Gospel Talk: Larger Than Life Superheroes

Room65 – Larger Than Life SUPERHEROES

David J. Nixon (August 2010)

the gospel is greatest RESCUE and action story in history - most heroes always appear as larger than life to save the day; Jesus is God INCARNATE come down into human flesh in weakness to save us (AND far from being fiction it is fact!)

Creation:
Superheroes: we see them in films, books and comics.
• Whether it’s Batman saving Gotham City from the Joker;
• Superman saving the world from the schemes of Lex Luther;
• the list goes on and on: Iron Man, The Terminator.

Usually they are super-human with incredible strength, endurance and even indestructible. They almost always save the world through some daring rescue – sometimes as the climax of the story by giving their own life

Their enemies and dangers to the world come in all shapes and sizes: maybe it’s an asteroid, a rogue nuclear state, terrorists, or just a twisted evil genius.

It makes for a thrilling fictional tale.

However, the Bible tells us the real life story about a divine rescue operation, where God has to save mankind from its greatest danger: itself, and from its greatest universal enemy: death. These two are connected (by sin!) Sin is the word used to describe the self-inflicted injury on mankind’s relationship with God – instead of living our lives loving, honouring and obeying God, each of us have rebelled against Him by ignoring Him and His rules in the world He created. God just, and He must have justice for the crimes and rebellion that we have waged against Him both consciously and unconsciously. But God is also loving and so He did not just leave us to perish and be judged, instead He embarked on the most amazing rescue story for you and me.

Christ:
Maybe you’ve heard of Jesus…he’s a bit of an unsuspecting hero. Here was a Middle Eastern carpenter who came from a small town with a bad reputation, who had lost his father at an early age so had to care for and provide for his family. If you looked at Him, His appearance would not impress you!

Yet this was a young man who had the most spectacular beginnings. His conception was announced time to his surprised virgin mother, his birth announced around the countryside by angels, whose entire life biography had been written hundreds of years before he had even been born. His life was just as amazing as He performed incredible miracles, and taught people like no one else ever had done or has since. He also made an astounding claim: to be God’s son come down to earth on the greatest rescue mission in human history.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16 -17).

Jesus was special because He was the God Man (Emmanuel – God with us)
 not God over us (as a fearful angry judge)
 not God under us (as someone we can treat with contempt and walk all over thinking He will let us off)
 God WITH us (to show us His majesty, power and His love while experiencing the trials and troubles of this life alongside us!)

Unlike superheroes He didn’t have incredible strength or indestructibility (and that’s what makes Him special because He has suffered in everyway the same way we do) => that is what is absolutely remarkable, that God who needs nothing from anything else, who is all powerful, all knowing…He became a baby, He felt pain, and hunger, and cold. He suffered and experienced everything that you and have and ever could experience. He even experienced death.

Coming into this world as a human in terrible humility and weakness, Jesus showed us God’s INCREDIBLE LOVE for people who are rebels against Him, who deserve nothing but judgement and death, but in His love He came to RESCUE us. *Usually heroes rescue good people, but Jesus came to rescue people who were not good, we are sinners. That makes this rescue mission incredible!

He took on mankind’s greatest enemy who is an enemy to each and everyone of us: death. By dying on the Cross He took our punishment we deserve for our sin, so we would be rescued from the judgement to come. Jesus is also the true basis for all these other copycat superheroes who give up their lives to save the world. But Jesus’ true victory was in that the grave could not hold Him and instead He rose again to life. Now all of us who trust in Jesus, who are forgiven of our sinful rebellion against Him also receive His victory over death and so we will have eternal life for the grave will not have power over us either.

Call:
All the superheroes we watch, and read and enjoy, they are all FICTIONAL and larger than life. But Jesus is real and far from being larger than life, He was God come down into our lives to rescue us.

Jesus was not larger than life: Jesus is the way for us to have life.

So let’s look at that verse again: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” – you can be rescued. Will you believe and trust Jesus to save and rescue you from your sins?

If you want to read and learn more about His love and saving rescue then please take away this little booklet which will tell you more about it.