Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to Go Teach All Nations. bringing you Christ's teachings through Australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Daniel Vokurka.
SPEAKER B00:00:34 - 00:00:50
Oh, wonderful Father in heaven, you are so wonderful. Happy Sabbath. Lord, as we go through this message, may your name be glorified. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
SPEAKER A00:00:50 - 00:00:51
Amen.
SPEAKER B00:00:53 - 00:02:19
So, I have a question to ask you. Now, just as a little disclaimer, I am a high school teacher, and so I usually get interaction, or I try to get interaction with my class. And so I ask questions, and so if I ask questions, you know, I expect a response. And so one of the questions I have for you is Have you, at some point in your life, have you thought about superheroes? Or have you heard about superheroes? Put your hand up if you've heard about superheroes. If you're brave enough, put your hand up if at any one point in your life you, you know, you admired superheroes. You thought, wow, you know, this— These things are amazing. I'd be the first to put my hand up. In fact, one of my favorite superheroes is Superman. And the reason why he's one of my favorite superheroes is because he can fly. All the other stuff as well, yes, but he can fly. Anyway, so I just have a few pictures that I want to show you, and I just want to see whether you recognize some of these superheroes. Does anyone know who that might be?
SPEAKER A00:02:19 - 00:02:22
Aquaman.
SPEAKER B00:02:22 - 00:02:25
Aquaman. Okay, very good. Okay, what about this guy?
SPEAKER A00:02:25 - 00:02:25
Batman.
SPEAKER B00:02:25 - 00:02:29
Batman. Okay, excellent. And this guy?
SPEAKER A00:02:29 - 00:02:30
Spider-Man.
SPEAKER B00:02:30 - 00:02:36
Oh, not quite. Not Spider-Man. Superman. Okay. This one?
SPEAKER A00:02:36 - 00:02:37
Spider-Man.
SPEAKER B00:02:37 - 00:02:40
That one is Spider-Man. That's right. Okay. What about this guy?
SPEAKER A00:02:40 - 00:02:41
Incredible Hulk.
SPEAKER B00:02:41 - 00:02:43
The Incredible Hulk. Okay.
SPEAKER A00:02:43 - 00:02:44
This guy? Thor.
SPEAKER B00:02:44 - 00:02:47
Thor. Yep, well done. This person?
SPEAKER A00:02:47 - 00:02:48
Wonder Woman.
SPEAKER B00:02:48 - 00:02:50
Wonder Woman. And?
SPEAKER A00:02:50 - 00:02:51
Iron Man.
SPEAKER B00:02:51 - 00:03:36
Iron Man. Okay. So, these are the superheroes. These are the characters that are contained in comic books. They've now been popularized in movies. In fact, I don't know about you, but I don't remember quite as many movies coming out about superheroes as there have been over the last couple of years. And anyway, so some of these things that these guys can do, you know, here are their abilities. You know, they can fly, they have superior strength, they have superior intelligence, they have heat vision. Who's that one?
SPEAKER A00:03:36 - 00:03:37
Superman.
