Jesus is our Superhero

Introduction

Hello and welcome. My name is Joe Stucke. I volunteered to give a message to you today and this is a big step for me. I am not someone with a seminary degree or even skilled at public speaking. I want to thank God for giving me this opportunity to talk with you today and I want to thank you for listening and being patient with me as I present the message God has put on my heart for you.

Question: How does a BBQ event like this come together?

How does a BBQ event like this come together? To answer that question, I would first like to talk about superheroes!

Superheroes

Superheroes are very popular today in comics, movies and video games. They are characters with extraordinary powers that perform heroic actions. They usually have a strong moral conviction, great courage and a mission to serve others. But there is also another thing you might not know about Superheroes. Most of their moral qualities are modeled after Jesus and are referred to as "Christ Figures". Could Jesus be considered a Superhero?

Is Jesus a Superhero?

Saves Us from Evil

Normally a superhero does things we can’t do. They use their powers to battle evil forces that we would be powerless to overcome on our own. Jesus was also known to have powers. He performed many miracles and healed many people, but He was more concerned about something else. There was a paralyzed man that was brought to Jesus to be healed and Jesus said “your sins are forgiven”. Why did Jesus care more about forgiving his sins instead of his paralysis? His main mission was not about saving people from their hardships in life but about rescuing them from the things with eternal consequences. Jesus came to defeat sin, death and the Devil and it all starts with sin.

Does God Even Exist?

But in order to understand what sin is, we first have to answer if God exists. That might seem like a daunting task and I was only given 20 minutes for this entire message, but I will try to do my best. We know God exists because... the Universe exists. Simple right? But let me explain. Everything that begins to exist has a cause. Scientists have discovered that our Universe is expanding and came into existence from a single point in space. So, what was the cause? If we look into what possibly could have created all space, time, matter and energy we find that the cause must be spaceless, timeless, immaterial, powerful and intelligent. What do we read about God in the Bible? He is spirit, invisible, the beginning and the end, all-powerful and all-knowing. God is the only logical cause for our entire Universe.

The Bible puts it this way. His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ... in the things that have been made. So we are without excuse. Scientists can devote their entire lives to the study of one tiny aspect of God’s creation and they still don’t understand it all.

Well, I’ve heard scientists say that the Universe came from nothing.

OK, let’s assume the Universe did come from nothing. If we came from nothing, then we must be nothing. Do we really believe that?

The truth is we don’t want to believe that God exists because if He does, then that means we are accountable for the way we live and the choices we make. That is where sin comes in. But let’s start at the beginning.

What is Sin?

God created everything. He created the earth and filled it with all the plants and animals. Then God created Adam and Eve. They were God’s special creation made in His own image. God loved them. He created a garden for them, blessed them and gave them dominion over the earth. Adam and Eve were told they could eat fruit from any tree in the garden except from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Unfortunately after being tempted by the Devil to eat the forbidden fruit and not trust God’s words, Adam and Eve ate the fruit and disobeyed God. God banished them from the garden, the earth was cursed, sin and death entered the world and the relationship with God, our creator, was broken.

Because of Adam’s sin, we are all born into a broken world with a sinful nature. Sin is our rebellion against God. We rebel against God’s design of sexuality, gender, relationships and marriage. We rebel against God’s commandments by lying, stealing, dishonoring our parents, murdering someone, hatred towards others or committing adultery. We choose not to Love God or Love others. Every time we disobey God, we accumulate a debt from our sin. The punishment for that debt is eternal separation from God, otherwise known as Hell.

Good Person vs Justice

Um, I consider myself a good person. I'm not perfect or anything but I'm sure the good things I have done outweigh the bad right?

Well, say you get a speeding ticket and have to appear before the judge. You might say judge look I admit I was speeding but I hardly ever speed. The judge is going to look at you and say you were still speeding, now pay the fine. The good things we do, like not speeding most of the time, don’t erase the debt we owe from breaking God’s laws.

