My Convictions

My Convictions

I have been struggling for a long time with all the things that I have experienced in the last few years. I was let go from Open Door and then from Home Depot and then from Whitton Avenue Bible. In all of this I somewhere forgot what God had done in my life prior to all of that, and it made me think that I needed to write what I truly believe and what I know to be true. These are my convictions.

I know that God sent His only Son to earth to serve us, by His death on a cross and taking the sin of all mankind on Himself so that God’s wrath would be satisfied and we would never have to know what He went through. On the cross Jesus had to watch His Father turn His face away, and then He had to suffer Hell for us and all the time knowing that His Father would raise Him from the dead after three days. Love was His motivation and it is what allowed Him to suffer all He suffered knowing that in the end He would redeem mankind and His creation and present it all back to His Father the way it was meant to be. He also had to watch as Peter denied Him three times and then decided He would go back to fishing. Jesus knowing this went and found Peter and called Him back to Himself by making Him confess three times that he loved Jesus thus wiping out the three denials. 

While on the cross it became dark and cold and there was an earthquake which shook the mountain and the rocks split. When the suns light failed the curtain of the temple was torn in two. There was a centurion who was watching over Jesus on the cross and when he saw what had taken place he praised God and said “Certainly this man was innocent!”

Joseph of Arimathea was a follower of Jesus and he went to Pilot and asked for the body of Jesus and Pilot agreed to give him to him. Joseph wrapped Him in a burial cloth and placed Him in a tomb that had never been used and a rock was rolled in front of it. 

The women who had followed Jesus went and saw the tomb and went back and prepared burial spices to anoint Jesus with. When they went back on the first day of the week they found the stone had been rolled away and His body was not there but the burial cloth was where he had been laid. Two angels appeared and asked them who they were looking for and they said Jesus. The angels then asked “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee the Son Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

They went back and told the disciples that Jesus had risen and Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves. John got there before Peter and found the tomb empty except for the burial cloths and then Peter entered the tomb to discover that Jesus was in fact not there and they believed that Jesus had actually risen as He had predicted. 

They stayed in Jerusalem and Jesus showed up in the room where they were eating and showed them His hands and His feet where the scars were from being nailed to the cross. He then questioned them regarding their doubts that it was truly Him. He asked them if spirits have physical bodies as He did, and told them it was actually Him and they could see for themselves that He was a physical being and not just a spirit. He even challenged Thomas to put his hand in his side and his fingers in the holes in his hands so He would believe. Thomas did so and then fell before Jesus and worshipped Him. These are my convictions and it is what I believe. Jesus came for no other reason than He loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice Himself for us so we could be free from the condemnation due us. He also was committed to redeeming what had been lost when Adam and Eve sinned and also to redeem His creation and present it back to His Father as it was originally meant to be. All of this was accomplished on the cross and by His rising the 3rd day. “This is also the reason I have the assurance of my salvation and my commitment to serve Him in whatever way I can. Love could do no less!”