Everything in this physical universe was first organized as a spirit entity by God the Father in his generation.¹ Jehovah, the premortal Jesus Christ, organized physical bodies for all God's spirit creations in this universe as a second creation.² The resurrection is a third creation³ accomplished by the power of Christ's atonement.⁴ In the resurrection, the mortal and corruptible bodies of all physical creations become immortal and incorruptible.⁵ The universal resurrection⁶ is the final act of creation⁷ in God's plan for the salvation of all his spirit creations.⁸

The resurrection will inseparably join spirit bodies and immortal physical bodies⁹ from all four kingdoms of creation, which include humans, animals, plants, and minerals.¹⁰ The eternal law of obedience¹¹ governs the order¹² in which all mortal bodies will be resurrected after they die.¹³ Based on the law of obedience, the "Order of Resurrection" will proceed sequentially in this generation of creation¹⁴ starting with everyone in the human family,¹⁵ followed by the entire animal kingdom,¹⁶ then the plant kingdom,¹⁷ and finally the mineral kingdom last of all.¹⁸ The mineral kingdom includes this earth and countless other worlds that Jesus Christ created physically.¹⁹ Within these four kingdoms, the resurrection occurs in a distinct order of intelligence from highest to lowest,²⁰ just as the physical creation occurred kingdom by kingdom in a separate and distinct order from lowest to highest.²¹ The scriptures, including Doctrine and Covenants Section 29:30, confirms this reverse order in the creative sequence, saying, "the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first in all things whatsoever I have created."²²

The spirit creation by God the Father²³ began when Jehovah (Christ)²⁴ was born first among God's most pre-eminent spirit children called morning stars.²⁵ Jehovah became the first begotten spirit Son of God the Father²⁶ because Jehovah was the most intelligent of all God's spirit children.²⁷ Jesus Christ then became the very first fruit of the resurrection in the entire universe.²⁸ Christ qualified himself to be resurrected first because he was the most obedient²⁹ and only sinless man among all God's spirit creations.³⁰ Therefore, the first resurrection began with Christ³¹ in the morning of the first resurrection.³²

Only those worthy of exaltation come forth in the morning of the first resurrection³³ with physical bodies that are both immortal and exalted.³⁴ Two groups of humans resurrect in two stages on this earth during the morning of the first resurrection.³⁵ The first group of exaltation-worthy saints rose from the dead immediately after Christ was resurrected.³⁶ People resurrected with Christ either died or were translated before the time of Christ.³⁷ In order to be resurrected with Christ, this group had to be fully obedient to gospel law,³⁸ including receipt of their exalting temple ordinances³⁹ while they lived on earth in mortality.⁴⁰ The morning of the first resurrection will resume⁴¹ for a second group of exaltation-worthy saints that have died since the time of Christ's resurrection. This stage of the resurrection will begin at the end of the Second Woe immediately before Christ's Second Coming.⁴² The morning of the first resurrection will then continue or remain open to the end of the millennium for people that become qualified for exaltation during the millennium.⁴³

Some people believe the morning of the first resurrection has been a continuous and ongoing process since the time of Christ's resurrection.⁴⁴ However, that view conflicts with the accepted doctrine that righteous spirits of the dead since the time of Christ enter the postmortal spirit world to perform the immense labor of missionary work as they await their resurrection.⁴⁵ Christ began this ministry when he briefly labored in the postmortal spirit world between his own death and resurrection.⁴⁶ Based on the need for righteous ministers in the postmortal spirit world, a second and separate group of exaltation-worthy saints must wait until the Second Coming to come forth when the morning of the first resurrection resumes at that time in the future. Once the morning resumes at the Second Coming, it will continue without interruption until the end of the millennium. This second group of exaltation-worthy saints will include: (1) saints that live after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and receive their exalting ordinances while living as mortals at any time before the end of the millennium,⁴⁷ and (2) saints that have lived at any time on the earth but receive their exalting ordinances vicariously after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and before the end of the millennium.⁴⁸

The resurrection of the whole human family on this earth and on many other celestial worlds will occur in four main groups in descending order of their obedience to light and truth,⁴⁹ as follows:

