Easter 2013 - Celebrating Eternity's Greatest Hero
Click Here to listen to our Easter Sermon as we celebrated Eternity's Greatest Hero
Everyone Loves a Hero
Growing up I watched a lot of superhero cartoons. There was Batman, the Ninja Turtles, and many others, but none compared to Superman. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. He flew, could lift cars, shot lasers out of his eyes and in the end always beat the bad guy. As a kid there was no one better. He stood for what was right and always came through in saving the lives of those in danger.
As an adult not much has changed. I still love seeing heroes in action, whether it be on TV, the movies, or in the news. It is always great to see the good guy overcome the odds and help others who are in need. When Liam Neeson, in the movie “Taken,” finally rescues his daughter from the evil men who had kidnapped her we all want to stand up and cheer. We get goose bumps when William Wallace in “Braveheart” leads his men to improbable victory after improbable victory.
Not a Job for an Ordinary Superhero
While it is always exciting to see these heroes saving the lives of others or helping improve lives, the causes they are fighting for are not the biggest issue that we face. The biggest enemy we have does not have an evil, menacing laugh or a bunch of henchmen who work for him. The biggest enemy we have in our life is sin (Rom. 3:23) and it has already done a number on us (Rom. 6:23). That is an understatement… sin has killed us spiritually (Eph. 2:1-3). We need a superhero who is far bigger than anyone depicted in cartoons or the movies. The ability to fly or shoot lasers out your eyes can’t give us what we need. We need spiritual life and forgiveness.
We need a hero who could walk the line and live a perfect life (Heb. 4:15) so that He could sacrificially lay down His life to take the penalty for the sins that we had committed (1 Pet. 3:18). In return for our sins He could give us His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Through this work He would be able to give spiritual life (Eph. 2:4-5), offer forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7), reconcile us to God (Rom. 5:10), bring us into God’s family (Eph. 1:5), give us eternal life (Jn. 3:16), and so much more.
Eternity's Greatest Hero... JESUS
The hero we needed was not our run of the mill cartoon superhero. We needed God, the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, to intervene, and in love He did just that through Jesus (Jn. 1:1-5). Jesus came to accomplish the mission that no one else could. He gave up His life on the cross to bring us the salvation that we need more than anything else. When he was buried the disciples scattered wondering if the man they had been following was not the hero they had been looking for. Things were bleak during those 3 long days Jesus laid in the grave, but our Hero was not down for the count. He was not overcome by death, rather He overcame death (Heb. 2:14-15) when God raised Him from the grave.
Jesus’ resurrection was our Hero cementing final victory over death and sin. When we celebrate Easter we don’t celebrate a bunny or candy-filled eggs. We celebrate the Hero of all heroes. We celebrate eternity’s greatest hero delivering salvation from the world’s deadliest problem, sin and an eternity in Hell. All other heroes pale in comparison. When no one else could, Jesus came and made salvation available to any and all and thus we have the world’s biggest reason to celebrate and have hope. All He asks in return is that we would put our faith in Him (Jn. 3:16) and follow after Him (Matt. 6:24).
Come Celebrate with Us
Easter is only a couple of weeks away. At Southern Hills we are excited to celebrate our Savior’s victory over sin and death. There is no greater hero. There is no greater news than what He accomplished. We want to invite you to come celebrate with us and learn more about the hope that we find b/c of what Jesus accomplished on Easter over 2,000 years ago. We will even be giving out a special gift to remind you and help you see just how amazing our Hero and Savior Jesus really is.
Click Here for our service time, directions, and to learn more about Southern Hills.
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