Comic books came on the scene in the early 1900s. Detective Comics, better known simply as DC Comics, was introduced in 1937. It wasn’t long before the imaginations of the young reader were swept away with the heroics of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash. DC boasts about 10,000 characters including villains, humans, aliens, and non-superpowered characters.
In 1938, another comic book publisher entered the scene and became known as Marvel Comics. This company had their own set of heroes: The Human Torch, Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Spiderman, and Iron Man. There are allegedly 8,000 characters under the Marvel franchise which includes the villains.
Now, let your imagination run wild for a moment. If you could have any superpower that these comic book characters have, what would it be? Maybe you would like to have super strength. Perhaps the thought of flying or running super-fast sounds intriguing. Maybe x-ray vision or super-sensitive hearing sounds appealing. Would you like to stretch like Mr. Fantastic or disappear like The Invisible Woman? Maybe you would love having the “lasso of truth.” You could rope someone like a cowboy and make them tell the truth.
Every kid has thought about this stuff and has imitated it in play. But adults occasionally imagine being able to do those things, too. Haven’t you ever been stuck in traffic and wished you could fly? Maybe you’ve happened upon an accident, and you wish that super strength would help you rescue someone.
We know that it’s not possible to be bitten by a radioactive spider and suddenly, we can climb walls and shoot webs from our wrists. We know that too much gamma radiation isn’t going to make us the Hulk. And there’s no Tony Stark telling JARVIS to create an Iron Man suit for us.
So, I guess we don’t have any superpowers. Or do we?
Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The moment we are saved, we receive THE ULTIMATE super power but not in the sense of a comic book super power. We receive the Holy Spirit of God which is the power of God in us.
What can we do with this power?
Acts 1:8 told us that we can witness with that power. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” This power of the Spirit enables us to share the power of the Gospel message.
1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” In other words, we have the power to r
escue people from eternal destruction by sharing the power of the message of salvation.
Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” This power is ours on a daily basis. It’s not something that comes and goes or is turned off and turned on. It’s the power that enables us to love the unlovable, forgive, demonstrate grace and mercy, pray, serve the Lord, and a multitude of other things.
As Christians, we are extremely blessed with God’s power. I know, it’s fun to imagine having the comic book superhero-type powers. But we have something far better and we are lacking nothing.
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (10) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:9-10)
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