The angular sizes and apparent brightnesses of distant galaxies are consistent with the Doppler model and not with the big bang. To be clear, the universe is indeed expanding because the average distance between galaxies increases with time as these galaxies move through space. But apparently, the fabric of space is not expanding. The FLRW metric is wrong. This affects the estimated sizes of distant galaxies because the FLRW metric predicts a magnification effect that is simply not seen. 

We have previously seen that observations of distant galaxies using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are contrary to the predictions of the big bang but match predictions of biblical creation.  Now, new observations of the angular sizes of distant galaxies challenge one of the essential underlying assumptions of the big bang – that the “fabric” of space is expanding as galaxies recede.  Without an expanding space, a big bang is impossible.  These observations support a new creation-based model of cosmology – the Doppler model – which makes specific quantitative predictions about future observations.
Introduction
In the early twentieth century, Albert Einstein discovered the equations that describe how matter “bends” the fabric of space, which causes the phenomenon we call gravity.  These equations allow us to predict how mass moves through space.  By making certain assumptions and approximations, physicists attempted to apply these equations to the entire universe.  In the 1920s, four physicists independently realized that Einstein’s equations imply that the entire universe could be expanding or contracting, like the surface of a balloon as it grows or shrinks in size.  The mathematical structure of space is called a metric.  And the particular metric that describes an expanding or collapsing universe (under the aforementioned assumptions and approximations) is named after these four physicists: the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Walker-Robertson metric (FLRW metric).
In 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble published a new discovery he had made which we now call the Hubble law.  Hubble had been measuring the distances to galaxies along with their velocities by measuring the spectral shift of their light.  He found that almost all galaxies are moving away from us; their light had been shifted to longer wavelengths.  The shift of light to longer wavelengths we call redshift.  Amazingly, Hubble found that there was a relationship between a galaxy’s distance from us and its redshift.  The farther a galaxy is, the larger its redshift.  This is the Hubble law.  It basically means that farther galaxies are moving away from us faster than nearby galaxies.  Hubble interpreted the redshifts as being due to the Doppler effect.  The faster a galaxy is moving away from us, the more its light is stretched to longer wavelengths.
One of the physicists who had discovered the FLRW metric, Lemaitre, realized that the Hubble law could be explained if the fabric of space is expanding (just as the FLRW metric allows) rather than being caused by a Doppler shift.  Consider points on a balloon.  As the balloon expands, points that are nearby slowly move away from each other; but points that are already far away from each other move apart much faster.  If galaxies are like points on the surface of a balloon, then an expanding universe would naturally produce a Hubble law.  Most astronomers came to accept the expansion of space as the explanation for the Hubble law and as confirmation that the FLRW metric was correct.
In 1931, Lemaitre speculated that if the universe is expanding like a balloon, then perhaps that balloon started from a size of zero.  This was the first version of what would later be called the big bang.  The big bang assumes that space is expanding according to the FLRW metric and that it started from a size of zero.  Most creation astronomers have accepted the FLRW metric as the correct explanation for the Hubble law but reject the notion that the universe started from a size of zero.  An expanding space does not require or imply that space started with no size at all.  It just means that space was smaller in the past.  How much smaller depends on how old the universe is.
Expanding Space vs Doppler Effect
An expanding space according to the FLRW metric is a fundamentally different explanation for the Hubble law than Edwin Hubble’s original interpretation.  Hubble interpreted the redshifts of galaxies as being due to the Doppler effect as galaxies move through space.  We are all familiar with the Doppler effect in sound waves.  When a car is approaching us, its pitch is higher than when the car is moving away.  Light also does this, although the effect is harder to detect partly because light is so much faster than sound.  But when an object is moving through space away from us, the light waves are stretched to longer wavelengths, and we detect a redshift.
On the other hand, the same effect could be achieved by galaxies that are essentially stationary in a space that expands like a balloon.  Dots painted on a balloon do not move relative to the balloon’s surface.  But these dots will all move away from each other as the balloon expands.  If galaxies are more-or-less stationary in an expanding space, then they will move away from each other.  This also causes a redshift of their light because the light gets stretched to longer wavelengths as it travels through space that is being stretched.  Light from the most distant galaxies has been traveling longer through expanding space and is thus more redshifted than light from nearby galaxies.  So, the expanding space of the FLRW metric naturally results in a Hubble law.
