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"Jesus is ruling right now, and even better, Christians are ruling with him!'

Utter nonsense. I have taught 1st graders in Sunday School who would laugh at this silly statement and then refute it with a simple question, "if we are ruling with Him, why don't the bad people do what we say?" We WILL rule with Him, to be sure. But what we are doing right now isn't "ruling."

LOL! I realize you don't understand what I said, so you're forgiven. Think: Jesus is now King, sitting on his throne. What purpose is that if he is not ruling his subjects? Jesus' subjects, Christians, rule with Christ by spreading the gospel. In spreading the gospel those who don't believe and obey it are already judged; Christians heaping coals of fire on their heads (figuratively) - yet, by repenting and obeying the gospel they can be saved from God's judgement - second death. You may not understand this in my opinion, but it can be backed up with many scriptures which I don't have the time to produce herein. Maybe later..."ruling" may not be the best word here :-)

Many don't understand what the "first resurrection" is. Here is what Curtis says - in part, for there is much more that he reveals in other articles.

First Resurrection – just a small part of what Curtis Dickinson has to say.

The faithful saints in the church at Smyrna were told not to fear the devil, for if they were faithful they would “not be hurt of the second death” (Rev. 2:10–11). The reason was that they had experienced the first resurrection by their obedience to the Gospel and the guilt of their sin had been borne by Jesus. Their resurrection would be to eternal life. Partake of the first resurrection and you escape the second death, the destruction by fire. Reject the first resurrection and you must die twice: the temporal death all must suffer because of our mortal nature, and the second and final death because of sin.

The first resurrection take place when the believer obeys the gospel, dies to sin and is raised to a new life. “Or are you ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the death through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3–4). When we are raised from the grave at Jesus’ command, it will be our second resurrection, only it will be to immortality. Paul wrote that we who are in Christ are no longer under condemnation (Rom. 8:1), but are “in the spirit” which gives life and we already have the first fruits of the spirit. Still, he said, we are waiting, “waiting for our adoption, to wit the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23).

Eternal and immortal life is assured the righteous in this life because they are “in Christ” and have experienced the first resurrection from a state of deadly sin into a life “hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). Therefore, “when Christ, who is our life shall be manifested, then shall you also with him be manifested in Glory” (Col. 3:4).

Such is the glory and triumph portrayed in the revelation given to John on the isle of Patmos. It is not given to confuse us nor to stir speculations as to the time of Christ’s coming, but to show us that in spite of all the beastly opposition the world can mount against Christ, the victory is assured to Him and His chosen.