SPEAKER B00:03:37 - 00:09:31
Superman, yep. And I think there might be some other superheroes that have heat vision as well, but anyway, that's the one that I thought of. There's one that commands lightning, and there's one who controls the sea and the waves, and some are able to sense danger. But in addition to these superheroes, there are some other ones that are not necessarily superior in terms of these superhuman abilities, but they might be superior in intelligence. And they appear in movies and TV shows as people who are able to solve the problem every single time, and they're able to solve it, you know, faster than anyone else. And we kind of look at those people and we see, wow, you know, that's amazing. Well, The question arises, why do people like superheroes? And so I decided to ask ChatGPT that question. And ChatGPT gave the following response. They provide inspiration. Superheroes often embody values like bravery, Courage and selflessness. Many people find these traits inspiring and look up to superheroes as role models. And as I go through these points, I want you to really just focus on what it is that actually draws people to these superheroes? They represent power and strength. Superheroes are often depicted as powerful beings with incredible abilities, and many people are drawn to their strength and invincibility. Another reason is that they offer escapism. Superhero stories can take us to different worlds and universes, Offering an escape from our everyday lives and problems. And in fact, I think I remember reading somewhere that it was around the time of the Great Depression when things were really, really, really bad that these superheroes— that people started making up these superheroes in order to sort of give people confidence, give people A sense of hope, and those kinds of things. They provide entertainment. Superhero movies, comics, and TV shows are often action-packed and thrilling, providing a form of entertainment that many people enjoy. They appeal to our desire for justice. Many superheroes fight for justice and protect the innocent, which can be appealing to people who want to see good triumph over evil. So overall, superheroes offer a sense of hope and inspiration, and they appeal to our desire for adventure, justice, and strength. So this— these are some of the points that ChatGPT thought were relevant to bring out in terms of why people like superheroes. Well, believe it or not, an article— several articles have also been done on these sort of topics. And here is one. So this was written in 2020. So 6 years ago. Superheroes also give us someone to look up to and strive to be like. Robin Rosenberg, a clinical psychologist, suggested that superheroes allow us to find meaning in loss and trauma, discovering our strengths and using them for a good purpose. Many heroes have their own personal problems they deal with, along with the responsibility of protecting and saving the world. They also provide us with characters to look up to and inspire to be. So these are the things that people find draw them to superheroes because they also can identify with what these superheroes are going through. Okay, well, a study was done at Virginia Commonwealth University and Hope College in Michigan, and this is what they said. So according to the study, just looking at superheroes leads to greater intentions to engage in helpful behaviors. Seeing someone do good increases our own altruistic behaviors, helping us be even more like the caped crusaders we watch on screen. That's quite interesting. Just by looking at these superheroes, it gives us this— it gives people greater intentions to engage in these helpful situations. Okay. So, fold that away. We'll come back to that. Does anyone know what this might be?
SPEAKER A00:09:31 - 00:09:34
Not sure.
SPEAKER B00:09:34 - 00:10:11
Not sure? Comic-Con! Yes, comic convention. So, a comic convention is a big gathering where people come, those who like super— those who like comics, because it's a comic convention, but then those who like superheroes, those who like these sorts of things, and they even dress like some of these characters. What are these guys doing? Posing. Yes? What was that?
SPEAKER A00:10:11 - 00:10:13
Cosplay.
SPEAKER B00:10:13 - 00:21:01
Cosplay. Okay. So, they are imitating their favourite character. I assume it's their favourite character because they've donned the costume. And so, they have the pose, they're posing, they're imitating. Alright? And these guys as well, right? They have these costumes on. They look like their character. They try to behave like that character and they try to look the way that their character looked in a movie or in a comic book. So, here's another interesting article. So, this is from The Superhero Inside: Exploring the Minds of Ourselves and Our Superheroes. So, comic conventions is something to behold when everyone is free to express themselves in all of their nerdiness. The result is a place full of colour and life and sweat. If you look around the room, you'd probably see many excited fans dressed up in their favourite paraphernalia or going all out and donning a full costume in the likeness of a character they admire. Some of the costumed fans even take to behaving like the said— like said characters, Quoting them perfectly from their many hours spent with those comic books, TV shows, and movies. And I have to confess that I also have fallen into that. Yeah, I'm in the past. I used to be able to quote many things at one point. This is not superhero, but Lion King. I used to quote it like word for word. But anyway, we'll. That's beside the point. Not only do these conventions establish a sense of community among the fans, but they also give each person an opportunity to become Batman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, or really anyone they desire, even if it's just for the day. Although lacking in superpowers, these fans make up for it in spirit. This just goes to show that one of the reasons we love superheroes so much is because we want to be just like them. Okay. Now I'm going to ask you another question. Has anyone heard of mirror neurons? Put your hand up if you've heard of mirror neurons. Okay, several people. I'm about to educate you. So mirror neurons are very, very, very interesting. So according to this article, mirror neurons are one of the most important discoveries in the last decade of neuroscience. These are a variety of visuospatial neurons which indicate fundamentally about human social