These are two fundamentally different explanations for the Hubble law.  On the one hand, the galaxies could be basically stationary, but the expansion of space carries them away from each other over time.  This is the FLRW metric and can be thought of as dots painted on an expanding balloon.  Alternatively, the Hubble law could be due to the Doppler effect.  Galaxies move away from each other through non-expanding space such that the farthest ones move the fastest.  Let’s call this the Doppler model.  It can be thought of as pocket billiard balls after a break.  The farthest balls move away the fastest, but the table does not expand or contact.
Nearly all astronomers embrace the latter model because it naturally explains why the most distant galaxies should be the most redshifted.  However, the Doppler model could also explain this from a Christian theistic perspective.  Namely, God may have imparted the most velocity to the farthest galaxies for reasons of stability – it prevents the galaxies from all collapsing into a black hole.
Furthermore, big bang advocates must embrace the FLRW metric because the Doppler shift interpretation does not allow for a big bang.  The big bang requires that all space was contained in a singularity billions of years ago.  But in the Doppler model, space does not expand; thus, there never was such a singularity.  If galaxies are simply moving away from each other through space, then you might initially think that they all came from a common central explosion.  But this cannot be the case because galaxies have tangential (“sideways”) motion in addition to their recessional motion.  That is, running time backward, they would “miss” each other and would not converge to a common center.  Thus, big bang advocates must embrace the FLRW metric and cannot consider the Doppler model without abandoning their own origin story.
You might think that it would be impossible to observationally distinguish the Doppler model from the standard model that assumes the FLRW metric.  After all, both models can account for the redshifts of galaxies (although their explanations differ).  Both can make sense of the Hubble law even though the reasons for the Hubble law differ.  Observationally, the two models are nearly indistinguishable.  However, there are two observational effects that differ between the two models.  And recent data from the JWST now allow us to test which model is correct.
Angular Diameters
From everyday experience, we know that a distant object appears smaller in size than a nearby object whose actual size is the same.  The size of an object as it appears to the eye is called the angular size.  The moon, for example, as seen in Earth’s sky, has an angular diameter of ½ degree.  The sun also has an angular diameter of ½ degree, so it appears about as large as the moon in angle.  In reality, the sun is 400 times larger than the moon.  But since it is also 400 times farther away, its angular size is nearly identical to the moon.  This is what makes solar eclipses possible.  The angular diameter of an object is inversely proportional to its distance.  That is, if I double the distance to a given object, it will look ½ the angular size in each dimension.
This applies to galaxies as well.  Consider two galaxies of identical (actual) size.  If one galaxy is twice as far away as the other, it will appear half the angular diameter.  If space is non-expanding, then this effect works at all distances.  Galaxies will continue to look smaller and smaller as we look to increasing distances.
However, in an expanding FLRW universe, things are more complicated.  As light travels long distances in an expanding universe, this will affect the angular diameter we perceive for any distant object.  It will cause its angular diameter to be larger than it would be in a non-expanding space.  The expanding space of the FLRW metric acts a bit like a magnifying glass, causing distant galaxies to appear larger than they would otherwise.  I will not attempt to go through the mathematical details on why this happens.  These are given in the corresponding technical paper.  But it is a well-accepted and mathematically proven principle that expanding space causes distant objects to appear magnified.
Read More
Related Posts:

Any position that attempts to add or subtract from this Gospel is a false gospel that cannot save.  Many heresies are such because they claim that something additional is required.  For example, there are some that say that, in addition to faith in Christ, one must be baptized in water in order to be saved.  But water baptism cannot save you; only Jesus can.  Water baptism is merely an outward act of obedience reflecting our unseen faith.   There are those that claim that after salvation, one must do good works in order to maintain that salvation.  This too is heretical because it makes continued salvation contingent upon works, not on Christ.  Jesus is both the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).  Good works will naturally follow from salvation because a saved person wants to please God.  But these works cannot save.  They are merely an outward reflection of inward faith.

