Over the years, every so often, I’ve been called Superman. While I admit that this is a big compliment that strokes my ego, I need to state it definitively: I’m no Superman. I strive to emulate his selfless character, but I’m just a normal guy. If there is anything virtuous, holy, or noble in me, it’s because of Jesus. It is His indwelling love, goodness, and kindness that shines through me. If I had to, I would give my life for this: God can come in and completely revolutionize a life, no matter what we have done. My life was forever changed as a boy, when I heard the good news of the gospel; God saved me, not only from what I was, but also from what I would have become.
You see, there was a historical figure named Jesus. He existed in the past just as George
Washington or Abraham Lincoln did. But
Jesus was unique in history. Jesus is
God in human flesh. Why would God choose
to “become flesh and dwell among us” (John 1:14)? Because the Bible says that “God is spirit”
(John 4:24); only a human body can die.
Elsewhere in the Bible it says “the wages of sin is death” (Romans
6:23); Jesus, as God in human flesh, could take the wages of sin upon
Himself. And that’s exactly what
happened; Jesus chose to die on a cross, to pay a debt He didn’t owe.
Back in 1995, there was a song recorded called “one of us” written by Eric Bazilian, with
this line in it: “What if God was one of us?”
It’s not a Christian song, but at one point there are these words: “If
God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see if seeing meant you would have to believe in
things like heaven, and in Jesus, and the saints and all the prophets?” Personally, I think many people don’t want to acknowledge the existence
of God, because to do so, would mean acknowledging their sin, and relinquishing
control of their life to Him. But Jesus
said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my
sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).
Baseball star Darryl Strawberry has quite the story. He candidly speaks of how success on the baseball
field wasn’t enough; he was a womanizer, cheater, alcoholic and a drug addict,
but God changed his life. In his book, “Turn your season around: How God transforms
your life”, he writes:
“I used to wonder why God didn’t reject me after I
repeatedly turned my back on him. Then I
learned that God loved you and me before we had the capacity to love him. He has always loved us, even while were still
sinners. Romans 5:8 states it best: “God
shows his love for us in that while were still sinners Christ died for
us.” I am overwhelmed by the reality
that God loved me at my worst, in my most rebellious state. In the midst of my deepest and darkest sin,
he continued to call me to himself – chasing me with his perfect love and not
judgement. Jesus longed to heal me, not
hurt me, and to deliver me, not punish me.”
On Friday this blog was practically ready to be submitted,
but then I heard the incredibly sad news about Kevin Conroy passing away. I decided to process the news before presenting this. It occurred to me, as I
grieve the loss of this gifted actor, how true the Bible is when it speaks of
life being “like a vapor that appears for a little while” (James 4:14). Life is so short. You blink your eyes a few times; all of the
sudden, you find yourself 41 years of age.
These days on Earth are numbered; it’s vital to make important
spiritual decisions like this now.
Let me conclude with an illustration. I love the old show “Power Rangers”, even all these years later. Once upon a time, there was once a wizard
named Zordon who battled the evil Rita Repulsa.
Zordon imprisoned her in a space dumpster, but Rita, in turn, banished
Zordon into a time warp. Zordon’s
contact with the world was via an energy tube, where only his head appeared. It was Zordon who assembled a team of
superheroes to fight Rita when she escaped the dumpster. For years, Zordon served as mentor and leader
to the Power Rangers.
In the finale of what was originally intended to be the
final season of the show: “Power Rangers:
in Space” (1998), the forces of evil are overpowering many pockets of the
universe. Zordon tells Andros – the Red
Ranger of that season – that he can stop it and save everyone (including his
own sister Karone, who was corrupted and known as the villain Astronema). How?
By shattering Zordon’s energy tube.
“Only the good energy from my tube can destroy the forces of evil,” he
explains. “But Zordon,” Andros says,
“What’s going to happen to you?” “I will
be gone, but my spirit will forever live in all that is good.”
Understandably, Andros is reluctant, but he finally complies.
Zordon sacrifices himself. As he does, a bright yellow light cascades
throughout the universe. Some simply turn
to sand, as the light washes over them.
But some are changed – such as villains from previous seasons like
Divatox, and even Rita Repulsa and Zedd (who are so overjoyed they dance). Of course, Astronema is also transformed back
to Karone. It’s a powerful, noble,
emotional, and heroic scene – one that ultimately points to Jesus’ sacrifice
for us.
Kevin
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