JESUS CHRIST: THE REAL SUPERMAN!
TEXT: Philippians 2:5-11
INTRODUCTION:
Those in my age range might remember these words: “Look! Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!”
“Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.” That’s from the Adventures of Superman TV series, which ran from 1952 to 1958.
I didn’t know it until I started researching for this message, but there is a book called “The Gospel According to the World’s Greatest Super Hero,” by Stephen Skelton. The writer says the Superman storytellers confirm they modeled Superman on Christ. Superman and his father share the name “El” (Hebrew for “God”). Superman’s name was Kal-El, and his father was Jor-El. His earthly parents were originally named “Mary” and “Joseph.”
There is a review of Skelton’s book on the CBN.com website. The reviewer “…discusses the meaning found within Superman’s costume. One particular symbol that is interesting to Skelton is the triangular shield, which holds Superman’s S-shaped family crest. Historically, a triangle symbolizes the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The triangle used on Superman’s costume points down, signifying God’s relationship with man and the gift of His only Son to mankind.”
In the first Superman movie, Superman’s real father, played by Marlon Brando, says, “'Because of [the people of Earth's] capacity for good, I have sent them you ...my only son'," Just as Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins, defeated the devil, and was resurrected from the dead by God; in 1993, Superman died fighting the Doomsday while saving mankind from the creature's path of destruction, and later, Superman was resurrected by his father, Jor-El.
Another website, fevr.net, makes these comparisons: From above, Father Jor-El sends his son Kal-el as a baby to Earth. Like God, the Father sent His Son Jesus to this world. Similar to Christ’s first coming, Kal-el was sent in a star-like spaceship, which was heralded by a star. When he came, he was raised by two earthly parents who were originally named Joseph and Mary (later Jonathan and Martha).
When Kal-el/Superman comes of age, he visits the Arctic wilderness to speak with his father’s spirit, like Jesus’ visit to the wilderness to commune with His Heavenly Father. Thereafter, Kal-el (his earthly name is Clark) embraces his mission as Superman to fight for truth and justice. Similar to Jesus’ mission. Superman’s mortal enemy is Lex, who envies His power. Like Satan, who wanted to be like God. Superman came back to life after being put to death as per a 1992 comic book called The Death of Superman, just as Jesus rose from the dead.
All this may be interesting, but what’s sad is that many fans of the comic book hero Superman don’t know about the REAL superhero, Jesus Christ. Superman is an imaginary character in comics, TV, and movies. Jesus Christ is REAL. He is alive and well and overseeing the universe that He created.
I. Not only is Jesus faster than a speeding bullet, but He can materialize and dematerialize at will.
A. One minute, He’s at an inn along the Road to Emmaus, then disappears before the eyes of his dinner companions and rematerializes among His disciples in Jerusalem.
B. They were terrified because they thought they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said, “Why are you so frightened? Why do you doubt? Look at my hands and my feet and see who I am! Touch me and find out for yourselves. Ghosts don't have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” After Jesus said this, he showed them His hands and his feet (Luke 24:27-40).
C. In His resurrection Body, Jesus could go effortlessly wherever He desired to go, at the speed of thought! That’s much faster than a speeding bullet!
D. In Romans 8:11, the Apostle Paul wrote: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” What does this mean?
E. This means the Christian’s glorified bodies will also have this property. When we are given our glorified body, we will be faster than a speeding bullet!
II. Not only is Jesus more powerful than a locomotive, but He has ALL POWER in heaven and on earth.
A. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and said, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).
B. King Nebuchadnezzar of old thought himself to be a superman. He was walking around his palace one night and said to himself, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?
C. To show him who had the real power, Jesus, who is one with the Father, made him like an animal to eat grass like an ox. When God restored his mind to him, he “…praised and honored Him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation:
D. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, ‘What are You doing?’” (Dan. 4:34-35).
E. In Hebrews 1:3, we’re told that Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory, the express image of His person, and is upholding all things by the word of His POWER!
F. Paul wants to know “the power” of Christ’s resurrection (Php. 3:10). He calls the Gospel, “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16). I Peter 1:5 says that we are “…kept by the power of God through faith for salvation.”
G. A locomotive can’t raise the dead, but Jesus can. The Bible says of Him, “In Him was life, and the life was light of men (John 1:4). He said He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). He raised three people from the dead: Lazarus, the son of the widow and Nain, and the daughter of Jairus.
H. He said no one could take His life from Him. He said, “I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:18).
III. Not only can Jesus change the course of mighty rivers, but He also parted the Red Sea and the Jordan River
A. Many people separate the God of the OT from Jesus. With them, there is no separation. Jesus is the central subject of all of Scripture. In the OT, God is called the “Rock of salvation” in Exodus and Numbers, and the Bible describes Moses striking the Rock and bringing forth water for the thirsty Israelites.
