After writing what I did about the death of Superman
yesterday, some of you might be interested in reading this intriguing story in
its entirety. There were actually three comic books needed to
tell the full story “The Death of Superman” (the one I described yesterday); “A World Without Superman”; (this is where everyone grieves losing the hero); and
“The Return of Superman”.
Furthermore, if you are interested in seeing a condensed version of the whole story, I would point you to “Superman/Doomsday.” This is a movie that stars Adam Baldwin as Superman. With this version, we get a thumbnail sketch of the original story in movie form. I should warn you that although this is a cartoon, it has a PG-13 rating. I can’t resist tipping my hand and quoting Lex Luthor’s monologue at the very beginning of this movie. Lex is watching news clips of Superman saving the day, and he thinks these words:
Furthermore, if you are interested in seeing a condensed version of the whole story, I would point you to “Superman/Doomsday.” This is a movie that stars Adam Baldwin as Superman. With this version, we get a thumbnail sketch of the original story in movie form. I should warn you that although this is a cartoon, it has a PG-13 rating. I can’t resist tipping my hand and quoting Lex Luthor’s monologue at the very beginning of this movie. Lex is watching news clips of Superman saving the day, and he thinks these words:
“Just look at him.
So sleek, so powerful, so beautiful.
Like some great golden god made flesh.
Of course, any sensible god would demand absolute obedience in return
for his favor, but no, our Man of Steel protects us and keeps us, with no
strings attached. And the people, they
practically worship him anyway. Enjoy
your reign will you may, Superman. For
as surely as night follows day, there comes a time when even gods must die.”
His description of Superman further backs up the notion that the hero is a type
and a picture of Jesus.
It would be negligent of me to not mention one more thing before we move on to a new topic. As we’ve said, Superman’s death is a reminder of the death that Jesus endured for us on the cross. Many years ago, I had an interesting conversation with someone about the death of Jesus. This individual proposed that because of what Jesus did on the cross everyone is now a Christian whether they even desire to be one or not. This person was sadly mistaken. Let me explain why.
Suppose that you decide to get your best friend a gift. When the time is right, you present the beautifully wrapped package, but your friend doesn’t take it. Can you picture the scene; you keep saying, “I got you a gift” and your friend continually ignores it? That’s a ludicrous scene, isn’t it? You know that the only way a gift can be of any value is by accepting it and unwrapping it. In the same way, Jesus offers you the gift of salvation, the gift of reconciliation, the gift of forgiveness, but you have to take the gift for yourself for it to do any good. So the obvious question is this: have you taken the gift of salvation? If you haven’t, do it today!
Kevin Bauer
It would be negligent of me to not mention one more thing before we move on to a new topic. As we’ve said, Superman’s death is a reminder of the death that Jesus endured for us on the cross. Many years ago, I had an interesting conversation with someone about the death of Jesus. This individual proposed that because of what Jesus did on the cross everyone is now a Christian whether they even desire to be one or not. This person was sadly mistaken. Let me explain why.
Suppose that you decide to get your best friend a gift. When the time is right, you present the beautifully wrapped package, but your friend doesn’t take it. Can you picture the scene; you keep saying, “I got you a gift” and your friend continually ignores it? That’s a ludicrous scene, isn’t it? You know that the only way a gift can be of any value is by accepting it and unwrapping it. In the same way, Jesus offers you the gift of salvation, the gift of reconciliation, the gift of forgiveness, but you have to take the gift for yourself for it to do any good. So the obvious question is this: have you taken the gift of salvation? If you haven’t, do it today!
Kevin Bauer
(John 1:12)
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