interaction. Essentially, mirror neurons respond to actions that we observe in others. The interesting part is that mirror neurons fire in the same way when we actually recreate that action in ourselves. Do you see the significance of that statement? Essentially, by looking at what these characters are doing, it's as though we ourselves are doing it. By looking, we become like those characters. Hmm. There is a Bible verse that I'm thinking of. Do you? Can you think of what what that Bible verse might be? That's right. That's exactly right. And so this is in second Corinthians three verse eighteen. If you like, you can open your Bibles and follow along. or you can just watch on the screen there. So, but we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. And, um, I, of course, didn't plan this, but the lesson that we had this past week— I mean, I could just basically sort of sit down right now and say, you know, just go back to the lesson. That was the sermon. But there were very, very similar thoughts there. And, um, Here is our scripture reading: Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So by looking, we are changed. We could look at superheroes. But then we can ask ourselves this other question. Well, is Jesus a superhero? Well, he is identified in John 1:1-3 as the Creator of the universe. We know these words very well. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made, That was made. And later on, John identifies who the Word is because he says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In Isaiah 40:25-26— by the way, Isaiah is one of my favorite books. To whom then will you liken me, or to whom shall I be equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by name. By the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Do you remember before we said one of the things that people are drawn to in superheroes is because of their might, because of their power, because of What they can do. Well, Jesus created that. He created the sun. He created our solar system. He created the Milky Way galaxy. When you consider the sorts— the power that is required in order to do those things, the mind just stops. He created these beautiful nebulae. And one day I look very much forward to flying through these things as we're going towards heaven. We're going to be flying. I don't know how fast we're going to be going, but it's definitely going to be faster than the speed of light. And we'll just— we'll go through all of these amazing things. We'll be able to talk with the Creator of the universe and ask Him about, you know, all of these amazing things. He created the galaxies and, you know, this shows His great power. Well, what other attributes does He have? His eyes are like a flame of fire. So when I kind of looked at that, I sort of remembered that there are superheroes who also have like heat vision, you know, fire comes out of their eyes. Is it possible that they might be imitating the true superhero? Is it possible that they might be trying to get attention on themselves rather than on Jesus? Well, it says there in Revelation 1:14, His head and hair were like— were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. To the angel— in Revelation 2:18, To the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and His feet like fine brass. Revelation 19:12, His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. Well, He also is able to command lightning. Can you send out lightnings that they may go and say to you, Here we are? That's Job 38:35. He commands the sea and the wind. In Matthew 8:26-27, but he said to them, why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey him? He can fly. Because in Acts 1:9 it says, now when he had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up And a cloud received Him out of their sight. He is able to walk on water. In Matthew 14:25, in the 4th watch of the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And then Peter was bold to say, Lord, if it is You, let me come out to You. Jesus said, come. Peter started walking on the water. All was well. Amen. Until what? Okay, until he looked away. And then in Matthew 14:30-31, but when he, that is Peter, saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me! And in some time In about half an hour, in, uh, maybe a few minutes, Jesus stretched forth His hand. No, what does it say?
SPEAKER A00:21:01 - 00:21:02
Immediately.
SPEAKER B00:21:02 - 00:24:46
Immediately. Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Jesus saves immediately. It doesn't take time for Him to come to your aid. He is there whenever you ask. With other superheroes, it takes time. There's something that happens somewhere, and it takes time for that superhero to make their way there. But Jesus is there immediately. He is there when you need Him. He is always there. Well, we have now looked at what Jesus can do. But what about His character? What is Jesus' character like? Well, in John 15:12-13, Jesus says the following: This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus was moved with compassion. Jesus, when he was on the cross, he prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He prayed for his persecutors. When the disciples were indignant at the behavior of some people and said, Lord, do you wish that we call fire to consume these people like Elijah did. Jesus told His disciples, you do not know what manner of spirit you are of. And He lamented over Jerusalem. You know, He cried. He wished to gather Jerusalem, but they would not. Well, what about the character of the superheroes? So they have some amazing abilities, but what about their real character? Well, inevitably at some point they will have elements of anger, frustration, lust, revenge, passion. Deceit. And that one in particular, deceit, you know, sometimes, at least for me, it was kind of like when I was watching Superman and Superman has a secret identity, but in order to conceal that secret identity, he has to lie about who he is. That never really came into mind before. But it's true. And when I was looking up some of these things, I typed in, do superheroes— do they show deceit? And the answer that came was yes. In fact, a lot of their stuff is based on deceit. It's like you have to make sure that the secret identity is secret. All those sorts of things. Well, Jesus had none of these things. Jesus was slow to anger. Jesus is slow to anger. He is patient. He is pure. He is forgiving. He has and had self-control. And He is the truth, and He spoke in truth.
