John poetically describes the thousand-year millennium in Revelation 20:4-6¹ with a Hebrew chiasmus.² The A-B-C / C-B-A format identifies the first resurrection of the just (righteous)³ as the central point or focus of his poem,⁴ as follows:

A	And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
B	But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. (Revelation 20:5)
C	This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:5)
C	Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: (Revelation 20:6)
B	on such the second death hath no power, (Revelation 20:6)
A	but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)

John's poem expresses the truth that exaltation-worthy people will be resurrected throughout the thousand-year millennium to rule and reign with Jesus Christ on earth.

Every person born on this earth will be literally resurrected⁵ and redeemed from physical death.⁶ However, the resurrection will occur by stages and in a specific order⁷ based on the kingdom of glory that people merit according to their works.⁸ The first resurrection includes people resurrected to either the celestial or terrestrial kingdoms⁹ in descending order of righteousness.¹⁰ Some people refer to the first resurrection as a celestial resurrection.¹¹ However, that term is imprecise because the first resurrection includes both celestial and terrestrial bodies.¹² In fact, there are actually four distinct groups of people that have or will come forth from the dead in four consecutive stages of the first resurrection.

The first group consists of saints that overcome Satan¹³ and are worthy of exaltation.¹⁴ This group includes righteous saints that lived before the time of Christ and were resurrected as the first fruits of the resurrection almost immediately after Christ was resurrected.¹⁵ This first group came forth as one large group in the morning of the first resurrection.¹⁶ They will be privileged to reign with Christ on earth throughout the millennium.¹⁷ This is God's promise to all exaltation-worthy saints that overcome the world in any age.¹⁸ This promise is a recurring theme in John's letters to the seven churches of Asia in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.¹⁹

The second group consists of exaltation-worthy saints that have died since the time of Christ.²⁰ They will be resurrected in a large group when the morning of the first resurrection resumes.²¹ The morning will resume with the resurrection of the Two Witnesses in Jerusalem at the end of the Second Woe.²² This will occur immediately before Christ comes suddenly to his temple at Independence, Missouri for his first appearance of the Second Coming.²³ After the Second Coming, the morning of the resurrection will remain open and resurrections will occur continuously to accommodate all exaltation-worthy people that live during the millennium.²⁴ When they reach the age of 100 years, these millennial mortals will be changed in the twinkling of an eye to their exalted state on an ongoing basis.²⁵ The morning of the first resurrection must also be ongoing throughout the millennium to accommodate exaltation-worthy saints who died in ages past, but then receive their exalting temple ordinances by proxy during the millennium.²⁶ The Lost Ten Tribes will also receive their temple ordinances after the Second Coming,²⁷ which is another reason why the morning of the first resurrection must continue until their exalting ordinances are also complete.²⁸ All persons who resurrect in the morning of the first resurrection at and after the Second Coming will sit on thrones to rule and reign with Christ during the millennium as they resurrect to their exalted state.²⁹

The third group in the first resurrection consists of righteous saints that come forth with celestial bodies in the afternoon of the first resurrection. This stage of the resurrection will begin after the Second Coming, but very close in time to the start of the millennium. The afternoon of the first resurrection will also continue throughout the millennium to accommodate celestial-worthy people that live before and during the millennium.³⁰ This third group will resurrect with celestial bodies and enter the celestial kingdom, but they are resurrected to be unexalted ministering servants³¹ known as the general assembly of the Church of the Firstborn.³² They do not reign with Christ during the millennium or at any other time because they do not qualify for exaltation.³³

The fourth group in the first resurrection consists of the rest of the dead, which John identifies in Revelation 20:5. This group consists of terrestrial-worthy people who will enter the terrestrial kingdom when they are resurrected.³⁴ They will be resurrected in the evening of the first resurrection in one large group at the end of the millennium.³⁵ Their resurrection will occur only after the resurrection is complete for all celestial-worthy people, including exalted saints in the morning and unexalted saints in the afternoon of the first resurrection.³⁶

Many people within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say that the terrestrial resurrection will begin at the start of the millennium.³⁷ This view contradicts the words of John in Revelation 20:5, and it also contradicts the well-established doctrine that the celestial and terrestrial resurrections occur in defined stages that are sequential and not concurrent.³⁸ If the terrestrial resurrection were to commence near the start of the millennium, then the celestial and terrestrial resurrections would be concurrent throughout the millennium rather than sequential. Worse yet, if the terrestrial resurrection begins at the start of the millennium when the celestial resurrection also ends, then everyone born during the millennium would resurrect to the terrestrial kingdom even if they were celestial-worthy.

Resurrected bodies in every stage of the first resurrection will be perfect in their form.³⁹ Any physical deformities or degradation at death will be eliminated.⁴⁰ Children that die before their bodies mature will be resurrected with the same size body that existed at the time of their death. Their immature bodies‒when resurrected‒will then grow and mature to the stature and size of a mature human body.⁴¹ Natural and adoptive parents will rear these resurrected children to maturity during the millennium.⁴² These resurrected children of the millennium will have their calling and election made sure and will not be subject to temptation as their glorified bodies grow and mature physically.⁴³