“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (I Corinthians 5:10).  Every soul is accountable to God, and the heavenly Father “has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22).  Jesus Christ possesses authority and power to execute judgment because He is the Son of God. 

The resurrection of the dead is a fundamental tenet of Christianity.  Its reality is both revealed and defended in the New Testament.  Believers in Jesus Christ are assured that the resurrection is true because the Lord Himself was raised up on the third day after being brutally executed by Roman crucifixion (Luke 24:6-7; I Corinthians 15:4).

“If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” argued the apostle Paul in defense of the gospel (I Corinthians 15:17).  True Christianity stands or falls on the whether or not Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.  IF He was not resurrected, THEN He is not the Son of God because the power of the resurrection declares His Sonship (Romans 1:4).  The gospel is a lie.  And men have no hope because their sins still alienate them from their holy God and Creator.

A student of God’s word can read about Jesus Christ throughout the pages of the Old Testament.  God truly did choose salvation and sanctification in Christ before the foundation of the world (cf. Eph. 1:4).  The Father purposed that all things would be fulfilled in His Son.  Jesus Himself said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17).