SPEAKER A00:24:46 - 00:24:47
Amen.
SPEAKER B00:24:47 - 00:29:15
He always, he never hid anything. And he told that to his accusers when they were asking him these things. He said, well, I was always there. Like, you were there when I was saying these things. You know what I said. Now, superheroes also, one of the things that makes them superheroes is They have some kind of a sacrifice that they need to make. And Jesus has made the biggest sacrifice of all. And the enormity of that sacrifice is difficult to comprehend. But hopefully in the next couple of slides, it'll help us see a little bit more of the sacrifice that Jesus made. Amen. So how much did he actually sacrifice? Well, we all know this text, John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And when you look at these words, the word give there, or gave, Is I'm probably going to get this wrong. Didomi, didomai, or didomi. I don't know if there is a Greek scholar amongst us. You can correct me, but we'll just go with that. But what does that mean? Well, it means I offer, I give. It means to let have. It means. To give over. It means that of one's own accord to give one something to his advantage. So what this verse actually says— and by the way, when I say that Jesus has made the sacrifice, it's the Godhead as well that has made the sacrifice. And again, it's difficult for us to comprehend this. But God the Father, He gave the world. He let us have Jesus. He gave Him over. He gave Jesus to us of His own accord for our advantage. And in this next slide, I'll show you a quote from The Desire of Ages, and if you have not read Desire of Ages. I strongly encourage you to read The Desire of Ages. It's such a beautiful book, and it will help you to see how much Jesus loves you. It says the following: In taking our nature, the Savior has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages, he is linked with us. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. He gave him not only to bear our sins and to die as our sacrifice; he gave him to the fallen race to assure us of his immutable counsel of peace. God gave his only begotten Son to become one of the human family. Forever to retain His human nature. Do you know what this means? Like, do you really know what this means? We already established that Jesus created the universe. Jesus existed before He was born here on earth. He was eternally with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He will never be what He used to be. Jesus made an eternal sacrifice. The Godhead made an eternal sacrifice. He will always have our human form.
SPEAKER A00:29:15 - 00:29:15
Amen.
SPEAKER B00:29:19 - 00:35:02
Can you imagine? Like, can you comprehend that? We will spend an eternity learning about this. Well, now, in the Garden of Gethsemane, something So Matthew 26:36-39. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the 2 sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. This is a pivotal moment. This was the moment that the whole universe was watching what the Yes. The superhero would do. Just like we watch or read, what is the superhero going to do? The whole universe was glued to what was happening in Gethsemane. Will Jesus go through this or not? And in Desire of Ages, again, we read some interesting things. 3 times has he uttered that prayer. 3 times has humanity shrunk from the last crowning sacrifice. But now the history of the human race comes up before the world's Redeemer. He sees the transgressors of the law, if left to themselves, must perish. He sees the helplessness of man. He sees the power of sin. The woes and lamentations of a doomed world rise Before Him. He beholds its impending fate and His decision is made. He will save man at any cost to Himself. He accepts His baptism of blood that through Him perishing millions may gain everlasting life. He has left the courts of heaven, where all is purity, happiness, and glory, to save the one lost sheep, the one world that has fallen by transgression. And He will not turn from His mission. He will become the propitiation of a race that has willed to sin. His prayer now breathes only submission. If this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. Notice those words: He will save man at any cost to himself. How big was that cost? In Matthew 27:46, while on the cross, and about the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Have you ever felt forsaken? Have you ever felt like you are alone? Jesus has felt that too. In Desire of Ages again, We read these words: Satan, with his fierce temptations, wrung the heart of Jesus. The Savior could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin bringing the Father's wrath upon Him as man's substitute that made the cup He drank so bitter and broke the heart of the Son of God. When I first read these words, It struck me like a ton of bricks. So if Jesus could not see beyond the grave, then He did not know that He was going to rise again. If He did not know that He was going to rise again, then in His mind He was preparing to sacrifice His very own existence. Do you get that? No, do you truly get that? This is the eternal God, the one who has always existed, the Great I Am, and He is preparing to sacrifice His own existence for us.
SPEAKER A00:35:03 - 00:35:04
Yes.
