How cool are action heroes? Superhuman people doing amazing things like jumping out of speeding trains or flying planes, rescuing the poor damsel in distress. Without doubt, Predator is my favourite action movie starring the Govenator Arnie who heads up a team of Special Forces soldiers. They travel into the South American jungle in search of a missing platoon, only to find that they had been ripped to shreds by some unknown force, which you soon discover is an alien from another planet (A must if you have never seen the movie). Arnie defies the odds by using his intellect and physical strength to defeat the alien, which mind you is far superior in intellect and strength then he is. We leave the movie thinking “Is there anyone that can stop Arnie”?
What about our national sporting hero’s like Steve Waugh or Cathy Freeman or Michael Jordan? They have risen to a new level in our eyes by achieving great results in the midst of huge adversaries. Children and adults alike follow them like gods. We all have our heroes; people that we aspire to be like. Only yesterday, I noticed a sign on the side of a bus promoting the English Premier League, which read “Most religions have one god, we have many”.
Heroes Forever?
We all have our heroes, those people we look up to. But when it all comes down to it, they are regular people just like you and I. They eat, sleep, get tired, feel down and in need, and ultimately, will sadly die. They go through highs and lows, make huge mistakes like we do, and when their sporting or movie prowess comes to close, they basically fall off the map of fame. Our heroes in the end are just like you and I.
The Superhero
There is however, one hero who stands out above all others. A man who lived a perfect life, faced all the challenges that we face and now lives as king of the universe. He died a brutal death to rescue his people from eternal hell, the God-man Jesus. In my last two posts, we explored who Jesus was (see Who was Jesus Part 1 & Part 2) and there we established that he is the one and only living God, who came down from heaven as a man. He lived perfect life and yet died a rebel’s death.
Today I would like to examine the reason why Jesus stepped off his throne in heaven and came down to earth. Firstly, it is important to point out that we have all disobeyed God and live our own lives independent from him, this is called sin (see Christians Believe 2). Our purpose in life and biological design is to live in relationship with God and each other, yet as a result of sin, these relationships have been severed. We only need to look at the world around us and our lives to see evidence of this. God would be justified to leave us to suffer the consequences of our rebellion, but out of his great mercy and love, he decided to step into history in human form to pay the fine for our rebellion. Have you ever heard what it would be like to be crucified on a cross? Check out the movie below:
Blood, guts and core
Why did he do this?
As I explained earlier, we have all fallen out of relationship with God. God, because he loves us, set in motion a plan to fix the problem that we have created through our sin. This plan commenced in the Old Testament of the bible, by God making a contract with a group of people called Israel (Genesis 9:9). Through this contract God established the law by which these people were to live by and worship him (The 10 Commandments; Deuteronomy 17:19). If the people of Israel broke one these laws, they were to offer a sacrifice in their place to make atonement (pay the fine) for their sin. This was a practice established by God to demonstrate that justice must be made for those who break a perfect and holy God's laws.
If you take what the bible says literally concerning the state of humanity, then you will conclude that the human condition is marred by sin (John 8:34; Romans 3:11-12). Am I suggesting that we re-establish a sacrificial system as we have all broken God's laws? Absolutely not, as God, lovingly, has offered a complete and perfect sacrifice for us; this is the Good News- the Gospel. Jesus message brings Good News, which is that he (God in the flesh) has offered himself as the sacrifice for us. This good news, which may not sound like good news (a man being brutally murdered), is that we are forgiven through Jesus suffering and death on a cross and therefore offered freedom from this slavery to sin:
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)!
Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him share our sin in order that in union with him we might share the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus, a perfect man who never sinned, took all of our sin on himself and offered his body as a sacrifice. Think of all the actions and deeds that you have committed or that you should have done; Jesus accepts these things and dies for them, then he gives you his perfection. This is what the bible calls grace (Psalm 86:6; Zechariah 12:10; John 1:16-17; Romans 3:24- there are so many more references but I will cut it short for for sake of brevity). He now offers forgiveness to those who accept this free gift and cleansing from all their sin as he absorbed the wrath that God has towards your sin (Romans 1:17; John 3:14-16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3: 21-25).
Heroes are everywhere but there is one eternal hero and that is Jesus. He died a brutal death to die for those who were against him. So, what does Jesus death accomplish? His death offers accomplishes everything- for us freedom from ourselves and a new life driven by purpose with the God who created us. My prayer is that this will touch your heart and therefore I plead with you now to turn to Jesus now. It is written in the bible:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
Why not turn to Jesus with a simple prayer and confess to him that you have lived in opposition to him. Ask for forgiveness and he will forgive you (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9). Check out his bible and why not check out a church (see Christians Believe 5). Jesus loves you and he is waiting.
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