I believe #4

Happy Thing of the Day: sleeping until you can sleep no more

More I believes! I'm going for 10!

I believe Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven,

Since Easter was just a couple of days ago, I feel like with the general premise of this blog, it is important for me to to acknowledge a couple of things I believe about God.  So here we go...Easter.

I believe, to my very core, that God sent His one and only son to die for my sins.  I believe that His son died on the cross, and that 3 days later, He rose again.  I believe that He paid the ultimate price for my sins, to save me, and came back to show just how awesome our God is.

Many non-believers have a lot of problems with just about everything that happens in the Bible, and really just every day things that believers believe.  But we're going to focus on two very "impossible" things that they have the biggest problem with.

Jesus was conceived by immaculate conception.  He was born of a virgin. Impossible? Okay, biologically, sure that probably is "impossible".  With the exception of a virgin being artificially inseminated, this pretty much could never happen.  But since when does that stop God?  To be a believer means simply that, to believe.  If you do not have faith in God then yes, this is going to sound ridiculous, impossible, and makes all us Christians sound like we are cuckoo for cocoa puffs.  We believe in the impossible.  We believe that our God is so incredible, so amazing, so powerful that He can do ANYTHING.  He makes the impossible possible.  So yes, we believers truly believe that Jesus was born of a virgin to save us all.

Many non-believers have a very hard time grasping Easter as well.  A guy dies on a cross and comes back to life three days later...impossible? Sure.  For God, no big deal.  This is not the first time the dead has been brought back to life (in the Bible anyway). Both in the Old and New Testaments, people have been raised from the dead by miracles from God.  God can  do the impossible, but He is not required to do so,

we'll get to that in a later post.

I believe that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for us all.  Many of my Atheist friends have issues with this, mostly the parents. They claim that no one could give up a child for a sacrifice, that no loving parent can put their child through the torture that Jesus endured, send them to Hell, for the resurrection of all. Well, that's just it, the sacrifice had to be one of immense meaning.  This had to be a sacrifice from God, not from man.  The only thing God had to sacrifice was His own child.  The torture He endured was a product of man, not a product of God.  Jesus KNEW this was what He needed to do.  He knew that in order for no man to ever die again, a pure and true sacrifice must be paid, and it was done by God's own blood.  God paid for our sins.  Here is where some Christians debate.  Are God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit 3 in 1, or are the separ
ate entities.  I won't get into that debate, but if you believe the 3 in 1 doctrine, then really God sacrificed himself, I am not sure which is true, but that is one way to look at it.

I do not think this was an evil act of God, I think it is beyond the most incredible act of love.  I believe on the third day, He had gathered the souls and sent them to be with their Father, and then came back to show God's amazing power.  That not even death can stop Him, and that we no longer have to fear death, that we will spend eternity in paradise with Him.  I believe this to my very core.  I believe this regardless of the proofs you have that this is impossible, I believe this even if you think it makes me naive and crazy.  I am a believer, I believe that God's one and only son came and saved me because He loves me!