As a kid, I never got caught up in the whole comic book superhero thing. Superheroes are bigger than ever now that Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and the Avengers have taken over movies. Even Antman is … er big.
In the early 90s, I walked into a video store one afternoon and saw it. I laughed out loud and said, “That’s got to be the stupidest idea for superheroes. Who would watch that?” I learned soon enough who would watch it. My young sons fell in love with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (I figured if you could get the turtles on their backs, they’d be pretty useless.)
And sadly, ninja turtles weren’t the most off-the-wall idea for superheroes. Ever heard of these?
- Hindsight Lad is more of a computer genius. He can analyze and see in hindsight how events could have played out if different actions were taken. I’m not sure why that makes him a superhero; my wife does that all the time.
Arm-Fall-Off-Boy is misnamed. His arms don’t actually fall off; HE PULLS THEM OFF and uses them as weapons. While it does give new meaning to being someone’s “right hand man,” I just have one question: if he pulls his arms off, how does he hold them as weapons?- Rainbow Girl’s superpower is the ability to harness the powers of the “emotional spectrum.” That’s right; she fights evil with wild mood swings. I am so not going to comment on that.
Squirrel Girl has the ability to communicate with squirrels. OK. Some girls I knew in high school probably thought they had the same ability every time they talked to me.- Almighty Dollar is an accountant with the ability to shoot pennies out of his wrists. I think his greater power would be as a CPA who actually understands tax laws.
I asked a few friends what superpower they’d love to have. I heard mind reading, teleporting, invisibility, breathing under water, and x-ray vision. (Ken Braddy wants to be able to eat 30 hot dogs in one minute.)
What is it we really want? We want to overcome some limitation or be invincible against … well, whatever life throws at us.
We already have that power in Christ. In Romans 8, Paul came up with a list of things that could come against us:
- “Trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword” (v. 35) …
- “death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation” (vv. 38-39).
Paul concluded that none of these things will separate us from the love of God. Paul said, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37). More than conquerors. That has a far better ring to it than any fictitious superpower Marvel or DC Comics could dream up.
No, I can’t fly. I can’t see through walls. I can’t even rip my arms off. But I can live. I can live with confidence. I have eternal life through Christ and I can rest in His inmovable, unchanging love.
This post is based on the study “God’s Promise of Victory” in Bible
Studies for Life.
Lynn Pryor 