SPEAKER B00:35:04 - 00:37:11
I don't know about you, but before when I read that bit when He was in Gethsemane, when He was pressed so hard and He was making that decision, if I was Him, I would have said, no. Like, this is too much. I can't go through with this. He loves you, loves me so much. This is how much we were on His mind that He was preparing to sacrifice His very own existence. That is amazing. In the Desire of Ages, Um, Ellen White writes this as well. It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon his great sacrifice for us, our confidence in him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with his Spirit. So time spent thinking about the character, about these made-up characters, is time that is not spent thinking about Jesus and what he has done for us. Those characters are made up; they don't exist. They cannot fly; that defies the laws of physics. They cannot do a lot of these things. They're made up. Jesus is true. His life is a life that we should be striving to emulate. His sacrifice is the sacrifice we should be thinking about. And as we behold Him, we become changed from glory to glory.
SPEAKER A00:37:11 - 00:37:11
Amen.
SPEAKER B00:37:12 - 00:39:58
And also, as we dwell on these things, as we dwell on what He has done for us and the closing scenes, the stuff that He was going through, it says there, our confidence in Him will be more constant. If you want your confidence in Jesus to grow, spend time thinking about what He has done for you. And as we read before, we will be changed. We'll be transformed from glory to glory. In Philippians 4:8, Paul says, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is any." anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. These are the things we should be thinking about. We just saw Jesus' character. He was true. He was pure. He has virtue. He is the one we should be thinking about. So, This is our— this was our scripture reading, and this is my challenge for you as well, for us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And as I said, this message, this was something that God was convicting me about. And I'd like to also make a few appeals. For those of you who may have or who enjoy superheroes in the entertainment media, I have a question. Who do you admire more, the superheroes or Jesus? Who do you think about more? Who are you more excited about? So think about that. Will you choose to spend more time focusing on Jesus so that he gains the first place in your affections? That's the first appeal. So first appeal is just think about— to think about Jesus more, to focus on Him. And because He is the true superhero.
SPEAKER A00:39:58 - 00:39:58
Amen.
SPEAKER B00:39:58 - 00:44:00
And we have talked about what Jesus did for us and how He came to the earth and how He made the greatest possible sacrifice. In light of what He has done for you, Will you choose today, if you haven't done so before, to accept Jesus as your personal Savior? Today is the day of salvation. If you haven't done so, now is the time. I would like, if possible, if all the elders and shepherdesses could stand up, those who are in here, just very briefly. Could you please stand up if you're an elder or a shepherdess or a pastor? Any? No, I think our pastors are gone. Okay. So these are our elders and shepherdesses. If you would like, if you would like to make that commitment, it's always a good idea to talk to someone and to say, yes, I'm willing to make that commitment. And if you would like, if you haven't given your heart to Jesus, today is the day. It's never a better time than today. You might think that, oh, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it another time. Something will always come up. Today is the day. Why not give your heart to Jesus? Look at how much He has done for you. You can see any of these individuals. Tell them about your desire to maybe go into Bible study To learn about even more of what Jesus has done for you, and tell them that this is your desire. Thank you, elders and shepherdesses. Please, you can sit back down. And if you have already made that commitment, why not recommit? We have. We had the communion service. Last last week, we recommitted. But again, there's not. We can recommit again. So if you would like to recommit your life to Jesus, if you could stand with me as we as we pray. Oh Heavenly Father, we cannot begin to comprehend. What the Godhead, the sacrifice that the Godhead has made. We are going to be learning about that throughout all eternity. And dear Jesus, you could have, you could have not gone through it. You could have, in the Garden of Gethsemane, you could have said, that is enough. And you could have left us to perish because that is what we deserve. We are the ones that have gone astray. We are the ones that, that have decided to go against what, um, what you have said. Yet you did not do this. Instead, at any cost to yourself, You decided to go through with this great sacrifice. Oh Lord, we thank you. We thank you, and we pray that you would work in our hearts, that you would work in our lives, that you would give us the courage to tell others of the. wonderful things that you have done for us. We pray that you would be with us throughout the rest of this Sabbath, and we thank you for hearing our prayer. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER A00:44:16 - 00:44:59
This message was made available by the Waitara Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more resources like this, visit waitarachurch.org.au. To listen to our Australian programs on demand, visit both of our YouTube channels, 3ABN Australia Radio and Creation Conversations, or search for us on your favorite podcast directory. This program has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia Radio.
