Easter is the story of lives changed by Gospel

I don't know anyone who doesn't love a good story -- whether it's in movies that capture your attention and inspire you to rise to a cause or books whose author has gripped you that after each page you find yourself saying, "Just one more." We love stories. Stories move us. We connect with the men and women in them. We want to become them. Sometimes we have been them.

Easter is a story. It is the true story of men and women who were seized by Jesus, God in the flesh. He intrigued them with his miracles. He gripped them with his teachings. He bought them with his life.

The Bible is full of stories of men and women who have been changed by the Gospel. The Gospel of Christ is his death for the sins of humanity, his burial and his resurrection all in accordance to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15 lists specific men and women who have been changed because of the Gospel.

James, the brother of Jesus who rejected him because of who he said He was, is on this list. Imagine being the brother of Jesus. No matter what broke, you know that Jesus didn't do it. When Jesus began his ministry, it divided his family. Now at his death and resurrection, this family has been restored. The Gospel had changed the legacy of this family.

Paul the academician's calling in life was to force those who followed Jesus to recant, and they lost their lives if they did not. Then through great drama he received, he held fast to the Gospel he once hated. He, through the power of the God, left a mark on history that can never be matched.

On this list are more than 500 whose lives have been changed by their witness of the resurrected Christ. Each one has a story to tell. Sitting on the mountainside listening to him teach. Being healed by his touch or his spoken word. Being an eyewitness to a miracle. Standing face to scarred face, touching pierced hands, and seeing pierced feet.

The Gospel story is the story of Easter. Easter is the story of lives continuously being changed by the Gospel. The story of men and women who have been purchased by Christ from death. Marriages that are being renewed and families who are being restored.

Easter is the story of grace.

Rob Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more from him at www.robhurtgen.wordpress.com.