Do you remember the Super Heroes? Superman, Batman and Spiderman are our fictional comic book characters that came to save the day. What is a Superhero? According to wikipedia:
Super HeroA superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is "a fictional character of unprecedented powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest". Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes—ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas—have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other media. The word itself dates to at least 1917.
What makes a Superhero? The ability to do the supernatural.
Why do we long for a Superhero? To come and change things, to make things right, to give power to the powerless, to revert an injustice nad to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Are there any real Superheroes? No, not in the fictional comic book sense. But we have Someone far better: the Supreme Being of all the Universe. In fact He created all the complexities and harmonies of the universe out of nothing. Every particle of that universe is held together by Him. He is so powerful that when He speaks supernatural, incredible things happen. He supercedes the very nature He made: time is altered, the sick are healed, the hopeless are provided for, supernatural plagues, seas parted, enemies are defeated without effort, future foretold with mindboggling prophecies that came true, the blind see, the deaf hear, the deranged are made whole and the dead rise.
And in His greatest expression of power, He sent His Son born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, bore all sin of mankind, died willingly on a cross and then three days later was raised from the dead. Colossians 1:15-20 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Can a man be a Superhero? God is all powerful, all knowing, ever present and not limited by time. He has no peer and is beyond our comprehension. Yet, this Super Being has chosen to work through those whose hearts are fixed on bringing Him glory: 2 Chronicles 16:9"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." Recognize who we are not, in and of ourselves, powerful. He is God, we are not. We are very limited in what we can do in the context we find ourselves. At times we feel like we are in control, but soon find it an illusion.
To be a Christian is to believe in God through the work of His Son as revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. To be a Christian is to believe in the supernatural, because we believe in the One who supercedes nature. The Bible is full of persons that God worked through to acheive His purposes in supernatural ways:
- Enoch never tasted death, but was taken directly to Heaven
- Noah and his family was saved from the worldwide flood
- Abraham was given a son and the beginnings of a nation in his very old age
- Moses led the children Israel out of bondage in Egypt after it witnessed God's supernatural plagues
- The Children of Israel walked across the dry ground as God parted the Red Sea in front of them
- God did miraculous things through Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Daniel and Esther to name a few (Hebrews 11 gives a great list).
Ultimate Expression of a Superhero is Jesus Christ! Jesus' ministry was supernatural. Luke 4:17-19 "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Since Jesus was fully God and fully man, He showed the incredible power to hold in check his power to allow His eternal purpose of salvation for all mankind to happen. Philippians 2: 5-11 "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
And the the supernatural ministry of Jesus did not end when He ascended to Heaven, in fact it increased as the Holy Spirit enpowered believers to continue His mission. John 14:12 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
In 2004 a new kind of superhero movie was released. It was an instant hit and remains a classic. The Incredibles were the first Superheroes which highly valued family as a team. They discovered that being united in purpose was the most powerful way to live. But this is nothing new. God from page one of the Bible has used his first institution, the family, to carry out His purpose. Examples of Super Households of the Bible:
- Abraham: Genesis 18:19 "For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
- Joshua: Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
- The early church grew exponentionally in supernatural ways from household to household. We see the three households of Acts 16: Timothy (2 Tim. 1:5), Lydia and the Jailer. Their households were forever changed and became lighthouses to those around them.
Family FX definition of Superheroes: A household who radiates the power and glory of God.
Here are some of the ways God has worked supernaturally through our family:
- During my childhood and teenage years my guardian angel worked overtime. It is a testament to the power of God I'm still here.
- 1969: I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior
- 1979: Through God saving me in a car wreck, I surrender to the ministry
- 1980: God heals a young boy of Reyes Syndrome that we prayed for
- 1984: Jana miraculously marries me
- 1988: First of many God moments on mission trip when He immediately answered prayer for the rain to stop
- 1993: Samuel is miraculously born unharmed because notice something a little off in his heartbeat and the contractions
- 1997: Lindsey is born with no complications
- 1998: While on a family bike ride, God saves us from a pack of pit bull dogs1999: God answers Samuel's prayer for a camper that we could afford
- 2003: God provides a car we could pay cash for the day after our old car dies
- 2008: God orchestrating my call to Celebration
- 2008: Finding the right home at the right price just a mile and half from the church2009: 41 answers to our prayers concerning Jana's cancer
What supernatural stories do you have? God wants to express His Power through your household:
- Power to see salvation come
- Power to see marriages healed
- Power to see hearts changed
- Power to see healing and wholeness
- Power to see addiction broken
- Power to see the purposes of God carried out through the household
- Power to see spiritual leadership established in the home
Every Superhero has an arch enemy. In real life we have a real enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." It is the reason Paul talks about a godly marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33), then parents and children in the next verses (6:1-4) and other household members (6:5-9) before proceeding to explaining spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-20) The enemy has plans for your family. Do you?
We must commit as households to radiate the power and glory of God in a dark world that is in desperate need of a Hero, the one and only true Superhero, Jesus!
From My Family to Yours,
Doug Bedgood
How can you turn an ordinary household into a Superhero Household? We wish we had a Superheroes school like Sky High to send our kids to get trained. Actually God has designed the perfect place for children to learn to live by His power and grace: the Christian household. It takes a two pronged approach. The first is to establish a Family (Discipleship) Time:
