17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. With the fascination these days with super heroes, as well as some of the other-worldly themes present in popular culture, I do think that people are searching for something or someone beyond themselves - call it escapism, or just a longing to be free, or to be united with their Creator. If Jesus is your Savior, it means that you have discovered the truth about God and have experienced true redemption - He is the One who can bring true, lasting peace to your soul, the One who can truly satisfy the longing of our hearts, the One who has intervened in order to rescue us from the hand of forces who would seek to keep us separated from God and to destroy our lives.
Galatians 1 points to our Redeemer, the ultimate rescuer, who has brought freedom to our souls:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore.
I have to admit, I am fascinated by the cultural phenomenon that is known as Comic-Con. It pulls together some 120,000 fans of comic books, graphic novels, movies, video games, and other forms of entertainment for 4 days of exploring different aspects of these genres. One of the entertaining things about the event is, no doubt, the costumes - people will dress as characters from different spheres of the entertainment media, and I can imagine, it will be quite a sight.
You'll have people dressed up as characters from Star Wars to Star Trek, from steampunk to superheroes. Ah, yes, superheroes - that genre will be big, don't you think? And, it really causes us to think about why as a culture, we've seen a resurgence in the areas of superhero movies - the new Spider-Man is doing better than expected, and there's quite a fascination with the Avengers from Marvel, and we're just around the corner from a new Batman movie.
Bob Smithouser, writing for PluggedIn.com, offers some perspective as to why we find superheroes so appealing. He writes:
...how about Superman? While not a native of Earth (he was sent here as a baby from another galaxy), he's mortal, speaks perfect English and looks like a GQ cover boy. Yet mild-mannered Clark Kent also possesses amazing strength, plus the ability to fly and see through things. Like Spidey, Hulk, Flash, The X-Men and countless other beloved characters, he is simultaneously human and superhuman—a person who can intimately relate to mankind, yet is uniquely empowered to save humanity from its current malaise.
Sound like anyone you know?
He goes on to say:
I believe we are wired by our Creator to resonate with that kind of hero. Jesus Christ arrived on this cosmic dirt clod as a baby, fully divine, yet fully man. He got hungry, thirsty and tired, just as we do. He was a blue-collar laborer. He laughed, loved and cried. He knew betrayal and pain. Hebrews 5:15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin."This was written around the time of the release of Iron Man 2, but the message still rings true: "Hollywood has handed us a golden opportunity to help fans of all ages see the power of redemption and how modern heroes can point to mankind's inner longing for rescue by the real Savior."
At the appointed time, Jesus shed his secret identity—a carpenter whose time had "not yet come" (John 2:4)—and began working miracles, displaying amazing spiritual strength and yes, even seeing through things (including a Samaritan woman in John 4:16-19). He came to rescue us. Not by soaring through town in a flashy red cape, but by humbly enlisting us into his own heavenly Justice League before heroically laying down his life. He is the one uniquely empowered to save humanity from its eternal malaise.
This week at Comic-Con, there will be a number of Christian storytellers who will be able to call attention to this Savior - they're using their gifts and talents in the realm of comics, graphic novels, films, and more to bring a redemptive element in these popular art forms. The Christian Comic Arts Society will be conducting special panels on spiritual themes in pop culture, especially concentrated on graphic novels, which are long-form comic books. There will be booths throughout the event, and CCAS will distribute a "Passport to Christians In Comics" map of the Comic-Con floor designed to help attendees navigate to, explore, and support industry professionals who pursue excellence of comics craft in the context of their Christian faith through various adult, family, faith-friendly or faith-based projects.
These storytellers are passionate about integrating the faith element into their creative works. And, in a sense, isn't that what we're all called to do? To tell our story, to share our testimony of how Christ has redeemed us, and to bring the story of the Savior, our Messiah, who has come to rescue us, to a culture that is looking for something - or someone - greater?
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