Punishment vs Authority

OK, so God has to punish us for the laws we have broken, but why is the punishment so extreme? If God was just, then the punishment should fit the crime right?

OK, There are 2 things to consider when sentencing someone for a crime. One is the offence itself and the 2nd is who the offence was against. Let's say you lie to someone you know. You might have damaged a relationship and they would not trust you for a while. Let's say you tell a lie to a police officer in an investigation. There might be a fine of $1000 and jail time for 6 months . Let's say that you lie in front of Congress under oath. 5-7 years in jail. Same sin, but different consequences. The difference is the authority of the person that you committed the offense against. When we sin against a Holy and Eternal God, those consequences have to be eternal to fit the crime.

Evil vs All-Powerful, All-Good God

Hold on. All this talk about God and Sin and Evil. Why does Evil exist at all? If God is All-Powerful and All-Good then He should have the ability to eliminate all evil right? If evil still exists then He might be an All-Good God but lacks the power to eliminate it completely. Or maybe God is All-Powerful, but He certainly is not All-Good allowing evil to continue.

The truth is God IS All-Good AND All-Powerful and He WILL eradicate all evil from this world. The reason He doesn't yet is because He would have to bring down His judgement on you and on me. God is holding back His wrath because He loves us and does not want any of us to perish.

Wait, evil still exists because of Love? Is Love really worth all the pain and suffering in the world right now?

It must be.

Sacrifice

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus gave us a way to cancel our sin debt to God. He lived a perfect life and died, nailed to a cross as payment for our sins. Three days later, He rose again, defeating death. This is the good news of gospel. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can confess our sins to God and He will be faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We then become new creations. The past is finished and gone. Everything becomes fresh and new. We receive His righteousness for our unrighteousness. Our relationship with God is reconciled. We are adopted into God’s family as His children and as Christians we all become brothers and sisters in Christ. When we die, we will be with God in Heaven for all eternity where there are no more tears, pain or suffering. God’s love for us is overwhelming.

Why? Why does God love us? What have we done to deserve His love?

As we search for answers, nothing but our sin comes into focus: pride, anger, theft, lust, drunkenness , dishonesty, disrespect...

We are unworthy!

But salvation is not earned. It is a free gift from God. We just need to accept it.

Jesus is our Superhero!

Jesus is our superhero!

Answer: Jesus

Now, back to my original question. How does a BBQ event like this come together? Similar to the Avengers, as we strive to follow Jesus, we hear Him say Christians Assemble! Using our different gifts from the Holy Spirit we unite as one Body of Christ and come together to serve you today. This BBQ event required Planning, Money, Designing and Distribution of Flyers, Shopping, Gathering and Sorting of Clothing Donations, Baking, Grilling, Setting Up Equipment, Tables and Chairs and then we need to Clean Up when the event is over. But we don’t do this to try to earn our way to Heaven or to receive anything special from God. We do it in response to the love that God showed us through His son Jesus.

Jesus is the way and the truth and the life

Now, let’s be honest, your stomachs are probably wondering when I am going to stop talking so they can begin digesting this delicious food we have prepared for you today. My response to that is yes, we will absolutely serve you in just a bit. But I want to bring up some final thoughts about what you heard here today and end my message with a song.

Maybe some of you here are struggling with an addiction to alcohol, drugs or porn. Maybe you have lost your sense of direction in life. If you think you have lost your way, then I want you to know, Jesus is the Way.

Maybe you are confused about what to believe. You might think Well, that is what you believe but that is not what I believe. The truth is, it is not about what I believe or you believe. The question we need to be asking is… is it true? Is it true that God really exists? Is it true that we are all sinners and in need of a savior? Jesus is the answer to that Truth.

Maybe you are in a dark place right now. Suffering with depression or even feel like you want to end your life. I want to give you some Hope right now. Please, don’t throw your life away. Give it up to Jesus because He is the Life.

Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

And what will happen? What will happen if we call out to Jesus, confess our sins and then commit our life to following Him?

Let’s listen to His response.

Play “When God Ran” by Shaded Red