In part 1, we looked at those doctrines that are essential to salvation: those that cannot be denied by a person whom Christ has saved.  We found that these all centered on Christ: His perfect nature as God Almighty, His atoning death for our sins, His grace by which He grants us faith in Him, His resurrection that foreshadows our own, and the repentance He grants us which results in obedience and good works.  We cannot attain salvation by our own works, but only by God’s grace received through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).  This is the Gospel and it is all about Jesus.
Any alternative is a false gospel.  The saving faith that Jesus imparts to us allows us to confess that Christ is the Lord God (Romans 10:9-13; John 8:24).  It is a genuine faith that God raised Christ from the dead (Romans 10:9-11), and will resurrect everyone else at His second coming (1 Corinthians 15:20-24; John 5:28-29).  The saving faith God imparts to us always involves repentance from sin and will result in good works (Luke 13:3,5; Revelation 2:5; 1 John 2:4; James 2:4).  These verses also clearly teach that the one who denies any of the above principles does not have salvation, but will die in his sins.
And yet, there are many who would verbally profess the above doctrines but lack saving faith in Christ.  Consider what Christ Himself said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”  We saw in Romans 10:9-13 that declaring Jesus is Lord is a requirement for salvation.  Yet, Jesus Himself indicates that this, by itself, is insufficient.  He said, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:22-23).
Notice that Jesus said “many.”  That is, many people think they have salvation in Christ and will be surprised to learn on Judgment Day that they do not.  That is a terrifying thought!  These verses should challenge every professing believer to ask himself, “Am I truly saved?”  Saying the right words does not impart salvation.  Rather, God imparts salvation, granting to the sinner a new heart, repentance from sins, and faith in God.
But how do we know that our faith in God is genuine?  After all, Jesus refers to people who were confident in their salvation, who professed Christ as Lord, and even performed miracles in His name; yet, they will not enter heaven.  Just imagine living your life, thinking you are a Christian, being confident in your faith in Christ, and then having Him say to you on Judgment Day, “I never knew you.  Depart from Me.”
Knowing God
God knows the people He saves (John 10:27-28).  And they know Him (John 10:14).  This knowledge is more than simply an awareness of God’s existence.  Even the demons know that God exists, but they are not saved (James 2:19).  Rather, God enters into a loving relationship with those whom He saves (Romans 8:29).  Therefore, those who are genuinely saved have come to know God and to recognize His voice.
For this reason, a severe misunderstanding of the nature of God is an indication that a person may not be saved.  Suppose that someone professes Jesus as Lord and believes that God raised Him from the dead.  But then when I ask him to describe God, he responds, “Oh, he is a three-headed dragon that lives on a moon of Neptune.”  Such a heretical and absurd response would indicate that this person does not know the real God.  The person may be saying the right words in professing Christ’s Lordship and resurrection, but he has placed his faith in a fictional god of his own imagination.  And a fictional god cannot save you from the wrath of the Living God.
This is the characteristic of cults.  Cults profess to be Christian, but have placed their faith in a false god rather than the biblical God.  It can be difficult to identify cults because they often use the same words as Christians, but they mean something different.  Thus, it is necessary to ask questions about the nature of their god.  Is their god an all-powerful, all-knowing, omni-present, unchanging, eternal, triune spirit?  A person who does not know God in a saving way often has one or more fundamental misconceptions about God that are revealed when sufficient questions are asked.
No doubt, even a saved person can have some misconceptions about God.  After all, God is infinite and we are finite.  Therefore, we cannot know everything about Him.  But there are certain characteristics that are basic to the nature of God.  A denial of one or more of these may indicate that a person does not know God in a saving way. 
So, what are the fundamental characteristics of the biblical God?  What are His essential attributes that are clearly elucidated in Scripture?  All those who truly know God should agree on the following aspects of His nature.
