Valentine’s Day wasn’t even over yet and the stores were sticking out their Easter candy.  Easter wasn’t even on my mind yet, but I went back to the office and checked my calendar--do you realize that Easter is only 5 weeks from today?  Kind of incredible how fast it sneaks up on you! 

Every year I spend more time preparing and preaching on Easter themes than any other event on the Christian calendar.  In the past I've done anywhere between 3 to 7 week series in preparation for Easter.  That's because there's nothing that compares to the magnitude of the crucifixion on the cross--and subsequent resurrection--of Jesus Christ.  Those two events, taken as a single whole form the cornerstone of the Christian faith. 

Christianity would be little different from any other religion apart from the crucifixion and the resurrection. 

You must take the two together.  Although there have been many other religious leaders that have been persecuted and killed, only Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.  That proves His life, His mission and (most importantly) His death were far more than ordinary human events. 

Jesus made it clear in His teachings that His primary mission on earth was the cross.  The resurrection was God’s stamp of approval concerning Jesus’ mission.  What I want to do in the next 5 weeks is look at exactly what Jesus accomplished in His mission culminating in the cross.  Starting today, we are going to examine 5 tremendous results of the cross.  These 5 results are in no particular order--the first one is not more important than the last.  They are simply in this order because that is how I chose to preach them.