1. People worthy of the celestial kingdom are resurrected first on a priority basis. The celestial group has two subgroups that include persons worthy of exaltation followed by those that are not exaltation worthy. Exaltation-worthy saints come forth in the morning of the first resurrection that will resume immediately before the Second Coming and then continue until the end of the millennium, as noted. Celestial worthy‒but not exaltation-worthy saints‒will come forth in the afternoon of the first resurrection that will begin after the Second Coming and then continue to the end of the millennium. These two celestial groups will be called forth by two separate trumpets of the celestial resurrection as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) Section 88:98-99.⁵⁰
2. People worthy of the terrestrial kingdom will be the second main group in the resurrection of humans. They will come forth in the evening of the first resurrection in one large group when the thousand years of the millennium are ended as stated in Revelation 20:5 and Doctrine and Covenants 88:101.⁵¹
3. People worthy of the telestial kingdom will be the third main group in the human resurrection. Doctrine and Covenants 88:101 also describes this group and states that they will come forth in one large group near the end of the little season at the end of the earth.⁵² Their resurrection as a group at the end of the earth is so near in time to the terrestrial resurrection at the end of the millennium, that both groups are separately called forth by the third resurrection trumpet in Doctrine and Covenants 88:100-101.⁵³
4. Mortal sons of perdition will be the fourth main group in the human resurrection. Sons of perdition must remain until that great and last day, even the end when a fourth resurrection trumpet sounds in Doctrine and Covenants 88:102.⁵⁴ The resurrection of the human family will end when all sons of perdition are resurrected as a single group and cast into a permanent hell⁵⁵ called the lake of fire and brimstone and outer darkness in Revelation 20:10.⁵⁶

The Lord has not revealed the location or composition of the place called outer darkness.⁵⁷ Doctrine and Covenants 88:32 does say, however, that resurrected sons of perdition will return again to their own place⁵⁸ where they will dwell with Lucifer and his unembodied spirit sons of perdition forever.⁵⁹ This suggests that sons of perdition (both resurrected and unembodied) will return again to an area of uncreated space in the universe⁶⁰ where they once existed as eternal intelligences before the spirit creation.⁶¹ Various scriptures, such as Doctrine and Covenants 29:37-38, also say that their own place was "prepared for them from the beginning."⁶² The beginning could refer to either the time of the spirit creation⁶³ or the fall of Lucifer during the grand council.⁶⁴ In either case, it seems highly likely that outer darkness came to exist from the beginning when the Father and the Son completely withdrew their light and glory⁶⁵ from the furthest reaches of their universe in outer space.⁶⁶ Thus, outer darkness came to exist as the place of Satan's final and future kingdom⁶⁷ by the complete withdrawal of God's light and influence,⁶⁸ and not by an act of their creation.⁶⁹

After the human family has been resurrected in four primary stages (celestial, terrestrial, telestial, and outer darkness), all the other physical creations of Jesus Christ⁷⁰ will then be redeemed from the fall of Adam in their appointed order⁷¹ and in their own sphere.⁷² The redemption of all things⁷³ will include the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms⁷⁴ in that order based on their descending measure of intelligence as a class.⁷⁵

The mineral kingdom consists of countless worlds⁷⁶ that include celestial, terrestrial, and telestial worlds.⁷⁷ Celestial worlds will be resurrected first, beginning with this earth, which has Kolob as its inward spirit and is, therefore, the greatest and most intelligent of all the physical worlds created by Jesus Christ.⁷⁸ After all the celestial worlds of Christ's physical creation are resurrected, the resurrection of terrestrial worlds and telestial worlds will occur in their descending order to become the final dwelling places for people⁷⁹ who are unworthy of an inheritance on the celestial world where they lived as mortals.⁸⁰

The Parable of the Lord of the fields in Doctrine and Covenants 88:51-61 casts additional light on the Order of Resurrection among celestial-worthy people on all the physical worlds created by Christ in the universe of this generation.⁸¹ This parable indicates, among other things, that the morning of the first resurrection began with Jesus Christ on this last earth of the physical creation in this generation. The morning then continued sequentially so that exaltation-worthy saints were resurrected from all other worlds in descending order until those of the first celestial world of the physical creation. After the morning has commenced on all worlds in this generation, the morning will resume again on this earth immediately before the Second Coming. Shortly after the Second Coming, the afternoon of the first resurrection for celestial-worthy, but unexalted, saints will commence on the first world of the physical creation and then proceed in ascending order to celestial-worthy saints on this last earth. The resurrection of the last person to celestial glory in this generation will occur on this earth at the end of the millennium.⁸²

The Parable of the Lord of the Fields does not describe the resurrection of terrestrial-worthy people, telestial-worthy people, or sons of perdition. Furthermore, it does not explain the interstellar Order of Resurrection for animals, plants, and other worlds in this generation. However, the Order of Creation‒including the Order of Resurrection‒is based on the law of obedience and the corresponding intelligence of all persons, places, and things to be resurrected.⁸³ Therefore, after all people are resurrected in their descending order of obedience and intelligence on this earth, the people from all other worlds will resurrect in their descending orders. The human resurrection will be followed by the resurrection of animals from all worlds, followed by the resurrection of plants from all worlds. Finally the resurrection will proceed with worlds themselves in their descending order of intelligence.⁸⁴ This earth will be first to resurrect among all worlds because it has Kolob as its inward spirit.⁸⁵ Kolob is the most intelligent of all worlds and when it resurrects it will become the great governing star of this universe.⁸⁶