What a thrill it is to be a preacher on Easter morning! It’s better than being Irish on St. Patrick’s Day or a child on Christmas morning or Tiger Woods at the Master’s or a Duke basketball fan on April 2nd of this year. (You knew I would mention that sooner or later, didn’t you?!)

The great New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd said, "The resurrection is the epicenter of belief. It is not a belief that grew up within the church. It is the belief around which the church itself grew up." (1) Billy Graham has declared, "If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the resurrection, because that’s the heart of Christianity." (2)

Why is Easter so big? What makes the resurrection of Jesus so significant? First, it announced victory over sin and death. Someone has been to the other side …