Hope

So now we are ready for the main message today.

And guess what? This is a very special day. Because, as you probably have seen in the news, this day marks the 50th anniversary from the first man landing on the moon. And afterwards, his companion did also. And I'm sure most can remember that moment in time. Those that are old enough, I still remember I was watching in my black and white TV set in Miami, Florida, when we saw that famous moon landing and the famous words by Neil Armstrong.

That is a small step for man, a giant step or a giant leap for mankind. And it's interesting that when we do baptisms, many times after we finish the baptism and the laying on of hands, that in the prayer I will say, Father, this is a small step for this person, but it's a huge leap into eternity. What they are doing is not only going to have application for this life, but the following one.

And so I related that, yes, the moon landing is considered the greatest achievement by human beings being able to land a man on the moon.

But at the same time, that's just a physical achievement. There's something that we can do in this life that is even more important and more transcendent. It's going to have more of an impact. If you've received God's Spirit in this life, and remember, we are not born with God's Spirit. It is something that is missing in us. And the Bible tells us about the three components of the human being. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 21, it says, May your body, may your soul and spirit be preserved. Those are the three components. But the Holy Spirit is something that can be added to the human being.

And in fact, the human being is not complete until he receives God's Holy Spirit. As it was mentioned in the first message about that spirit of understanding, that God is not calling right now the rich, the powerful, the brilliant. Just like Paul was saying that he didn't call the great philosophers or the great wise people of his day. No, he called ordinary people. And our church is composed of ordinary people. We don't have millionaires hobnobbing here with the great industrial giants. No, it's a small church. It's made out of common and ordinary people. But they love the truth of God, and they've been called by God to incorporate themselves into this spiritual body.

And so, as we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of that moon landing, we also have some thing that's coming to land, not on the moon, but on the earth one day. That's God's kingdom. And that's what is going to be established one day.

And it's going to be greater than anything that was temporary because man got to the moon and looked around. He had to come back. And it's been nearly over 40 years since anyone's ever been there. But we're talking about landing on the earth. That's going to mean so much more. I just got back from two different youth camps, a teenage camp in Columbia, and then a preteen camp in Portland, Oregon.

So we've been around kids for the last almost three or four weeks. And being around kids reminds me so much when I was growing up. And one of my favorite superheroes growing up was Superman. And anyone that lived during that period of time read the comic books about Superman and Supergirl later. But I must say it made a great impact in my life when I read about this person that could fly through the air, could do all of these great things.

There was something in me that attached and related to it. I wanted to fly. I wanted to be able to soar that way. And I even dreamed about it. I don't know how many of you ever had dreams of being able to jump and fly. Could I see how many have thought about that? See, it's a pretty big group. And I had dreams where I could just barely just push myself up and fly a bit and then have to come down again.

But you know what that is? That's something that the Bible tells us, is this desire of human beings to live in another dimension, in another state. Notice what it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. As always, the Bible is ahead of its time because it described that desire of human beings to be more than they actually are. In Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 11, talking about God, it says, He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

So there's something in a human being that gives them the desire to live forever, to be in a better state. It doesn't matter who people are. They all know that we are just limited right now, finite beings. But we all have that desire to live forever, to have and enjoy a higher plane than we have today. And at camp, many times, like I had the chance, they asked me to do these campfire stories.

This is the first time I was asked to do this. And of course, it was a challenge because you had a hundred kids, and after a busy day, they were around the campfire, and it was up to me to entertain them. I only had like 10 or 15 minutes, and guess what? The subject was that first night. It was called Better Than Superman. And I talked to them about what I had dreamed about, my experience, and I asked the kids, have you ever seen a movie of Superman?

Have you ever read any comic books? Incredible! Here, Superman appeared in 1938 for the first time. So we're talking about like 80 years ago, and guess what? All the kids knew who Superman was, and all of them wanted to be like Superman. It wasn't just a group of kids in the 50s and 60s when those Superman comics kept coming out about every month or so. And so God has instilled in us that great desire to be more than what we are, to live forever, not in just this physical body that is deteriorating, but we have something, a spirit inside us, that doesn't want to just perish, that wants to continue living.

