Though Christmas may be our favorite, Paul reminds us that Easter is of “first importance.” If Christ had not arisen, our hope would be still locked in the tomb. Because He is risen, just as He said, we have hope of our own resurrection from the dead and look forward to the life everlasting, which death cannot touch. We come here today not simply to remember an event but to rejoice in the future made possible for us because of what happened. Before the world we confess that Jesus’ resurrection is not a hope but a fact witnessed by more than five hundred and on that fact God has built a future for us—one we anticipate now even as we wait to see it fulfilled.