Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection
This may be considered either as descriptive of the persons that shall partake of this privilege; as that they are only such who are blessed with spiritual blessings, with a justifying righteousness, with pardon of sin, and regenerating grace, and who are sanctified by the Spirit of God; these, and these only, will be first raised, and will be called to inherit the kingdom prepared for them, ( Matthew 25:34 ) or else as expressive of their happiness and holiness when raised; they shall be perfectly blessed in soul and body, and perfectly holy in both: they shall be "blessed", for
on such the second death hath no power;
which is the lake of fire, ( Revelation 20:14 ) ( 21:8 ) the sense is, they shall escape everlasting burnings, the fire of hell, the torment and misery of the wicked; they shall be delivered from wrath to come; and as their bodies will die no more, their souls will not be subject to any sense of wrath, or to any sort of punishment: and they will be "holy"; they will have no sin in them:
but they will be priests of God and of Christ;
of God the Father, and of his Son Jesus Christ, being made so to the former by the latter, ( Revelation 1:6 ) or of God, even of Christ, that is, of God, who is Christ, since it follows:
and shall reign with him;
they will be wholly devoted to and employed in the service of God and of Christ, and will be continually offering up the sacrifices of praise, or singing the song of the Lamb, adoring the grace and goodness of God and Christ unto them, shown them both in providence and in grace:
and shall reign with him a thousand years;
this is mentioned again, partly to assert the certainty of it, and partly to point at the blessedness of the risen saints.