Notice in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And so I'm giving this message now mostly to adults, although we do have some kids, but we still have that childish desire, that youthful desire to one day be like Superman. Notice in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 16, Paul says, Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

So yes, our bodies deteriorate, they age with time, but there's that spirit in us that can be renewed day by day. The spiritual part of us that needs to be fed and needs to be kept strong, because we are more than just a physical person. We also have the spiritual in us. And so I'd like to make a comparison between that great superhero, arguably the best of them all, because he was the strongest, he had most abilities than just about any of the other ones, and compare that to Jesus Christ, who was a type of Superman that came.

And it's incredible the parallels between the two. I'm sure you've thought about this in the past, but then it's not only about Jesus Christ, but about us and our destiny and our future. Now, just going briefly, as you know, this was dreamed up by two writers back in the 1930s about this superhuman, this little child who was born in another planet called Krypton. And when the planet was about to be destroyed, his parents sent him in a rocket ship headed toward this way. The planet exploded, blew up to bits, and then all of those fragments traveled all through space.

But that spaceship finally landed. And where did it land? In the central part of the U.S. That area of Kansas, if I'm not mistaken, in a farmland where the husband and wife never were able to have children. And so here the spaceship lands, and out comes this little baby. And so they adopt him. And as he grows up, the parents see that he has special powers that coming from another planet, well, he had at least five attributes that human beings didn't have. One was he could fly, as they used to say, faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap, tall buildings that are a single bound.

He also had the breath that he could freeze things. He had super breath. He also had these x-ray and these laser eyes that could heat things up, or he could see through walls.

He also was invulnerable, which meant that his skin was impenetrable. No bullets could ever pierce his skin. Also, he had super strength, enormous amount of things that he could lift.

And so when I read about that, I thought, wouldn't it be great to have all of these attributes?

But Superman, being concocted and invented by humans, also had weaknesses. And so these writers came up with certain weaknesses.

One, of course, the worst one was Kryptonite. Any fragment coming from that planet could weaken and even kill Superman.

The second weakness is that Superman could still age. One of the last comics I read many decades ago about Superman, he had some gray hair coming out.

And he had a black hair on his side. Why? Because the writers didn't think he could live forever. No, he was still a physical being. He would age.

Also, he had human nature. So the writers couldn't conceive of any other nature but this one. So he could love, but he could hate.

He could be funny, but at the same time he could be angry. And of course, all the different movies that have come out show.

There was a movie where he didn't want to be Superman anymore. And so he switched off his powers, became a human being, got beaten up by others, and then finally repented.

But it showed that his mind was still fragile. He had emotions. He could get depressed.

And so the fourth weakness, which didn't come out in these comic books or in the movies, but it's very relevant to us, is that Superman does not know anything about the origins of human beings.

Why there are here on the earth. What is the purpose of all of this? He never talks about God, never talks about any revelation.

It's very interesting in Ephesians.

Oh, no. Here in Ecclesiastes, where we read before, Ecclesiastes 3.11, about putting eternity into a man's heart, I'd like to read what the believers' commentary mentions about Ecclesiastes 3.11. It says, Though living in a world of time, man has intimations or a sense of eternity.

Instinctively, he thinks of, quote, forever. And though he cannot understand the concept, he realizes that beyond this life, there is the possibility of an eternity.

Yet God's works and ways are inscrutable to man. There is no way in which we can solve the riddle of creation, you know, why we were created, Providence, which is God's intervention and presence, or the consummation of the universe, the end result of what was created.

And then it goes on to say, apart from revelation. So apart from God's revelation, human beings can't figure this puzzle out for themselves. And as you know, today you have philosophy being taught in different universities and colleges. And guess what? It's like the Heinz 56 sauces.

You get different philosophers teaching, the professors, one will teach this way, the other one teaches this way. And some say it's meaningless.

Life doesn't have any real purpose. So they are as confused as anyone else. They're supposed to be experts about the meaning of life.

But here it says, apart from revelation, you cannot find God's truths. And so we have the ultimate model of what a person can dream of being. In human terms, it would be like a superman or a supergirl.

And yet that pales into insignificance when it talks about our future.

What God really has in mind in God's revelation, not science fiction, not something dreamed up by human beings, but something that is here in God's word. And it's not science fiction. And I love to read science fiction as a boy. I love to dream about these planets and all the things going on.

But guess what? When I learned about God's revelation, the future, that's not science fiction. That is Bible science that is nonfiction.

That is something that's going to happen. That's going to be true. And it is better than any science fiction novel ever written.

