A bright light in the form of a snow white dove descended the pinnacle of Heaven landing on the curly dark brown head of Jesus Christ. A sparkle of recognition immediately formed on His face as a flash of remembrance ignited warming His soul.
From this moment on, things would be different for He had a mission from His Heavenly father that He must fulfill. A call that demanded that He needed to listen to the voice of the Spirit of God that would inspire Him to help the lost.
Determined, He walked out of the Baptismal water wrapping His cloak around Him, and was led into the desert to pray and fast. For forty days God opened up the scriptures of prophecy predicted about Him.
At the end of the forty days when Jesus was hungry and His strength was fading Satan saw His opportunity to tempt Him. Jesus, knowing all the pain and suffering He would endure during His ministry, refused to allow Satan to turn Him away from God.
Satan tried to tempt Jesus into allowing food to be His god. He was tempted to harm Himself just to see if God would really rescue Him from death. Last of all, Satan tempted Jesus by promising to give Him all the power and riches of the whole world if He would just bow down and worship him.
In His most weakened human state, Jesus faced temptation down, and passed every test a man would face in this world. Satan snarled and was forced to flee as God's Angels hurriedly became visible and immediately strengthened Jesus.
Matthew 4:11, "Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him."
Jesus had to convince God's chosen children to believe that He was the Messiah. They needed to place their faith in Him by seeing the power of God working in His life through the extraordinary miracles He would perform.
They needed to believe in the impossible so they would be willing to be baptized and later receive the wonder working power of the Holy Spirit. They would have to believe that Jesus was more than a man, He was Superman!
A new teaching was dawning and a new concept of how to play the complicated game of life was about to be revealed. No longer would the Law be the only means by which people would be saved. Now an easier path would be laid giving people the ability to be instantly forgiven for their sins.
The Law explained the concept of sin, but believing in Jesus opens up the easy path of grace. Now we only had to believe in Jesus' name and be baptized. Placing our faith in Jesus would usher in a new day where God's Holy Spirit would be within each person.
John 3:5-8, "'I am telling you the truth,'replied Jesus, 'that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. A person is born physically of human parents, but he is born spiritually of the Spirit. Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again. The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.'"
Nicodemus was a highly respected Pharisee. He knew all the Laws of Moses and He applied them and taught them rigorously. He came to Jesus in secret because he understood prophecy and believed that He was the promised Messiah.
He expected Jesus to talk about revolutionary ideas. Like taking back the Jewish people's country from the Romans, instead Jesus was talking about the wind and comparing it to how the Spirit influences the lives of men.
Nicodemus was mystified and questioned Jesus over and over again about who this Spirit was. Jesus was surprised at his lack of knowledge of spiritual things.
John 3: 11-13, "I am telling you the truth: we speak of what we know and report what we have seen, yet none of you is willing to accept our message. You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this world; how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven? And no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven."
Jesus had to get Nicodemus and all people to think beyond their present situation. They needed to see how this world interacted with a unseen spiritual world. Then they would understand why they needed the supernatural working power of the Holy Spirit.
They needed to understand how the Spirit would give them the ability to fight beyond a normal human's limited capabilities. This is why Jesus preformed miracles. This is why Jesus Christ was to be more than a man to all people. He was Superman.
We all have enjoyed shows about Superman. How he was impenetrable by bullets and stronger than any man alive. How he rescued people who were about to fall off of high buildings or be crushed by a freight train or car. We sat on the edge of our seats anticipating how he would once again defeat the evil villains who were determined to rule the world.
Superman, although he was powerful and strong, could only be at one place at a time. Jesus Christ Superman can be every where all over the world, all of the time. When we place our faith in Him we have the wonder working power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not come as a commander of a legion of men, rather he came as a commander of a greater more powerful army. He came to help people to stand up and fight against Satan and his spiritual army of demons.
1 Peter 5: 8-10, "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings. But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation."
Jesus' saving power of grace level's the playing field. The Spirit gives Him a greater influence with every human being. The Spirit becomes a teacher within each of us and helps us to win our daily life battles.
The Holy Spirit given to us by Jesus Christ gives us the power to fight against the unseen world of demons. He helps us to resist Satan who is the real villain of the world. Jesus Christ, Superman is the Savior of the world!
He thought he would be able to stand up to the pain and the suffering he saw Jesus going through and Be A Man! Wasn't he a fisherman who was use to the difficulties of a grueling trade that demanded strength and determination.
John looked at Peter as this large muscle framed man ran from the court yard in defeat. Both had seen the intensity of hatred that was perpetrated against Jesus. Both knew that Jesus' words concerning His death were about to be fulfilled and they could do nothing but watch it take place.