B. King David said God was his Rock and salvation; his fortress, and his salvation; his mighty rock and refuge (Psalm 62:6-7).
C. In the NT, Paul explains that God, the Rock in the OT, is Jesus. The Rock that accompanied the wandering Israelites became physical in the person of Christ.
D. He wrote, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (I Cor. 10:1-4).
E. What’s my point: When the Israelites were trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea, God, i.e., Jesus, told Moses to raise his rod and part the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk over on dry ground.
F. Then Jesus formed a pillar of cloud behind them to block Pharaoh’s army from being able to get to them and gave them time to cross the sea. The pillar also gave light to the Israelites all night and enveloped the Egyptian Army in darkness.
G. As to changing the course of mighty rivers, the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan’” (Joshua 3:7-8).
H. Jesus didn’t just change the course of the Jordan River, he caused it to stop running and the water to “stand up in a heap.” The Bible says, “As those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away…and the people crossed over…on dry ground…” (Josh. 3:13; 15-16).
IV. Jesus can not only bend steel in His bare hands, but He can also change water molecules to wine molecules.
A. There is a documentary on Tubi called “Bending Steel,” where a strong man named Chris Shoeck demonstrates his ability to bend steel in various forms. Many of the old-time strong men could bend steel bars, rip apart phone books, bend coins and horseshoes, break chains, tear decks of cards, bend license plates, and do other feats of strength.
B. But Jesus could do much more than that. At the wedding in Cana, the party ran out of wine. Jesus told the servants to fill up six waterpots that held 20-30 gallons of water. That’s up to 180 gallons of liquid! When they went to draw it out, it had become wine.
C. Water consists of one oxygen atom bonded to two different hydrogen atoms. According to Wikipedia and other sources, Wine is a complex mixture of chemical compounds in a hydro-alcoholic solution, consisting of hundreds, if not thousands, of different molecules, based on what grapes and other fruit are used.
D. To illustrate the difference between what it takes to bend steel and change water to wine I found an article called “The Science of Jesus’ Miracle” by Dr. Cliff Lewis. It’s mind-blowing.
E. He wrote: “At a molecular level, the water, basically hydrogen and oxygen, was changed into wine that contains sugars, yeast, and water, which contain carbon and nitrogen along with oxygen and hydrogen. Thus, by changing water into wine, Jesus demonstrated His authority over even the atomic structure of atoms by commanding oxygen and hydrogen atoms to disassemble and reform into other atoms of different configurations.”
F. He goes on: “The amount of energy it would take to perform this atomic deconstruction and reconstruction is staggering. This intermolecular energy being released is the source of the explosive energy from an atomic bomb.”
G. Dr. Lewis continues: “However, since Jesus caused the wine atoms to come back together, He would have to put this astronomical amount of energy into the atoms to have them reconstruct. To do so without any visible energy transformation of the liquid (John does not say anything about people noticing the transformation) indicates a mastery of natural law far beyond our current comprehension. And he accomplished it with no physical exertion.”
H. He closes by saying, “With this single act, Jesus proves that the basic forces in nature are at his command and control. Certainly, one who controls the basic forces in nature controls all of nature, thus, Jesus truly revealed his complete control of the physical universe through this act.”
I. WOW is all I can say.
Closing:
Friends, Superman is a made-up, imaginary comic book character, but Jesus is REAL! He is the REAL SUPERMAN and more than Superman. He is the one without whom “…nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). We are told that “…by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things are held together” (Col. 1:16-17).
The Bible tells us that there is “…one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (I Cor. 8:6). In Hebrews 1:2-3 we are told that it was through Jesus that the worlds were made, that He is the brightness of God’s glory, the express image of God’s person, and is upholding all things by the word of His power.
Jesus, the REAL SUPERMAN, gave sight to the blind, caused the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, cleansed the leper, made the lame to walk, raised the dead, suspended the effect of gravity on Himself by walking on water, and floated up into the air until a cloud received Him out of the sight of His disciples as He returned to heaven. Twice, He caused bread and fish to instantly appear out of thin air to feed a multitude. He is the REAL SUPERMAN, the one who fights for truth and justice, because HE IS THE TRUTH and the WAY, and is perfectly just.
And He has the greatest super-power of all: He is able to take people with hearts that care not for Him and give them hearts that love and follow Him, and give them eternal life!
Why won’t you follow Him in faith? Call upon the real Superman and ask for His mercy. He will save you today. Amen.
