Title: The Hero of All Times, Jesus Christ
Introduction: When you hear the word hero what comes to your mind. Perhaps it is a favorite movie star, a sports star, or an admired influence in your life. There are actual people who can be your hero or you may have a fantasy hero like Superman, Spider-Man or Thor.
Proposition: I would propose to you, that there is a common denominator between all heroes. They appear safe, undefeatable, and eternal. They achieve our dreams, meet our expectations and build our faith. These attractions capture our attention, set our focus in life, and encourage us to never give up.
Interrogative Sentence: Heroes are a real influence in the lives of everyone in one way or another. If you listen to a person long enough, you can tell who his or her heroes are. Who is the hero of all time? Who is your hero? Who do the observers of our lives see as the hero of all times?
I like the heart of King David, the man after God's heart, who wrote, "I will exalt you, my God the King. I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever." (Psalm 145:1-2) "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." (Psalm 145:13-16)
The New Testament tells us that Jesus is the hero of all times. He is the hero that is safe, undefeatable and eternal. Colossians tells us about the Supremacy of the Son of God. "For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17)
The first attraction of a hero - he got to be able to keep you safe. Have you ever of Bonnie Tyler? She sang the song, "Holding Out For A Hero." In her song are these lyrics, "Where have all the good men gone, where are all the gods, where are the street wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a white steed? I need a hero, he gotta to be sure; he gotta be larger than life; He gotta be fresh from the fight. I need a hero"
Jesus is that hero, for in the book of revelation is the one who will returns riding upon a "white horse, His name is call Faithful and True... His name is the Word of God. (Revelation 19:11-13) Jesus is the Word that became flesh. (John 1:14) Colossians says, "In Him all things hold together." "Hold Together" (sunist¨¥mi [¦Ò¦Ô¦Í¦É¦Ò¦Ó¦Ç¦Ì¦É)]) means that Jesus is the cohesion in the universe. (Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament) He is the controlling and unifying force of all nature. (Word Pictures in the New Testament) Jesus has the power over all things and maintains continuous stability and productiveness of all things. He orders all things to the will of God His father. (Word Studies in the New Testament) If there is anyone who can keep you safe in this world and in eternity it is Jesus Christ who can hold it all together. Hebrews 1:3 says, The Son is the radiance of God's Glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word." I love the heart of the psalmist who wrote, The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge." (Psalm 18:2)
I remember seeing a painting with Psalm 18:2 written on it, along with the word peace. The panting showed a mountain cliff being hammered by a powerful storm. The painting showed the lightning flashing, the wind blowing and trees falling. I thought, ¡°How is that a painting of peace?¡± Looking again, I saw an opening deep in the cliff; in that opening was a bird setting on a nest, just comfortably sitting peacefully, sheltered from the wind, rain and lightning.
Transitional Sentence: The second attraction to a hero is that they are undefeatable. Romans 4:25 says this about Jesus, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."
The fantasy character Thor from the Marvel Comics "is the strongest of the Asgardians. Thor possesses a very high resistance to physical injury that approaches invulnerability. Thor possesses keen senses that allow him to track objects traveling faster than light and he hears cries from the other side of the planet. Thor has the ability to travel through time. His stamina allowed him the battle the entire Frost Giant army for nine months without any rest. Thor has the ability to regenerate wounded portions of his body. Thor has superhuman speed, agility and reflexes. Thor can summon the elements of the storm (lightning, rain, wind, snow)." (Wikipedia) Thor is a popular fantasy hero because he can meet our expectations of a hero.
Jesus is the hero who realistically meets our needs and expectations. Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever. The Bible says that His disciples were amazed that even the winds and waves obey Him. (Mark 4:41) The Bible teaches that Jesus has power over demons (Mark 5:1-20) He healed the sick and raised the dead. (Mark 5:21-43)
Good Friday is that time of the year when we remember the hero of heroes, who gave up His life on the cross for us. (John 19:30) Easter is that time when we celebrated our hero's victory over sin and death. (John 20:1-10) That¡¯s why we can sing with joy and assurance, "Up from the grave He arose."
Because the hero of heroes, Jesus Christ was faithful to His call - we Christians have His promise of victory over sin and death, "But thanks to God! He gives victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57) Psalm 2:7 says, "He holds success in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless." Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die..." (John 11:25)
Transitional Sentence: According to the Bible we have a Lord who is undefeatable. A third attraction to a hero is they appear eternal. Revelation 1: 8 gives a powerful truth about Christ, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners... That Christ might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:15-17)
Everyone is attracted to that story of the hero who defeats evil, gets the girl and they live happily forever and ever. At the close of the movie Thor, everyone is now excitingly awaiting for the return of Thor to get the girl who awaits for Him.
According to the whole of Scripture, Christians are the bride of Christ's, (Song of Songs 1-8; Luke 5; John 3:29) and the bride excitingly waits for the return of Jesus to take His church with Him into heaven. Jesus is the church's hero who will come and rapture His church to meet Him the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 19:7; 21:2;9)
In Closing: It does not matter if you our heroes are fantasy or real people. Fantasy heroes do not really exist and they make no real difference in the reality of our living. Sport heroes, movie stars and people of influence are heroes we can admire from a distance but we can not have a meaningful relationship with them. Seriously, I admire Peyton Manning, if I was at one of his football games and shout from a distance, "hey lets hang out after the game today", realistically that won't happen because we have do not real connection in our lives.
Jesus is the hero of all time, He is the one we can connect with on a daily basis. He knows the deepest thoughts in our hearts. He is the one who paid the ultimate price for our redemption and salvation. He promises to keep us safe and care for us, he won't be defeated and he has defeated our enemy. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His oversight for our soul is eternal.
Greg Ferguson wrote: ¡°Be careful who you choose as your hero... be it Clay Aiken or Barack Obama. You put all you're hope and all your dreams and all your ideas about stuff into one human being. They're a human being; they're going to let you down."
Jesus is the only character who has the nature of a realistic hero who will never let us down, He will meet all our expectations. Let us pray.