The helplessness of that moment facilitated them into seeing how impossible it was to follow God on their own. Even with all the miracles they saw Jesus perform, they lacked the strength of determination they needed to hold their ground when it could lead to imminent death.
All those who loved Jesus and knew his miracle working power abandoned Him. Jesus stood alone with no support as Pilate began the process of putting Him to death by taking Him through a mock up of a trial that was completely prejudice against Him.
John 18: 35-38, "Pilate replied, 'Do you think I am a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done.' Jesus said, 'My kingdom does not belong to this world; if my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. No, my kingdom does not belong here!' So Pilate asked him, 'Are you a king, then?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.' 'And what is truth?' Pilate asked."
Pilate was in a cloud of darkness because he had no faith in an unseen God. He was the governor of the providence of Jerusalem. He had no understanding of the Jews except that Jesus was a so-called God and this was against their faith. He had been told about the miracles this man preformed. Yet all he could see was just a man.
Even if Jesus had explained to Him how the game of life worked, Pilate would not have seen any purpose in the game. He was a powerful, influential, rich man. He didn't need Jesus as his Savior. All he wanted was the Jewish religious leaders to leave him alone and allow him to rule in peace.
Pilate had Jesus flogged. The soldiers put a crown of thorns on his head and a purple robe. They slapped Him and mocked Him.
John 19:7-11, "The crowd answered back, 'We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God' When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. He went back into the palace and asked Jesus, 'Where do you come from' But Jesus did not answer. Pilate said to him, 'You will not speak to me? Remember, I have the authority to set you free and also to have you crucified' Jesus answered, 'You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God. So the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a worse sin.'"
A new dawn began with a truth that is only understood by those who follow Jesus. The truth that God is in control of the world game of life. God allows suffering when the suffering serves a purpose.
Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. He suffered and died for our sins so we might have an easier path to God. The Laws condemned people, but the crucifixion freed people and gave them the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit.
Why did my spouse abandon me? Why did my friend die? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do I have cancer?
All of these questions can be answered when we look at life in the perspective of a game of good versus evil.
We are not alone we have a divine purpose. We are appointed to lives that are flawed so we might fight battles for God on every evil front. If you were a child of incest or abused by a parent, you break the chain of abuse with Jesus Christ as your Savior. He gives you the power to remember your suffering and gives you the ability to not repeat the abuse to your own child.
If you're born into poverty and homelessness, Jesus gives you the ability to help those who suffered like you suffered. If you were falsely accused and jailed for a crime you didn't commit, Jesus takes what you learned about the cruelties of our justice system and helps you to be a crusader to change the system.
Everything you go through when you are a child of God leads you down paths of righteousness that put you into situations so you will stand up to evil and change it. To know the truth about life is to fight for God.
We are not suppose to be pulled into a lifestyle because we can't change the people around us. We are suppose to do what is right and stand our ground with God's help.
Above the cross of Jesus was a sign that stated, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The words were written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
John 20: 29&30, "A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. Jesus drank the wine and said, 'It is finished!' Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."
Jesus died for our sins so we might have the ability to call on Him immediately when bad things happen to us. His death started the beginning to a new game of life that equips God's servants with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit of truth.
Jesus Christ, Superman, Savior of the World, took the Laws of Moses that demanded a sacrifice for sin and replaced it with a simple request. Please forgive me for my sins! Please help me for I am lost!
Please open my eyes so I might see the truth so I can overcome what is wrong with my life. Please help me to stand up to those who abuse me and not be pulled into repeating the abuse.
Peter ran away the day that Jesus was condemned because he was a weak human man. Later equipped with the Holy Spirit, Peter was a different man. A man who stood up to the Roman government and taught all people, who would listen, how to be saved.
Peter became a Superman, because Jesus Christ came to him in Spirit form and helped him to stand up to the persecution he faced because he trusted God with his life. When Peter was old he died on a cross just like Jesus, except he died upside down believing that he was not worthy to die in the same fashion as his Savior. He stood up to evil and his death was a victory for God.
Jesus Christ, Superman, was like every man except He refused to allow fear to keep Him from accomplishing His mission. Fight for God and pick up your cross and follow Jesus Christ, Superman, the Savior of the World!
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Linda Dipman has sinced written about articles on various topics from Culture and Society, Marriage and Social Issues. Linda C Dipman author of THE GAME OF LIFE IT'S ALMOST OVER presents AND HIS LOVE SHONE DOWN my true life story! It describes a. Linda Dipman's top article generates over 1830000 views. to your Favourites.