Editor’s Note: Today we’re blessed to have my youngest son Timothy (21 years old) as our guest blogger for “Family & Friends Friday.” Timothy is in the second semester of his junior year at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where he is pursuing a business degree with an emphasis in marketing. Timothy also plays for the Union Jaxx (the Ultimate Frisbee team for Union University), serves as a Resident Assistant, a tour guide, and plays on a worship band.
We thank the Lord for saving Timothy and for blessing him with good health, spiritual gifts, and natural abilities. The name Timothy means “honoring God,” and we pray that this will always be the theme of our son’s life.
Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve loved superheroes. The movies, the books, the action figures. — I even had a costume of my favorite superhero: Spider-Man. Almost embarrassingly, my family still calls me “Spidey” from time to time. There is something so awe-inspiring to see your favorite hero empowered to overcome seemingly insurmountable evil to save the day, rescue the city, get the girl, etc.
But what is just so cool about these movies? Some of the first superhero comics came out over 80 years ago, yet movies like The Avengers series are still shattering box office records? We know the good guys win, yet we still wait in line and watch from the edge of our seat, with bated breath, to watch them triumph.
I believe that this stems from every human’s innate need for redemption. Scripture tells us, that humans are born into this world imperfect. Ever since the fall of mankind in Genesis 3, we see that humans are born sinful, incapable of doing good. We need saving, but lack the means to rescue ourselves. Just like a powerful and ruthless villain seeks to harm all that the hero holds dear, we see that sin has infected our lives, damning our eternal state. Romans 3 tells us that there is “no one righteous, no not one,” and that “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If our own good deeds were all that we had to combat our constant sinful state, it would make for a pretty miserable movie — we can’t win! Ephesians 2 says we are “dead in our trespasses and sins.”
However, the credits haven’t rolled yet!
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6),
Just like a radioactive spider bite or a secret serum can transform a weakling into a wonder, so depraved humans like you and me can be sanctified and empowered through the renewing blood of Christ who died as our sin-bearing substitute on the cross.
When humans, Christian or not, watch a superhero movie or rescue story, it ignites something inside us. This is a small taste of the redemption Christ has provided for each soul He has called. Humans were created by God to glorify Him by enjoying Him for all eternity. Even though sin has left a gap in that relationship, God desires to restore it by rescuing us.
May we, as Hebrews 12:2 instructs us, be “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The Greek word translated “founder” in this verse is archēgon (ἀρχηγὸν). It can also be translated as “pioneer, leader, victor, or champion.” May we look to Jesus, the champion of our faith, the victor of our faith, and what His work on the cross accomplished for us: the ultimate rescue … eternal salvation!
So, next time you sit down to watch a Marvel movie, let us first “marvel” at the greatest victory ever won, when Jesus Christ defeated sin at the cross and paved our path to eternal glory. Let us praise Him as the true Hero of our salvation!