As a matter of fact, I'm not that interested in what men and women can invent in a lot of these because this is so much better.

It's so much better than Superman. So let's focus first on Jesus Christ.

He also came not from the earth, but this time He came from heaven, which is a place beyond the cosmos, beyond the universe. And He came as a small child. God the Father assured and used a woman so that He would also experience what a human being was like.

And it wasn't in Kansas, in some farm. It was in Bethlehem. But guess what? God didn't put Him in a palace. He didn't call Him to enjoy life as a prince or as a king. No, He came in a very modest and ordinary life. He had to grow up in a relatively poor neighborhood. And He learned to trade like His Father, which was in construction and carpentry.

But this was God in the flesh. This was not just a little baby coming from another planet born of being similar to us.

No, this was God. The word, as it is mentioned in John 1.1, and that He came down, He lived amongst us, and He was willing to sacrifice His life for us.

Something that Superman never did. He was willing to help other people out as he could, but he wasn't here to deal with man's sins, with their failures to obey God's laws.

Oh, by the way, when I was over in Columbia, there was a story that I told the kids. This might be appropriate. Talking about Superman, there's an old joke, and this is one that Cubans tell about Superman.

As you know, Cubans have had to flee from that country for the last 50 years. I'm one of those. I had to flee in 1960 to the U.S.

I know what it's about, but in this story, Superman had landed in Cuba. And so all the Cubans came, and oh, Superman, help us.

Please, we want to have our freedom back. You can do it. And then Superman looked and said, well, I've come here because I want to sympathize with you. I understand you're going through all of this, but one of my rules is not to intervene in the internal affairs of the countries.

So everybody, oh, too bad, too bad. And so then Superman said, well, I'm ready to leave. I did want to come and sympathize with you, but I can't do anything against the world's governments.

And so he says, I've got to leave. And so he took this leap like he did, and he couldn't fly. And he looked, and he said, what's going on? And he took another jump, and he couldn't fly.

And he looked back, and there were 40 Cubans grabbing onto his cape, saying, you can do it, Superman. You can get us out of here. You know, everybody wanted to flee with Superman, the country.

So we have stories about Superman doing this or doing that. But when you compare what Jesus Christ has done, what he is and what he wants us to become, believe me, being like Superman pales into insignificance.

It is not that great. So let's see what Jesus Christ did while he was here on the earth. Let's go to John chapter 20. John chapter 20 and verse 19. Here Jesus Christ had resurrected. It says in John 20 and verse 19, it says, In the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews. So they weren't celebrating Sunday.

No, they were there because of the fear of the Jews. They were locked up. They didn't want to see anybody. This was in some assembly. These were eleven very scared men because Judas had already hanged himself. But at that time, it says, Jesus came and stood in the midst, saying to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, Peace to you, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. And so he could go through walls as a spirit being.

He can materialize and be visible or he can be invisible. And so Superman can't make himself be invisible. Jesus Christ can't. Jesus Christ walked on the water. So in that sense, he could hover and he could walk. And he wasn't subject to the laws of gravity when he wanted to. He could walk on water. He could stop storms. He could multiply fish. He could heal and even resurrect the dead, none of which Superman was able to do. And Jesus Christ now can fly at the speed of thought.

Notice in John chapter 20 verse 16, when he was resurrected, Jesus said to her, Mary, she turned and said to him, Rabonie, which is to say, Teacher, Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her.

But notice now in Matthew 28, after Jesus had spoken these words, Matthew 28 and verse 9, it says, And as they went to tell his disciples, as we talk about Mary and the women, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice. So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me.

So Christ, during that time when Mary Magdalene had seen them, he said, I'm going up. And then the next time the women met him, he had already ascended to heaven beyond all the galaxies that we know of. And then came down again and they were able to touch him, to cling to him. So he'd been accepted by God the Father and now was present before them. So Jesus Christ can fly now at the speed of thought.

It is a great privilege to understand truths, as it says, man has not seen nor heard the things that God has prepared for those who love him. It's a privilege to know that our future is not to go to heaven and play a harp and be there forever, not doing much of anything.

No, it's going to be an active life. God's kingdom is coming back. We can be part of that, but not as feeble, fragile human beings, but now immortalized, given a spirit body, given these incredible powers that Jesus Christ says we are going to be similar to him at a lower plane.

