The Moment for All Eternity – Dave Dravecky

April 13, 2017

We all look to define or justify the amazing power and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but we just can’t. All falls short.

 

Before I came to know Christ as my personal Savior, I never fully understood what Easter was all about. As a kid, I would go to Mass with my family and hunt eggs on Easter but it was really more of a fun day than it was a meaningful celebration. After I gave my life to Christ and understood what He did for me on the Cross, Easter became very special to me, because I was suddenly, finally able to understand the the fullness of the incredible gift He’d given me. The fact that Jesus freely gave His life for me is extremely powerful, and worth celebrating!

 

Easter is an opportunity to reflect on the amazing gift of Jesus—the miracle of His death and resurrection, which gives us life, forgives us of our sin, and keeps us in fellowship with Him. It’s by this free gift that we are freed from the bondage of sin and adopted into His family.

 

Though I’ve been a Christ-follower for 36 years now, it’s only been recently that I’ve really begun to understand the magnitude of God’s grace for me. I’ve known about this grace, I’ve recited Ephesians 2:8-9 countless times, but today I’m more amazed by His grace than ever before.

 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” —Ephesians 2:8-9

 

When you think about what that passage really means, it’s extremely powerful! Recently I’ve experienced God’s grace and mercy in a whole new way through the life of a young girl named Lyndsey.

 

About two years ago, Jan and I met 16-year-old Lyndsey who had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was fifteen. Over the past two years, we’ve developed a relationship with Lyndsey and her family, during which she came to a saving knowledge of Jesus!

 

A month ago Lyndsey asked Jan and me to visit with her and her family. She knew she was nearing the end of her battle with cancer and she wanted to know about heaven.  She feared going to heaven alone without her family.  They came to our house so that we could share about our faith in Christ and answer any questions that they had about heaven and the promise of eternal life. Over the course of the evening we began talking about baptism.

 

“Gosh, I’d love to be baptized,” said Lyndsey.

 

“You would?” I replied with excitement. “We can do that!”

 

“We could? Where?” She asked.

 

“Right here! In the backyard – in our hot tub!” I exclaimed. “Do you want to do that?”

 

“Yes!” She shouted.

 

Lyndsey didn’t want to wait any longer than she had to, so the following Sunday, Lyndsey came back over with her family, friends and grandparents to make a public declaration of her faith. It was such a cool moment! While everyone gathered around the tub, not only did Lyndsey get baptized, but also her sister, her mother, and at the last moment, her father decided to be baptized as well. She was not going to heaven alone.

 

Dave and Lyndsey Increase ThumbnailAs they each stood in the water, our pastor asked each of them if they had placed their trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and the newness of life. As they said yes and were dunked in the water, their sin was washed away and they were made brand new through this simple act of identification with Christ. This amazing gift of grace was now theirs forever!

 

That’s what the water is all about. That’s what Jesus is all about. It’s why He did what He did on the Cross—dying and then rising—He revealed Himself to us as God in the flesh so that no one would be without a way out of their sin. Jesus took on the sin of the entire universe for all of time, but not only that, He understands and loves each and every one of us and our story. Because of this truth, we can take the gift of grace that God lays out our feet and confess, believe, and trust in Him to be our Savior for all eternity.

 

Lyndsey is now with Jesus in her eternity. To her last day she was living her life for the love of Jesus—that’s what it’s all about. That’s the meaning of Easter. On Easter Sunday we are celebrating the most important moment in all of history (outside of the birth of Jesus). This was the moment when God in the flesh came down to dwell among us as a sinless, perfect man. At the cross He conquered sin and death once and for all, evidenced by the empty tomb and his ascension back to Heaven.

 

This is why Jesus came. This is why we celebrate.

 

—Dave Dravecky

 

Dave Dravecky is a regular contributor to The Increase and will be providing monthly articles and opinions.

 

Check out Dave’s Increase profile here: http://theincrease.com/author/davedravecky/        

 

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