grace given me

I have an idea for a superhero movie. Here’s the plot: There are two characters who each have the potential to use their extraordinary abilities to protect others and uphold justice. With their superpowers, they can transcend the limitations of ordinary people, fight against evil and tyranny, and inspire hope. The catch is that they must plug into “The Source” to activate their superhuman powers. One character, intimidated by the responsibility, shies away from the opportunity. He avoids and resists plugging into The Source. We’ll call him the reluctant hero – the one who must learn to rise above his self-imposed limitations in order to do great good. The other character, however, falls in love with the power. Rather than crediting and relying on The Source, he claims authorship of his abilities and begins to believe he is the origin of his power. He becomes intoxicated by it, and his self-interest eventually leads him to abuse his power. He becomes the villain – the one the hero must ultimately battle to save the world. To prevail, the hero must learn to plug into The Source. The end. What do you think about my movie idea?

The plot for my story draws its inspiration from the book of Genesis. Quick recap of pertinent parts: When God made man, Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” And when God had formed all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky, “He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.” (Gen 2:19) Then the Lord made Eve and brought her to Adam. The crafty serpent baits Adam and Eve into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had instructed them not to do. Their disobedience ushers in the entrance of sin and death. Subsequently they are expelled from the garden. 

That might sound cruel, but was actually done in love. Did you know there were two significant trees in the garden? Genesis 2:9 reads, “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The other tree, the tree of life, represented eternal life. God banned them from the garden because, now that they had become tainted with sin by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he did not want them to touch the tree of life and enter eternal life separated from him. Because God is perfect and sinless, in their sinful state, he did not want them to spend eternity apart from him. 

What does all this have to do with my superhero story? Just as God put man in the garden to work it and take care of it, the characters in my movie are called, as each of us are called, to do good and important things. Ephesians 2:10 states that we are “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” In Genesis, we also see that God created all the animals but had Adam name them. God longs to create brilliant, awesome, splendid things with us and through us. Philippians 2:13 declares, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to act, according to his good purposes.” He longs to do for us and with us “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.” (Eph 3:20) Do you yet see yourself as the hero in my story? We each have extraordinary abilities. God is waiting for you to plug into The Source.

When you start to experience God on the move, there is nothing like it. The joy is next-level exhilaration. The praise for God is uncontainable. But there is a little watch out. If you think sin is tempting, try the intoxication of witnessing answered prayer or God’s power in action. The pride of being an obedient vessel for God is sheer delight. But the pride, that’s what gets you. At first it is a good, pure pride. It looks and feels like what I imagine the tree of life to look and feel like. A taste of eternal good. But alas, on this earth we are susceptible to the trappings of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin lurks around the corner. If you don’t plug back into The Source quick, you are at risk of what befell the villain in my story. Thank God that he is so good, that even when we pick an apple off the wrong tree, he works and waits for us to return to the good and rightful Source.

Lord, you created everything and you created us. While you are the true superhero, you long to give us superhuman abilities to do awesome things with and for you. Yet you also long to protect us from ourselves. Left to our own devices, we are easily enticed and deceived. Protect us from the snares and lures of sin and the enemy. Call to our attention when we have steered off course. Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you. You alone are The Source of all that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. You alone are excellent and praiseworthy – I will think about such things. Amen.