Last week my wife and I received a letter from dear friends. The letter was read aloud by my wife. As she read, the words were distinct but they tumbled off my ears like oil on water. I could not or did not want to absorb what it said. It told of my best friend, a retired chaplain, diagnosed with a malignant, inoperable brain tumor. He would be gone within months. And life changed. No longer was it measured in decades and years, but in months, weeks, and days.

I wrote to my friend. I spoke of times shared together in worship, camping with our families, of laughter and dreams we shared, of things we'd planned to do. I reminded him of all he had done for others. I encouraged him to lean on me when he needed to, and let me be strong for him, and we'd both lean on the Lord.

Finally, I encouraged him in the faith and told him that on Easter Sunday I was going to speak on the Resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15, about the hope in Christ in which we both so fervently believed.

The Resurrection is why we are here today. It gives us the hope, courage, and strength to face life's problems and tribulations, because through it we are more than conquerors and heirs of eternal life with our Risen Lord. Listen to Paul as he simply and succinctly explains Easter: "I delivered to you of first importance, that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, that he was raised, and that he appeared on the third day to Peter...to the twelve...to more than 500...to James...to all the Apostles...to me also..."

The bottom line of Easter is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this Resurrection has four critical and related benchmarks. If we understand these, we begin to understand the Resurrection. Paul says these are of "first" or critical importance.

I. Christ Died for Our Sins

What an obstacle that was for the disciples. Christ was gone. Nailed to the cross with Him was all that He taught them, all they hoped for, that messianic kingdom, gone in the dust and blood of Golgatha. The earth quaked, the veil of the temple was split in two...and the world stood still, covered in darkness. The cross was an obstacle not to be overcome.

Some of the world's greatest men and women have faced obstacles, but have overcome them. Abraham Lincoln surmounted poverty and humble circumstances, and saved the Union. Golda Meier, daughter of an American immigrant, rose to the position of Prime Minister of Israel. And recently, Lech Walesa, a blue-collar worker in communist Poland, changed the course of Eastern Europe.

But the obstacle of the cross -- how could you overcome the finality of death, physical death, and the death of the dreams of the followers of the Nazarene? It was the end, so they thought... A stumbling block? A scandal? Paul knew better. So he put it in context: Christ died for our sins.

II. He Was Buried

Christ was placed in the tomb. It had a finality about it that was devastating. What could be worse than this? The disciples' hopes were sealed in the cold tomb of their Lord. Could there ever be light in their hearts again? Only God could transform the circumstances.