(1) The Trinity
The biblical God is triune.  He is one in nature/essence, and three in eternally distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Thus, these three Persons share one name (Yahweh) as Christ affirms in Matthew 28:19.  Yet each divine Person is one eye-witness under biblical law (John 8:17).  The doctrine of the Trinity necessarily entails monotheism, which James 2:19 implies is necessary (but not sufficient) for salvation.  We have seen that Romans 10:9-10 teaches the belief that God raised Christ from the dead is essential to salvation.  The Trinity is implicit in this passage because all three Persons were involved in the Resurrection.  The Spirit raised Christ from the dead, (Romans 8:11), as did the Father (Galatians 1:1), as did the Son Himself (John 10:17-18).
Fortunately, the Bible does not say that a detailed and nuanced understanding of the triune nature of God is required for saving faith.  It is sufficient to know that God is one in essence, and yet three in eternally distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  No doubt God will forgive some of our misunderstandings of how this all works in practice.  But to reject what God has said about His own nature is to reject God.  God expects us to accept whatever revelation He has given us.
Some may ask, “But what about Old Testament believers?  Did they know about the Trinity?”  New Testament believers have far more information on the Trinity than believers under the Old Testament administration.  Yet, even Old Testament believers knew something of the fact that God is one in nature and more than one in Persons; we see communication between the Persons in the first chapter of Genesis (e.g. Genesis 1:26-27). Even the Hebrew term for “God” (Elohim) is plural (literally “Gods”) and yet used with singular verbs (e.g., Genesis 1:1).  So, the Israelites knew that God was one in one sense, and more than one in a different sense.  They probably did not have the rich understanding of the three Persons that New Testament saints enjoy.  The point is that God expects us to accept whatever revelation He has given about Himself.  A saved person will therefore come to accept what the Bible teaches about the triune nature of God, even if he doesn’t fully understand it.  Thus, a rejection of the Trinity is a strong indication that a person has not (yet) been saved.
(2) God Is the Creator and Judge of All
God is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11).  As such, we owe Him our very lives.  Since all things were made by Him (John 1:3), all things are contingent upon Him.  They exist and continue to exist only because God the Son upholds all things by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).  God alone is not contingent upon anything.  He is completely self-sufficient and does not require a universe or anything beyond Himself to exist (Exodus 3:14).
God is transcendent: beyond the physical universe (1 Kings 8:27).  God is eternal and without a beginning or an end (Deuteronomy 33:27; Isaiah 43:13; Psalm 90:2).  He has no creator since He has always existed.  He is completely sovereign, answering to no one else (1 Timothy 6:15; Isaiah 40:13-14).  He needs nothing, and does whatsoever He pleases (Psalm 135:6).
As Creator, God has the right to set the rules for all that He owns (which is everything).  Therefore, it is by God’s standard and His standard alone that we all will be judged.  This implicitly requires that God is righteous by virtue of the fact that His nature determines what is right (Ezekiel 18:25).  His judgments are necessarily right because they stem from His holy nature (Genesis 18:25).  Thus, our moral obligation is to obey God.  And when we fail to do so, we must expect punishment since this is the just penalty for our treason (Isaiah 13:11).  All God’s ways are just (Deuteronomy 32:4).
This distinguishes the living God from many false gods of other religions and cults.  Their gods change, are not righteous, and are not sovereign over creation.  As the Apostle Paul explained in Acts 17:24-25,28-29, the biblical God does not need to be served by human hands because He needs nothing; rather, we need Him since He is the one who gives us life and breath.  The biblical God is the sovereign, uncreated Creator of all things.  Therefore, a rejection that God is Creator of all things suggests that a person is trusting in a false god rather than the God of Scripture.
(3) God Is All-Knowing, Unchanging, and Eternal
God is eternal (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 9:6; Romans 16:26).  He has no beginning in time, and no ending (Hebrews 7:3).  This would have to be the case since God is the Creator of time itself (John 1:3).  Since God is beyond time, He does not change with time (Malachi 3:6).  He can “step into time” as He did with the incarnation of Christ, and He can act in time.  But God is not bound by time like we are.
