Superhero:
Three Things Only Jesus Could Do
Week One
1 Corinthians 11:23-29
I am glad you are here this week because we are starting a new series called, Superhero: Three things only Jesus could do. I prayed a lot about what we needed to talk about as we lead up to Easter and I felt like God was telling me that we needed to discuss three important days in the week of Easter and how they proved that Jesus is a Superhero like none other.
Our society seems to be obsessed with superheroes. The Sipderman movies are among the top grossing films of all time. The Batman series is also very successful and the X-men series was such a hit that individual X-men characters are getting their own movies made. I personally am a bit stoked for the Wolverine movie.
But why do we get so much excitement out of watching these fictional heroes? I think it is because in everyone of us there is the need to be rescued. We want someone in the world who we know will always be able to fight for what is right and win. As I sit through superhero movies, I may not always know how they are going to prevail but I do know that they will.
When I was a kid there was a Saturday morning program called, the Shazam/Isis hour. It was a live action superhero show I would never miss. My hero became Captain Marvel. For those of you who don’t know Captain Marvel is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a youth who works as a radio news reporter and was chosen to be a champion of good by the wizard Shazam. Whenever Billy speaks the wizard’s name, he is instantly struck by a magic lightning bolt that transforms him into an adult superhero empowered with the abilities of six mythical figures.
S for the wisdom of Solomon As Captain Marvel, Billy has instant access to a vast amount of scholarly knowledge, including most known languages, sciences, and forms of magic. The wisdom of Solomon also provides him with counsel and advice in times of need. In early Captain Marvel stories, Solomon’s power also gave Marvel the ability to hypnotize people. (Note that Solomon is the only figure in the list not taken from Greco-Roman mythology.) H for the strength of Hercules* Hercules’ power gives Captain Marvel incredible amounts of super strength; he is able to easily bend steel, punch through walls, and lift massive objects. Marvel’s strength is on the same level as Superman. A for the stamina of Atlas Using Atlas’ endurance, Captain Marvel can withstand and survive most types of extreme physical assaults. Additionally, he does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe and can survive unaided in space when in Captain Marvel form. Z for the power of Zeus Zeus’ power, besides fueling the magic thunderbolt that transforms Captain Marvel, also enhances Marvel’s other physical and mental abilities, grants magic resistance against all magic spells and attacks. Marvel can use the lightning bolt as a weapon by dodging it and allowing it to strike an opponent or target. The magical lightning has many uses, including creating apparatus, restoring damage done to Marvel, or acting as fuel for magical spells. A for the courage of Achilles Like the wisdom, this aspect is primarily psychological, and gives Marvel superhuman amounts of inner strength on which to draw. M for the speed of Mercury By channeling Mercury’s speed, Captain Marvel can move at greater than supersonic speeds. This also enables him to fly.
I would run around my house yelling Shazam! Every chance I got. Not only did I wan to have a superhero in my life who could do anything, I wanted to BE that superhero. So yeah, basically I was a big loser but I really, really loved watching Captain Marvel.
No matter who your favorite super hero is I think that all superheroes have three things in common. I think that this video shows those three things.
The hero that stands above the rest is Jesus
You see all the superheroes can say, hey we match Jesus Christ! We have people who worship us! We have amazing abilities like no other but Jesus Christ is the one and only person in the history of the world who stands above all other heroes. He has no weakness. He is so much more than a superhero. And you know what the biggest thing that Jesus has over all these other guys is? HE IS REAL. I wan t you to write that in the margin of your worship guide right now. We love to read and watch things about superheroes but we all know in our minds that they are just made up, imaginary things. People who have been created to entertain us but Jesus Christ is real and he is living today. Over the next few weeks we are going to look into three things that Jesus did that no one else could do.
This week we are going to start to look at the first of those three things. One thing only Jesus could do is: Forgive Sin.
One thing that only Jesus could do is forgive sin
Superheroes can do a lot of things. Remember that long list from Captain Marvel? But one thing that only Jesus can do is come to our rescue by bridging the gap that separates us from God. He can forgive us of our sins. Let’s look into the Word of God and see what it has to say about Jesus doing this even while he was on earth:
Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ’Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ’Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men. Matthew 9:1-8
The religious leaders at the time were not willing to believe that Jesus could really forgive sins. They didn’t want to believe he was God in man form. Jesus knew their thoughts and confronted them. Can you imagine what that was like for them? Thinking and then boom --- he knows what it is and confronts me! WHOA!
Jesus said to them that he could do it because he had the authority to do so. My first job was working at the Fox Theater in the box office. I started there in December of my sophomore year of high school and worked there for ten years as I finished high school and a couple of college degrees. --- Authority.
So just like eventually, I had the authority to cancel debts, Jesus came to earth already having the authority to forgive sins. No one else could ever do that. He could because he was God and man all in one.
