Wonder Woman

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

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Introduction

For those of you that saw the movie, bear with me a minute so I can catch the folks up that may have not had a chance to see it understand what is going on. First let’s talk about Amazons for a moment. Wonder Woman or Diana is an Amazon the offspring of Zeus and the Queen Hippolyte of the Amazons. The Amazons originate in Greek mythology. The were a civilization of women warriors. It is said that they did mate with men for procreation and sent the male babies to be with their fathers. there are many stories of battles with the Amazons. Hercules, Theseus, to name a couple. Much ancient art depicts warfare between the Greeks and the Amazons.

The story of Diana daughter of Hippolyte, Wonder Woman, differs here. it is told in the beginning of the movie. She was the daughter of the Queen Hippolyte and raised on an island that Zeus hid called Themyscira. Zeus had created the Amazons to protect human kind. Ares, the son of Zeus and the God of war became jealous of humankind and started to destroy it. The other gods tried to stop him, but he killed all of them except Zeus. (It is important to note here, that only a god can kill a god.) Zeus badly wounded Ares and he retreated. Zeus however was spent and used the last of his powers to create the hidden island and to gift them with a “godkiller” to finally defeat Ares. Diana is that godkiller. She can do this because she is half divine being the daughter of Zeus. This is hidden from her until the end of the movie.

Background

Now, here’s the foundation for this sermon. Diana comes out during WW 1 to save human kind. She falls in with an American pilot and spy named Steve. Ares is behind the war and is giving to german a general and his past lover scientist a way to destroy mankind through poison gas. At the end of the movie Ares appears and engages Diana in battle trying to convince her to come to his side and help destroy mankind. During this fight Steve hijacks a huge german bomber loaded with hundreds of poison gas bombs. He blows up the plane and sacrifices his life to save humankind. When Diana sees this, it changes her mind about human kind and uses Ares hate to destroy him. In what we are about to watch Steve has already died in his self sacrificial act of salvation of humankind. She is about to kill the scientist that developed the gas. Let’s watch.

with an American pilot and spy named Steve. Ares is behind the war and is giving to german a general and his past lover scientist a way to destroy mankind through poison gas. At the end of the movie Ares appears and engages Diana in battle trying to convince her to come to his side and help destroy mankind. During this fight Steve hijack a huge german bomber loaded with hundreds of poison gas bombs. He lows up the plan and sacrifices his life to save humankind. When Diana sees this, it changes her mind about human kind and uses Ares hate to destroy him. In what we are about to watch Steve has already died in his self sacrificial act of salvation of humankind. She is about to kill the scientist you developed the gas. Let’s watch.

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Exegesis

Wow! There are a number of theological overtones here. One is, the world needs salvation. You and I need salvation. And we will try lots of things to find that salvation won’t we? John is writing to a group of churches in which another group is teaching a false gospel. These churches have split and John is writing them about what the gospel truly is. And the gospel is God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. It seems that the false teachers were teaching that Jesus was not truly divine.

John uses the word love 18 different times total and 9 times in these few versus. Think he’s trying to make a point? The word for love here is agape, meaning self sacrificial love. A love that is a verb not a noun. Steve was practicing agape. Diana was practicing agape, she was certainly willing to give her life to defeat Ares.

John was saying here that the false teachers could not know Jesus as love since they did not believe he was divine and the only way to truly love is to let God’s divine love floe though us!

The ultimate revelation of God’s love is given in verses 9 & 10. I like the way the Message puts it:

1 John 4:9–10 The Message

This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

John tells us that salvation begins with God and that it was God’s love that placed Jesus on that cross! This is a much different picture of a wrathful God putting Jesus on the cross out of anger! The crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was out of love to “clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. We receive what we don;t deserve because of God’s love for us. Diana tells Ares this “it’s not about deserve, it’ about what you believe in and I believe in Love.” Terry’s self sacrificial death has changed Diana’s worldview! It was a transformative event for her when she saw that power. And it was that power that absorbed the power of hate and destroyed evil. Of course this is fiction and evil isn’t destroyed forever. Yet, this is exactly what God promises us. A world without end where evil is gone for good and we live with him like he always intended! Evil tries to destroy love, but love is infinitely more powerful.

Application

All of us are looking for salvation but we’re so much looking for love in all the wrong places. Remember that old song from Urban Cowboy?

I was alone then, no love in sight I did everything I could to get me through the night I don't know where it started or where it might end I turned to a stranger just like a friend

We turn to all kind of strangers don’t we? Drugs, sex, money, pornography, food, bad relationships, jobs. We will use anything to stop the pain of knowing deep down in side we are all in search of a savior. In fact we are all afraid. We are scared of not finding the savior we need. But here again is the lovelessness of fear, John talks about the fearlessness of love. Diana and Terry were both fearless in their love. God was fearless in His love by giving his one and only son so that we may have life through him!

We turn to all kind of strangers don’t we? Drugs, sex, money, pornography, food, bad relationships, jobs. We will use anything to stop the pain of knowing deep down in side we are all in search of a savior. In fact we are all afraid. We are scared of not finding the savior we need. But here agains the lovelessness of fear, John sets the fearlessness of love. Diana and Terry were both fearless in their love. God was fearless in His love by giving his one and only son so that we may have life through him!

I want to draw your attention to the firs word in verse 7. Beloved. I want you to hear that word Beloved. God is calling us beloved, o yeah its John, but this writing is inspired. You are beloved. God loves you more than you can know and more than you can understand.

Amazing love how can this be, that you my King would die for me. Chris Tomlin

John 15:13 NRSV

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

This is the love that changed Diana and it is the love that changes us. Beloved, as believers it is only us that knows the full extent of God’s love for us, therefore we should love others letting God’s love flow through us!

We are so in need of a savior. Our world is a broken community. Evil wants to separate and divide us. We have become the most uncivil culture ever. John’s community was a community is need of reconciliation, with each other and the false teachers. Diana didn’t kill the mad scientist that had developed the gas she forgave her and went right after the evil she had been seduced by.

The need for loving reconciliation is need today more than ever. Diana was transformed by love, and we are too. We can overcome our sharply divided culture. We can do this by sharing that divine love from the Jesus that is in us and it will kill the other “gods.” I mean this things from which we seek a false salvation.

You see out love is mo much more important for the hear and now than the hereafter. Transformation occurs here on earth not after death. Since God loved us we ought to love one another.

"The nobler, biblical way is to magnify the love of God by seeing at what tremendous cost the atonement was made, and therefore of what amazing length, devotion and scope this love is capable. It also underlines the fact that only those who have been ransomed by that love know its full extent."

Beloved! You are loved! The Greek word means you are prized and valued!

Let me leave you with quotes from two great theologians. The first, Wonder Woman. a quote that you already heard:

“It’s not about deserve. it’s about what you believe and I believe in love.”

And the second from another great theologian Johnny Lee.

Lookin' for love in all the wrong places Lookin' for love in too many faces Searchin' their eyes Lookin' for traces of what I'm dreaming of Now that I found a friend and lover God bless the day I discover You, oh you, lookin' for love

Beloved, it is not about what we deserve, its God bless that day when I discovered God’s love for me in Jesus Christ. Now that’s love in all the right places.

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