances of the gospel that pertain to exaltation in the celestial kingdom.²⁹

The morning of the first resurrection will last about three thousand years from the resurrection of Christ until the end of the millennium.³⁰ However, the resurrection of exalted saints in the morning has not been ongoing, nor is it continuous from the resurrection of Christ until the Second Coming.³¹ Among the exaltation-worthy saints that have died since the resurrection of Christ, very few will be resurrected before the Second Coming. In fact, Peter, James, and Moroni are the only people known to have been resurrected since the resurrection began with Jesus Christ. They were resurrected because of earthly missions they had to perform with resurrected bodies as part of the latter-day restoration of Christ's church.³² The resurrection has not been continuous since the time of Christ because righteous disembodied spirits were (and are) needed as missionaries in the postmortal spirit world. They perform the much needed and immense amount of missionary work that Christ began during his brief ministry in the postmortal spirit world between his death and resurrection.³³

The morning of the first resurrection will resume with a very large group of exaltation-worthy saints (both dead and alive) at the end of the Second Woe just before Christ's Second Coming during the Third Woe.³⁴ The Two Witnesses in Jerusalem will be the first persons resurrected in the morning of the first resurrection when it resumes just before Christ's Second Coming.³⁵ After their resurrection, the morning of the first resurrection will then be continuous and ongoing for exaltation-worthy people until the end of the millennium.³⁶