Once upon a time, In a land far away…

A story by John Armes

I was wondering if any of you out there are like me.  I have been watching superhero’s since I was a kid.  First it was superman, and than batman.  They all have superpowers from some kind of experience or from some place where they came from.  Superman came from Krypton, and inherited superpowers from the people that lived there.  He was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall building, etc.  Batman became a superhero to avenge his parents death, fight the bad guys and save Gotham.  Their purpose was to uphold good and vanquish evil.  Why do we like superhero’s?  Perhaps they show man at his best.  Always the good guy.  Someone to take up for the “little guy’s”.  Someone for the kids to look up to.  A role model.  But we know that they are just fantasy.  But what about the real one.  You know…  The one who came to earth from a place far above that came not just to save a city, but to save the whole world.  One who is more than just a man, and he can do miracles too…  Would you like to hear that story…  Ok…

Once upon a time, in a land far away and long ago a baby was born.  His parents didn’t have a lot of money and he wasn’t born into a royal family, but people came from miles around just to greet him.  They were told a King was coming and he was the chosen one.  He ate what everyone else ate and drank what everyone else drank and grew up as a normal boy of that time.  He loved his mother and father and was a good boy.  As he got older he began to learn the customs and the teachings of that time to prepare him for the journey ahead of him.  He learned and applied himself and became a teacher himself and than later a preacher.  He became very popular among many people.  His preaching’s became very powerful to the point that the rulers of that day became frightened of his power and the religious rulers became jealous of his knowledge.  He was more different than anyone they had ever seen and the people would come for miles just to hear him speak.   It was said that he was the “messiah” and he would be the savior of his people.  At this point he had done a number of miracles.  He had even brought a man back to life after he had been dead for three days.  He had a small group of men that went with him everywhere.  These were his closest friends.  But one of them betrayed him.  When he was turned over to the religious rulers of that day, they falsely accused him of blasphemy and sentenced him to death.  But he didn’t lift a hand to defend himself.  He had all the power of his father’s kingdom at his command, and yet he did not use it.  He had miracles he could have used in his defense, but did not use them.    He could have called 10,000 angels at his command to save him, but he didn’t.  Even when they hit him and abused him, and beat him  mercilessly, he said nothing, and never raised a hand in his own defense.  When they nailed him to a cross the only thing he said was “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.  His name was Christ, and he was the Son of God…

But I digress…  When Christ was born here on earth, that was not the beginning of his existence.  He was there in Heaven when God created the heavens and the earth.  He was also there when God created man.  The Bible says “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”.  Obviously, the Word was Jesus Christ, and he was there since the beginning of time.  So, he came down from his kingly throne in  the wonderful splendor of this heavenly paradise where there is no hunger or thirst, where he had multitudes of angles to do his every bidding, a place that never gets dirty or dusty, a place where you don’t have to breathe and never get tired or out of breath. So, he came to earth.  A place where we get dirty, have to breathe to live, get hungry and thirsty every day, and being a carpenters son sometimes he probably got splinters.  Even worse, he was born in a smelly old stable.  All to come down here to visit his Fathers creation, and grow up as a poor boy and die on a cross so God’s manly creatures will have a way to spend eternity with him.  Well, do you think God loves us?  When Pilate called for Jesus to be brought before him, do you think he knew he was addressing his maker.  These men who were flogging him were also in the presence of their creator.  Yet, Christ still did nothing in his own defense.  When Christ was on the cross, or any time, God or Christ could have sent an army to fight for him.  God could have laid out Christ’s persecutors, and the whole Roman army with the back of his mighty hand and whisked Christ up into heaven.    But he didn’t…

So, why didn’t he do something to save his own life, you say?  Because he had “bigger fish to fry”…  He saw them as puppets and he was waiting for the puppeteer.  These people who were mistreating him were the ones he came to save.  He had to go thru this for them and us, because man is in such a fallen state and we cannot help ourselves so that God had to send down Christ to die on a cross and pay the price for our sin which would give us a chance to live with him in heaven.  The Bible says “there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood”…  That is why he took all that punishment, it was for you and me because with all our sin, we deserve death and hell…  But he loved us so much and wants us to come and live with him when we die that he sent his own son to die on a cross, which made a way for us to join him in heaven.  If there was another way where man would be saved from himself, God would have found it, but there was and is only one way, and that is his son, Jesus.  As far as “bigger fish to fry”, Jesus died and went and had it out with the most ruthless villain that ever was and ever will be…  The villain to top all villains…  He gave Satan the boot.  To paraphrase,  I think the conversation might have gone something like this.  Satan – “now Jesus, you know our bargain, John has been a bad boy and I want his soul…”, and Jesus says “no, Satan, I have paid the price and John has accepted my gift…  You can’t have him…  He is mine…  I have purchased him with my blood”…

Oh, but it doesn’t end there…  Christ, when he was thru with Satan, came back to earth and rose out of the tomb.  That’s right, he brought himself back to life.  I have never seen a superhero do that, have you?  Not only that, he appeared to over 500 people over the period of a few months before he went back to heaven where he lives with God today.  Here it is important to point out that when Christ was on the cross that the Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear making sure he was dead.  Also, Christ had been dead for three days which according to custom of that time was essential in declaring his official death, so God orchestrated this task so no one could deny that Christ really died, and since he was viewed by over 500 people after he rose from the tomb, no one could deny that he had risen from the dead.  If Christ would not have risen from the tomb, we wouldn’t be following him today.  The death and resurrection of Christ validated him and proved that he was who he said he was.  As Peter said” (Jesus) you are the Son of God”.

God has always tried to make a place down here on earth where he could be with us.  First, in the garden of Eden when God talked to Adam just as you and I would talk.  When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God had them to build a temple among their tents where he could dwell.  Could you imagine, someone comes up and asks where can I find God…  And someone else says, yes you just go down there about 5 tents and turn to your left.  He lives in the big temple just ahead.  Also, God sends his son down here on earth to dwell with us.  That is more proof that God wants to live among us…

In all reality, God doesn’t need us.   He can do fine without us.   But, he wants to be with us.  He created us and since we couldn’t live up to what we are supposed to be, he sent his Son down here to save us.  And he stands at our door and knocks, waiting patiently to communicate with us.  God is so big that he holds the universe in his hands and yet he knows us so well, that he knows the number of hairs on our head.   God is so big that looking down on the earth, it must be a little speck compared to the universe, and we must be a speck on a speck, yet he knows us better than we know ourselves.  What an amazing  love God has for us.  We need to tell everyone.

Superman came to save Metropolis, and Batman came to save Gotham, but Christ came to save the World and all people for all time.  That is why I love him, and why Jesus Christ is the greatest superhero of all time, and He lives…