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The birth, life, death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus are all important for the Christian. They reveal God to us, demonstrate how God redeems us from our sins, and gives us an example of how we should live our lives. However, in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6, Paul does tell us that the matter of ‘first importance’ (1 Corinthians 15:3) is that ‘Christ died for us according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day…’ So, our emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a matter of preference, it is profoundly Biblical. It is grounded in the fact that our greatest problem is the fact that we are sinners separated from God, that we cannot save ourselves, and that God has to save us through Jesus Christ. Without a focus on the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, we run the risk of making our Christianity just about doing good e.g. by following the example of Jesus. The central message of Christianity is not “Follow Jesus’ example and be good”, but rather “Repent and believe what Jesus has done for you on the cross, because you are evil and cannot do good”. When we become reconciled to God, through the cross, our sins are wiped away, and God gives us His Spirit, and begins to work out righteousness and good works in us. These good works are however the result and not the conditions of our getting saved by God. For further information, read “What is the Gospel” by Greg Gilbert.