But forgiveness, although it is free, requires something of us. You see,
His forgiveness demands an action
Jesus offers this great thing that only he could do in forgiving sins but he says there is a part of this that is required fo us as well. Look with me back into God’s Word for a minute:
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD "— and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:4-5
Jesus wants to forgive you but he says there is a path to forgiveness. Tonight I want to help you see the steps that lead to acknowledging your sin and leading to forgiveness. First of all you need to
Follow the Word
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. Psalm 119:9
One of the reasons we are always urging you to be in God’s Word is because when you are reading it daily, you see that there re things that are right and wrong. God, through His word reminds us of Godly living and what that is. As you read more, and get to know Jesus better, you want to follow his word and do the right thing. You begin to have a deep need to live a life of purity. Following and studying God’s Word helps us to acknowledge our sin. We are able to see not only what our sin is by following the word of God but we see how to stay out of sin in the first place.
Sometimes the hardest part of acknowledging your sin is letting Jesus really into your life. Sure it is easy to go through the motions but when we are talking about something as important as acknowledging your sins so that Jesus can forgive you, you have to be ready to do whatever it takes. You have to
Open your heart
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. Psalm 119:10
Seeking God with all your heart isn’t easy. You know why? Because it means that you have to be constantly examining yourself. As we get closer and closer to Jesus we realize how unlike him we really are. When you are seeking forgiveness not only do you have to open up your heart to knowing him, you have to be ready to change things in you. DIET
The next thing you need to do comes from the week of Easter. I said these three messages would focus on a night in the week of the passion and the next point goes right to Thursday night of that week it is
Remember Christ’s sacrifice
On the Thursday night before the crucifixion, Jesus met in a room away from everyone. It was Passover, a great celebration for the Jewish people. Jerusalem was very busy and Jesus took his closest friends up to a room alone and had a meal. During the course of that meal he revealed that one friend would betray him and one friend would deny him. Let’s look at what the apostle Paul had to say about that night:
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 1 Corinthians 1:23-29
Then he made this wonderful symbol of what was to come by breaking bread and giving wine and saying that these elements represented his body and blood. He was showing them how his body was going to be broken for us and his blood was going to be poured out for us. Why? Because we sinned. Jesus came to die for us because we sin and God can’t be where sin is and so in order to ever let us be in God’s presence, Jesus had to come to die for us.
Once a month at this church we remember this event by taking the Lord’s Supper or communion. I like the word communion because I think it really says what we are supposed to be doing during that time. God wants us to go through the steps of forgiveness before we eat or drink on those days. He wants us to acknowledge and confess our sins because we are remembering that He died for us.
Every time we confess our sins we need to stop and remember what cost our forgiveness came at. Jesus died for us. As we follow God’s word and open our hearts we need to stop and remember that our sins cost Jesus his life. He loved us enough to give it up.
Once we have gone back to that night, Maundy Thursday and remembered Jesus’ sacrifice we still have some work to do. Next you must,
Go deep inside yourself
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:9
I don’t know about you but sometimes this is really hard for me. I do better sometimes at Christianity on the surface but I think we can get caught up in being Christian and not really look deep inside ourselves. We need to start to examine our open hearts and see what our motives are. We need to see what God still needs to do in our lives. We have to not only look at the “big sins” but start to look deep inside at who we are and what our hearts are like before God. When you do this it should make it easy to
Investigate your shortfalls
Once you have followed God’s Word, opened your heart to his will, remembered his sacrifice and you have gone deep inside yourself, you can finally get to a place where you see yourself for who you really are. You begin to see how you have missed the mark. Again, we are not only talking about big, apparent sins but also those things only you and got know. Your jealousy, your lust, your noncommitment to the things of God. The times you are betraying someone’s trust. The time you are watching things on tv or the internet that you know God wants to protect you from. When you have gone deep it allows you to shine a spotlight on your soul and investigate where you fall short. You have to have the courage to say to God what the passage in your worship guide proclaims:
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:10
Voice your confession
The next part is very action oriented. You have to voice your confession. Means turn around. Make a change. Not only say sorry. Say it loud. Forgiveness requires you to confess.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:10
Finally you get to
Enter God’s grace
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. Psalm 24:3-5
When you have Followed god’s Word, Opened your heart to his will, Remembered the sacrifice of Jesus, Gone deep inside yourself, Investigated your shortfalls and voiced your confession, you get to enter into this incredible place where you don’t get what you deserve. You get God’s forgiveness. You get to enter into his grace. Grace is that forgiveness we don’t ever deserve. You don’t get it because you go through these steps, they are the path to grace, but you get it simply because God loves you so much, he is willing to give you what you don’t even deserve.
Superheroes are great. I love to watch their movies and read their books but in the end the one true super hero is the one who can do something none of them ever could, forgive our sins. Have you sought that forgiveness?
Let’s pray.