But we're still going to be God's family, as it says in 1 John chapter 3. Churches don't talk about many of these things, which is the great hope that we have of that future resurrection that comes. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 1, it says, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know him. Even with all the religions around, who's teaching these things about the great future ahead?

Notice the second verse here. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when he is revealed, when Christ returns, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Spirit beings, who will see the spirit being? It's not going to be flesh and blood anymore, and that we are going to fly. We are going to have great powers, but there's also a caveat. There's a condition that all of these comic book writers never had.

Notice in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. When is our first flight going to happen? It's going to be fun.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 says, But I do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

So people don't have much of a hope in the future. He says, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. That is the biblical explanation. When you die, when you have God's Spirit, you are in Jesus and you will sleep in Jesus. You're not going to be awake. You're not going to be conscious. It says here that you're going to sleep in Jesus because once you die, your spirit goes up to God and it's not going to be awakened until Christ comes back.

Notice it explains this even more. Continuing on.

It says, verse 15, For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, that last generation, will by no means proceed those who are asleep.

So it says that those who are alive, when Christ comes back, they are not going to be the first that are resurrected. The first that are resurrected are all those who have died in Jesus throughout the ages. This goes back to Abel, the righteous, all of these people that talks about Hebrews 11, that died with faith but did not receive the promises.

He says, verse 16, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

So some people think when Christ comes back, those that are alive are going to be transformed, those who are in Jesus. But no, it says here that the dead in Jesus will be resurrected, but it's just going to be a moment.

Verse 17, Then we who are alive and remain, talking about living, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So that's going to be the inaugural flight of these spirits now born, sons and daughters of God. So that's going to be much better than Superman ever was able to do. He could fly, but there wasn't a real purpose behind all of this because it was just the earth trying to solve crime and doing all kinds of things within this present society.

But here, Christ is coming to establish His kingdom. Yes, He's bringing heaven to the earth to establish His kingdom. And it says, And thus we shall always be with the Lord. So the Bible says that the first conscious thought after a person dies, if they die in Jesus, will be looking up and seeing Jesus Christ and the person ascending up into the clouds where Jesus is going to be. And then they will come down from the clouds to establish the kingdom of God. Notice in Revelation chapter 19. That's why, brethren, science fiction pales into insignificance. There's no match for what is going to happen in the future. Revelation chapter 19, it says in verse 11, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and makes war. 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. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Same way that John mentions in John 1.1. The beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress, or the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

And as you know, in the next chapter, it says in verse 4, when Christ establishes his kingdom, verse 1, and so this is the beautifying of the earth. This is a period of time when spirit beings will be with Christ.

They will learn to govern under Christ for a thousand years. And guess what? There's not going to be any teeth that are going to fall out. There's not going to be any cancer. There's not going to be any diseases that are going to affect them. This is just the moment now.

This is the first stage where we have to be faithful and endure and maintain that faith until the end. So when you compare what Superman did with what these super beings will do, the super beings win out, hands down. There's no comparison. And this is what God is calling us to do, to be part of. And like I said, there's something else that Superman was not able to change that will be changed in us.

In 2 Peter, 2 Peter, it says in verse 2 of the first chapter, 1 Peter 1, verse 2, it says, It says, Partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Partakers of the divine nature. Yes, our human nature is going to be removed. We're not going to want to sin. We're not going to be subject to the lower urges of human nature. We're not going to go through that. We're not going to have to struggle with that, as human beings do today.

Superman still had to struggle with his nature. He could get angry. He could still think bad thoughts. But what we are going to go through is going to be a purification where that human nature is not going to pull against us anymore. And that's why God can give us all of these great powers when we are transformed. Because human nature will not be there to cause us to do the wrong things and to sin and to go against God or go against His holy laws.

We will have it all internalized, as it says, God's laws will be written in our hearts and minds. And that's why we call it the divine nature. To me, that's so encouraging. That's such a great future. Have you ever read a science fiction book that talked about removing human nature and putting a divine nature? I haven't, because that's something that man has not come across to understand. But we understand we're following God's ways and His holy laws. But we know we have that struggle still between good and evil. But one day that's going to be removed. And so let's look at the five great attributes of Superman.

Superman can fly. Well, that's something God says we are going to do one day. And that first inaugural flight up to meet Jesus Christ in the clouds and be with Him when He comes down to the earth. What a wonderful way. We'll have our nature changed so we will love and have joy and peace. There won't be anything evil in all of God's family. How about being impervious and invulnerable and not having bullets?