Read More
Related Posts:

Since we are saved by grace and not by our merit, God will no doubt forgive some of our theological shortcomings – places where our thinking does not currently align with Scripture.  But when a person denies certain core aspects of the Gospel, this indicates that he or she has not been granted saving faith in Christ.  The Bible itself teaches that certain core doctrines cannot be rejected by a saved person.  Let’s examine these.

What doctrines are absolutely essential to Christianity?  As the Word of God, all Scripture is equally and absolutely authoritative.  But not all Scripture is equally clear, nor equally central to salvation.  Christians disagree on certain nuanced details, yet are united by our common salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ.  On the other hand, there are people who profess to be Christians, but who deny central, core doctrines of the faith.  Where is the line that divides genuine faith from a false faith?  At what point does theological error become heresy?
Heresy is defined as “adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma” or “an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standards.”  The problem with using such definitions is that different churches themselves disagree on some issues of doctrine.  Even individuals within the same local church may disagree on what is “generally accepted.”  Perhaps the word ‘heresy’ ought to be reserved for the most serious of theological errors – those that deny an essential aspect of the Gospel.  Then we can define ‘heresy’ as a theological error so severe that it indicates that a professing Christian might not be truly saved.
Since we are saved by grace and not by our merit, God will no doubt forgive some of our theological shortcomings – places where our thinking does not currently align with Scripture.  But when a person denies certain core aspects of the Gospel, this indicates that he or she has not been granted saving faith in Christ.  The Bible itself teaches that certain core doctrines cannot be rejected by a saved person.  Let’s examine these.
1. The Deity of Jesus Christ
The Bible not only teaches that Jesus is God, but it also teaches that anyone who denies this core principle is not saved.  Professing that Jesus is Lord (Yahweh) is necessarily associated with salvation according to Romans 10:9-13.  Verse 9 gives two conditions that must accompany salvation; the first is that a person must confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord.  The author (Paul) then proceeds to prove that this is a necessary condition by quoting Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13, “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Jesus is the Lord, and professing this with the mouth is thus necessary to demonstrate that a person’s faith in Him is genuine.
The critic may object, “But couldn’t this just mean that Jesus is a lord, not the Lord God?”  No.  Context shows that the word “Lord” is being used here to refer to Yahweh, the almighty God.  Paul cited Joel 2:32 in his proof that calling upon the name of the Lord is necessary for salvation.  And the word translated “Lord” in Joel 2:32 is Yahweh – the unique name of God.  Paul is therefore claiming that those who call upon Jesus as Yahweh will be saved.
Jesus Himself said as much in His earthly ministry.  In John 8:24, Jesus said, “for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.”  Some English translations add the word “He” as in “I am He.”  But in fact, this word is absent in the original Greek text.  Jesus was actually saying that people would die in sin (unsaved) unless they believe that He is the “I am.”  The “I am” is one of the names of the Holy God, first used in Exodus 3:14, and then later in Isaiah [e.g. Isaiah 43:10, 25, 45:18, 46:4].  Jesus refers to Himself as the “I am” again in the same chapter: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am’” (John 8:58).  The strange grammatical construction shows that Jesus is indeed applying one of the names of Yahweh to Himself.  It would be blasphemy if Jesus were not in fact God.
God the Father refers to Jesus as “God” in Hebrews 1:8-12.  Hebrews 1:8 states, “But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.”  Here, the Lord quotes Old Testament passages describing Yahweh, and applies them specifically to Christ (compare Psalm 102:1,24-27).  The Lord God says in Isaiah 45:23 that “to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear.”  In Philippians 2:10-11, Paul explains that this was Jesus speaking: that to Jesus “every knee will bow” and “every tongue will confess.”  That’s because Jesus is the Lord God.
Yet, unsaved people cannot accept and embrace that Jesus is God.  A genuine saving faith that Jesus is the Lord is something only the Holy Spirit can give (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Thus, a rejection of the divine nature of Jesus Christ is an indication that a person is not (as yet) saved (John 10:25-30).
