Teaching a class at church, I pull out figurines of Batman and Spider-Man and ask a question: As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, are we more like Batman or are we more like Spider-Man?
This seems to take the class back a bit, my intended results.
I don’t answer right away. I let the question simmer.
Growing up in the 60s, I have vivid memories of watching Batman on a regular basis. I remember Batman and Robin socking the bad guys who worked for the Penguin, Joker, or Riddler with labeled sounds such as BAM!, POW! and WHAM!. From his Batmobile, his tool belt, and his Batcave, Batman relied on many externals to conquer evil.
I was more into baseball cards growing up than comic books and missed when Spider-Man made his debut in 1962. However, I enjoyed the Spider-Man movies. I remember when Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and was transformed from the inside out. His Uncle Ben said to him, “With great power comes great responsibility.” I loved how Spider-Man could attach a web to buildings and fly through city streets.
Batman or Spider-Man?
In Rankin Wilborne’s book, Union with Christ, he raised the question I asked my class. He describes Batman as a rich man with “lots of cool gadgets” [1]. Conversely, the spider bite is the only reason Peter Parker is a superhero. The encounter with the spider changed Peter from within. He became Spider-Man. Batman depends on outward trappings, not inner power.
Now you know the answer. We’ve been inwardly changed. We don’t need to rely on our own strengths or special gadgets we conjure up.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we’ve become new. Jesus Christ now lives within us. We’re like Spider-Man, but are we still living like Batman?
Jesus told His disciples, “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” (John 14:16)
Paul confirms that the Holy Spirit of Jesus now lives inside believers, changing who we are. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13).
Spider Powers
Like Spider-Man, our insides have been changed. We’ve been given unnatural powers, but what are they? Although it would be fun, it’s not squirting webs to buildings and swinging through city streets.
Consider the following: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NASB)
Our new powers include:
- a quality of love that is sacrificial beyond reason
- joy and peace, which transcend every circumstance
- kindness and goodness, which put others first and look past every offence
- faithfulness and gentleness, which become for others a soothing balm in all infirmities
- patience and self-control to walk in these inner powers no matter how we’re feeling
What would it be like if we continually experienced these powers of Christ flowing through us?
But too often we forget about the power within. We might ask God to give us patience or self-control, when in Christ, we already have these things and much more. We have all of Christ available as we abide in His Holy Spirit.
Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, wants to be our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. He is our Rivers of Living Water flowing from deep within us. [2]
May we stop relying on our personalities, disciplines of self-control, our educations, our skills, and our gadgets.
Jesus made it very clear what results we can expect from our human efforts: I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).
And I’m told that from the Greek, the ‘nothing’ Jesus is referring to is a double negative. So, apart from abiding and relying on the Holy Spirit as we serve, our efforts produce nothing (nothing). That’s a lot of nothing. Who’s got time for that?
The life we’re to live is a life of total dependence upon the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, who indwells us. After all, the Bible tells us that we died, and that Christ now lives within us. It would be the definition of insanity to live from our old, dead self when we’ve been given newness of life. This new life is according to the mighty strength which raised Christ from the dead. [3]
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20).
Prayer
Lord, Your Spirit has changed me forever. Please forgive me for trying to live this Christian life on my own without depending upon You.
You tell me that apart from You, I can do nothing. I’m tired of wearing myself out, living life on my own. Trying to live apart from You is like Spider-Man fighting without his spider powers.
Never again, I pray. Please teach me how to live every moment of every day in the flow of Your Living Waters within me.
Please quickly stop me when I try and live life without You. Teach me how to depend utterly upon You.
Have Your way with me, I pray. Amen.
Reflections
There’s a real difference between asking God to help us improve and relying upon His Spirit within to empower us.
My dad is a great example of this. He struggled with alcoholism for decades. It cost him his marriage and almost his life.
But things changed. He ended up not drinking for the last fifteen years of his life.
One day I asked him how he did it. “I tried everything,” he said. “AA and countless programs, but nothing worked. I’d been asking God to help me quit, but it just wasn’t working. Finally, I said, ‘God, you have to do it, I can’t.’”
After praying this prayer, he cut the grass, opened a beer, and took a swig. It tasted awful. He spat it out, poured it all out and never had another drop of alcohol the rest of his life. My dad learned to depend on the power of God to deliver him when nothing else could.
[1] Union with Christ, Rankin Wilborne, David Cook, p. 52-53
[2] John 7:37-39
Unless otherwise specified, all verses are from the New American Standard Bible – NASB
Other posts in our Everlasting Way Series:
Learning How to Overcome Emotional Numbness
Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.
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