I'll tell you, bullets can't do anything to a spirit being. It just goes right through. Doesn't affect them one bit. So that's better than having a human body like Superman had. How about being able to freeze things through his breath? We can do that, but we don't need to use the breath. We can just think about it and that thing can become frozen.

And we can go through walls if necessary. Notice in Isaiah chapter 60. Because the Old Testament also prophesied about the transformation of God's children. Notice Isaiah chapter 60. This is an incredible chapter if you want to read it all, but it's talking about when Christ establishes His kingdom. Verse 1, it says, This hasn't happened yet. It's not going to happen until Jesus Christ comes back.

Verse 4, lift up your eyes all around and see. They all gather together. They come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Yes, when you're a spirit being, it's like being spiritual royalty. You will have kings and you will have educators to rear your children.

Verse 5, then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, where a lot of the riches that man has never been able to tap are in the seas. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. The multitude of camels shall cover your land.

They shall bring gold and incense going on. And then it says, verse 8, Who are these who fly like a cloud and like doves to their roosts? Yes, people will be able to fly just like pigeons and doves. And at that time, they will see the spirit beings flying, landing in different places.

So these are things that are described in the Bible. Notice in Daniel chapter 12 what we're going to look like at that time.

Daniel chapter 12 in verse 3 talks about the kingdom coming and being established. It says, verse 3, Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. In the Good News Bible version, it says, The wise leaders will shine with all the brightness of the sky, and those who have taught many people to do what is right will shine like the stars forever. So yes, there's going to be a brightness. God's going to put His glory in us, and we will shine that way.

We will always do good, never evil. There won't be any wars or pain or suffering. There will always be love, kindness, sharing, helping, edifying others. But there's one requirement, and that is to be baptized, to receive God's Holy Spirit, and then to cultivate it, keep the flame going, keep it going until the very last moment of your life. That's what God is offering to us. It's much better than what the creators of Superman ever imagined.

Or the Apollo landing on the moon. That was a great feat, but guess what? We still have human nature, we still have war, we still have poverty, we still have a world that is a mess. And nothing can change that until Jesus Christ really comes back.

Notice in Revelation chapter 21, because the story doesn't end with Jesus Christ returning, it ends with God the Father returning. In Revelation 21 verse 1, remember how I mentioned that landing on the moon was important, that something's going to land on this planet when it's been renewed and beautified and purified? It says in verse 1, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Talking about the atmosphere and the earth itself has been renewed, purified.

He says, and the first earth had passed away. Notice that it's talking about the same place, earth, but now a renewed earth. That's what it's referring to here. Also, there was no more sea. Everything has evaporated, everything has been purified. It says, Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This is going to be another wow moment. The first great wow moment is going to be when you're rising up to meet Jesus Christ. But this one is going to be even more impressive. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle or the dwelling of God is with men, talking about human beings, men and women who've been glorified, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away, talking about God the Father, every tear from their eyes. All the suffering, all the pain they've gone through, there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. Yes, those that are suffering with pain, there's going to be a time when that's not going to be.

Possible. For the former things have passed away. Former things are human things. Earthly things will have passed away. And then He who sat on the throne, talking about God the Father, said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to Him who thirsts, who wants God's way. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God, and He shall be my Son. And so that's the way the story ends. The real story for mankind. But we are all striving right now with our little finite human existence, just trying to overcome day-to-day struggles, going through difficulties. But brethren, this is the reality of what God is going to one day create for us. And we have been privileged to understand this and to nurse it like our hope, that future that's coming in God's kingdom. Let's read two last scriptures, Romans chapter 8 and verse 18. This is what Paul looked at when he was going through so many sufferings and difficulties. He wasn't discouraged because he had that vision and view and hope of the future. Notice in verse 18, it says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Talking about the glory that God is going to put in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. The whole created cosmos and all the things, they're just waiting for us to get to this second and final stage. And then he goes on to say in verse 28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. We know there is this purpose, this hope, this dream. It's not science fiction. This is not something created by human beings. This is God's word, and it tells us that in the future, if we're faithful, if we continue developing our spiritual lives, staying close to God, not letting the world overcome us with all its temptations, brethren, there is something better than the Apollo's mission. There is something better than Superman. And that's what God is calling us to be, super beings in his kingdom.