The Day Superman Died Series

When Jesus comes again, our baptism promises that we will rise from the dead.

We don’t have to fear the grave, it’s already been conquered.

I Corinthians 15:55-57 declares:

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (KJV)

ILLUS: Years ago a friend asked me to try something. He asked me to close my eyes and imagine that I was in an all-white room. Everything in the room was pure white – the sofas, chairs, tables, even the pictures on the wall.

After I’d close my eyes he asked me if I could imagine myself being in that room.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Now, tell me how being in that room would make you feel.”

“Is there a door?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I want to see what’s on the other side of the door.”

“That’s interesting,” he said. “Psychiatrists supposedly use that kind of imaging to discover how people visualize death. Most people who take part in that test say they are afraid.”

There’s a lot of truth to that.

Those who have no hope see death as a final waiting room from which there is no escape. And they’re afraid.

But for those of us who believe in Jesus, the cemetery is just a passageway to a better life and an eternity of joy. There’s a backdoor to the grave for us.

CLOSE: But there are some who believe they’d never be forgiven for the things they’ve done. They have trouble believing the promise of salvation from Jesus.

If that’s been true of you, let me tell this true story of a Tent Revival that was held years ago. A large crowd had gathered and the preacher was fiery and powerful in the pulpit.

Everyone agreed it was a great night of Revival.

Eventually everyone went home… except one woman who’d been sitting in the back. She made her way to the preacher and he could tell she’d been crying. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she told him that she wanted to become a Christian but she believed she’d sinned so much that God would NEVER forgive her.

The preacher had never encountered anything like this before, so he played for time. He asked her “do you know any Bible verses?”

She said “Yes, I remember one.” And she closed her eyes as she struggled to remember it.

“For God so loved the world that He gave us… His only FORGOTTEN son.’”

The preacher was shocked. That wasn’t how the verse went. John 3:16 said that God so loved us that He gave His only “begotten” son, not His only “forgotten” son. But somewhere along the line she’d scrambled the message in her mind.

But then, it suddenly occurred to the preacher that she hadn’t gotten that verse all that wrong. He smiled and asked her “Do you know what was done, when God forgot His son?”

“No,” she answered.

“He forgot Him… so He could remember you.”

INVITATION