Superheroes vs. Christians
Introduction:
Throughout the last century, superheroes have played a major part of our American culture. Comic books, cartoons & science fiction have all played a part of making superheroes a major icon in our society. We can look way back in our history to see that they have been looked up to for a very long time.
SUSAN WERBE of the History Channel: Comic Book superheroes are unique and a valuable part of American pop cultural history. There are themes that are explored in superhero comic books from Superman to the Sandman that are as rich and deep as the works of great literature. The perception has been that comic books are just kid stuff -- anyone who has studied or read comic books that feature superheroes knows this -- those who aren’t as familiar will enjoy a great revelation upon viewing them.
Here’s a list of some early ones not really well know any more that were originated close to the time of World War 2:
Tightrope 1936,rope wielding, acrobatic crimefighter
Crimestopper 1936, shadowy, gadget-equipped crimefighter
Swift Justice 1937,fast and skilled crimefighter
Captain Tomorrow 1938 used miniaturised electronic gadgets
Typhoon 1941,water bound super with air blasts
Doctor Arcane 1931,mysterious mage whose exploits are shrouded in mystery
The Masque 1939,masked sorceror who battled many occult menaces during the 1940’s and 50’s
Yet, today, there are a number of superheroes that have leapt from the comic pages right onto the silver screen. Give me some of these famous superheroes that you can think of:
See, even all of you are familiar with the names of many of these superheroes, whether you have watched them or your kids have watched them, their names do not escape you.
This morning, I want to look at what most would consider the top 3 popular superheroes of our day.
BATMAN-------------SPIDERMAN--------------SUPERMAN
Now I choose these 3, to represent all superheroes of all times.
We are going to take a look at what these 3 have in common with one another and then we are going to make some comparisons with Christians of all times.
First, these Superheroes have Secret Personalities or identities:
Can anyone tell what they are:
1. Batman = Bruce Wayne (billionaire)
2. Spiderman = Peter Parker (photographer)
3. Superman = Clark Kent (newspaper reporter)
Second, these superheroes have Special Powers:
1. Batman = Brains, gadgets, vehicles & training/Martial arts
2. Spiderman = spider senses, wall clinging, web shooting, acrobatic
3. Superman = flies, x-ray vision, super strength, heat vision, freezing breath, bullet proof
Thirdly, these superheroes have a Specific Purpose:
1. Fighting evil in the world
2. Helping those in need
3. Standing for Justice & Truth
These guys are the good guys. They stand up for what is right and put the bad guys away. This is why they have captured the hearts of so many in our society and why they fit into our culture. There seems to be so many bad things going on out there, we need to be reminded that there are good people out there trying to make a difference in the name of Good.
So what about Christians? How do they compare or contrast with these superheroes we have been looking at. Well, let’s look at the same three principles we used to examine the superheroes, but instead of trying to impress the pop culture, we will seek God’s Word for our guidance on these things.
Christians, also have Secret Personalities:
For instance, there are individuals, who come into a church and put on what I call, their “Sunday Game Face”. This like the superhero, is the mask of some Christians. They know how to where that face on Wednesdays and any other time that church people are gathering together.
Yet, when they leave the presence of other Christians, the mask comes off and the real personality or identity is revealed. When the mask comes off, there is a very real persona revealed. This personality has been hidden for so very long. Sometimes, not even family members are aware of it. Yet often times they are. Just like the superheroes, they live lives of mystery and are often secluded from others because of their secret. They find it hard to truly bond with others.
Also, these things often cause people to have a great deal of guilt and shame in their lives, because they know what the right thing to do is, and yet they can’t seem to stop. Well, they are not alone. This is something that is more and more of a reality all of the time. Even the apostle Paul spoke about this as he wrote to the Christians of Rome. Found in Romans chapter 7.
Ro 7:14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
Ro 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Ro 7:16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
Ro 7:17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Ro 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Ro 7:19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Ro 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Skip to verse 24
Ro 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Here we find Paul pointing out a couple of things for us.
He to knows how it feels to do things that you don’t really want to do. To be caught up in sinful behavior. He can sympathize and understand exactly what that feels like. He says, he knows what he wants to do and he knows what he hates to do and still he does that which he hates. This slavery to sin goes to the innermost part of his humanity. It numbs and blinds him, for he confesses that he does not know what he is doing.
It is based on the indwelling of sin. Paul is not attempting to escape responsibility, but is putting his finger on the real culprit--indwelling sin. The invader has managed to secure more than a foothold; he roams the place, considering it his home. In putting the matter like this, Paul has moved from a consideration of outward acts to an emphasis on the unwanted tenancy of sin. With this master in control, no matter how strongly he wants to do the good, he finds himself checkmated.
This drives him to a point of despair, and in deep desperation, he cries out, “What a wretched man I am?” Yet, in his anguish, he doesn’t ask what? can save him from all of this. He cries out, who? will rescue me from this body of death?
He knows that deliverance is found in Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus had remained sinless and overcame death & sin give Paul assurance that there is deliverance. The answer is Jesus.
Ro 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Ro 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Just like superheroes, Christians have a special power:
No, we can’t melt things with our eyes, although some I know have what is known as the “look that kills”. We can’t fly through the clouds without an airplane, we can’t shoot webs out of our wrists or leap from building to building. No, we have a different kind of power. A power that is not from ourselves.
(Skip to verse 5)
Ro 8:5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Ro 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
Ro 8:7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
Ro 8:8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
Ro 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Ro 8:10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Ro 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Ro 8:12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
Ro 8:13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
Ro 8:14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
I hope after reading through this passage you were able to identify the special power that we as Christians possess.
It is the power of the Holy Spirit living in you, if you are allowing Him to live in you. Through His power we may:
Have greater understanding of the Scriptures (weapon)
Prayer communication with our Commander
We learn from Peter in Acts 2:38, that we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit after we are immersed in the waters of baptism.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16, that God’s Spirit dwells in us, for we are God’s temple.
In 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Paul brings attention to the power of the Spirit of God, demonstrating that his preaching wasn’t filled with wise and persuasive words, but even so, the Spirit of God was able to use them to reach others that their faith might be placed in Jesus Christ.
à Also, as we have seen through this passage in Romans, by relying of the power of the Spirit of God and following His leading, we may have life. He has come to break the bonds of the sinful nature and be our deliverance. After allowing the Spirit to lead us, and we respond by faithfully following, we have found our place as the sons of God. His children.
Finally, just as superheroes have a Specific Purpose, so do Christians.
We take a stand against evil (not of our own power)
We help those in need
We stand for Justice & Truth
Yet, one final look at a passage here in Romans, demonstrates the Specific Purpose that Christians have.
Ro 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Ro 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Ro 8:20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
Ro 8:21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Ro 8:22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Ro 8:23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
It boils down to the fact that we do all that we do as a part of our final salvation. If we look at what we must endure day in and day out as far as fighting against evil, helping those in need and standing for justice & truth, we find that the daily grind is in no way worth comparing with the final glory.
Sure, each and everyday we are challenged with many things, but the life to come, the glory that we so long for, we desire, we eagerly anticipate with each passing moment, will be here before we know it and will hold for us riches and glories untold. There is no way to know exactly what it will be like, but we know it is for sure and that it far outweighs anything & everything good in this life. No longer will we be held to the bondage of decay here in this life, but the doors will be opened to a whole new life, which we who have accepted the free gift of God have already tasted.
In verse 23, Paul refers to the first fruits. The concept of "firstfruits" is prominent in the OT, where the Israelites were expected to bring the first ripened elements of grain, fruit, etc., to the Lord as an offering.
By doing so, the one bringing the offering acknowledged that all that he had was the provision of God and was really His. Also in the ritual was the assurance from God’s side that the general harvest to be enjoyed by the one bringing the offering would providentially follow.
Therefore, we should understand the gift of the Spirit to believers at the beginning of the Christian life as God’s pledge of the completion of the process of salvation, here stated as "adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." Future bodily resurrection of believers will be the full harvest of redemption.
Conclusion:
As Christians, we should daily be following the leading of the Holy Spirit of God. We should live our lives faithfully dedicated to Him. Yes, sometimes we are overwhelmed by sin, and wonder why we do the evil that we hate, and don’t do the good that we desire. We do this because the indwelling of the sinful nature is having too much control.
Take hold of the Spirit of Life, which delivers you from this bondage of sin, and leads you by power to overcome sin and be a faithful servant of God. In doing so, we can all wait with great anticipation of the finalizing of our adoption as children of God.
That doesn’t mean to sit around & do nothing, for we have a responsibility to fulfill. But as the end approaches we can stand with full knowledge & assurance:
Ro 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Ro 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Ro 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Ro 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
Ro 8:39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