2. The Resurrection of Christ
The other criterion for salvation that Paul gives in Romans 10:9-10 is that a saved person must believe that God raised Christ from the dead.  The resurrection of Christ shows that He has authority over life and death (John 10:17-18).  It establishes that what He said about Himself is true.  According to the Apostle Paul, faith that Christ rose from the dead is what results in (imputed) righteousness (Romans 10:9-11).
Resurrection means being raised up from the dead – going from a state of death to a state of life.  But there is an important caveat to consider when discussing life, death, and resurrection.  The Bible speaks of two types of life, two types of death, and therefore two types of resurrection.  On the one hand, there is physical life, death, and resurrection.  And on the other hand, there is spiritual life, death, and resurrection.  Physical life, death, and resurrection all pertain to the physical functioning (or lack thereof) of physical bodies.  A person is physically alive when his heart is beating, blood is flowing, and so on.  When those functions cease, a person dies.  The Bible speaks of the physical resurrection of several individuals, such as Lazarus (John 11:14-45), and Jesus Himself (Matthew 28:6-7).
Spiritual life and death both pertain to the state of a person’s immaterial spirit.  God designed humans to love Him and obey His commandments.  This is the function of a living spirit.  When Adam sinned against God, his spirit “died” in the sense that it no longer sought to live for God, but for sin.  Adam’s descendants have inherited a dead spirit and do not seek after God (Ephesians 2:1).  However, God has mercy on some and resurrects their dead spirit, resulting in spiritual life (Ephesians 2:5-6).  All true believers have already experienced this spiritual resurrection.
Jesus spoke of the difference between these two resurrections in John 5:24-29.  He first addresses spiritual resurrection: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).  This spiritual resurrection is applied to everyone who trusts in Christ for salvation, and only them.  Thus, the Lord says in John 5:25, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”  Notice that Jesus indicates that this spiritual resurrection (1) applies only to some – “those who hear,” and (2) takes place both in the present and also in the future – “an hour is coming and now is.”
Then Jesus describes the physical resurrection of the dead in John 5:28-29 which states, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”  To clarify that He is speaking of the physically dead, He refers to them as those “who are in the tombs.”  Those would be physical bodies of course.
This physical resurrection differs from spiritual resurrection in two ways.  First, it applies to everyone who has ever died – “all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth.”  Second, it is entirely in the future: “an hour is coming” (but not “and now is”).  Thus, Jesus indicates that there will be a time in the future when everyone who has ever died will be resurrected.  Jesus said that this general resurrection will occur on the “last day” (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54).  This indicates that temporal history will end at some point, ushering in the eternal state.
So, which of these two resurrections did Christ experience?  Clearly, Jesus rose from the dead physically.  Unlike all other men, Jesus never experienced spiritual death because He never rebelled against God (Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21).  Christ obeyed His heavenly father perfectly and never needed any sort of spiritual resurrection because He was never “dead in sins.”  Moreover, Jesus physically died by crucifixion (Mark 15:24; Luke 23:46), and was therefore physically raised on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4; Acts 10:40).  He claimed that His physical body was proof of His bodily resurrection (Luke 24:39).
Therefore, it is a belief in the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Christ that is necessary for salvation (Romans 10:9-10).  Those who believe that the resurrection of Christ is merely a spiritual resurrection, or otherwise non-literal, do not have salvation.  The physical resurrection of the dead is an essential part of the Gospel.  The Bible says, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.  Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:13-17.  Hence, the resurrection of Christ is essential to the Gospel.  Anyone who rejects that Christ physically rose again does not have salvation.
3. The General Resurrection
The resurrection of Christ foreshadows the future resurrection of all the dead.  1 Corinthians 15:20 states, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”  In the Old Testament administration, the Israelites celebrated the Festival of First Fruits after Passover.  In this festival, they offered a sheaf of the first fruits of their first crop to the Lord (Leviticus 23:9-11).  This showed the gratitude of the people toward God who provides the harvest.  And it also shows their trust that God would also bring forth the rest of the harvest in time.   That is, if God was faithful to bring forth the first fruits, then He will be faithful to bring forth the rest of the harvest in season.
Read More
Related Posts: