This month I am taking the children of Shiloh Baptist through Romans 6 – 8 while our Pastor does the same with their parents. I always come home and listen to his message to see how he taught the Scriptures to the adults. I do this for confirmation on my lesson, and also to see what verses he emphasized and how.
Last week as he took the parents through the final verses in Romans 7 he used the illustration of the new movie, Man of Steel… He pointed out how as great as Superman was… the one thing that could weaken him was kryptonite.
He shared how as Spirit-filled born again believers, we are indeed new creatures in Christ, and we are given by God the grace to stand, but sin can still weaken us.
Our Pastor shared how Superman knew that kryptonite weakened him… so therefore he did not go out looking for it. However… try as he might to avoid it… the kryptonite would find him. He would come in contact with it and have to deal with it, have to fight it, he would have to flee.
In Romans 7 God uses Paul to point out to us the struggle we will face as justified, but non-glorified believers…
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Romans 7:18-24
Now as I listened to my Pastor’s comparison of sin and kryptonite, my mind went to a song that used to be one of my favorites in my pre-Christ days…
As believers we have to be very careful in this flesh. We have to remain awake and alert and astute to truth… because sin can still deceive us. Especially if that sin was or is an addiction.
In this song I think of a Christian who thinks, that because they are a Christian, and have the Spirit of God in them, and the power of His might, and they are free from sin’s power over them… they think… I can handle this. Whether it be relationships with those still caught in that addiction or the actual addiction itself.
As the song says they think, “I‘ll keep you by my side with my superhuman might, Kryptonite”
You see the kryptonite will deceive us… the kryptonite will tell us that no one will ever find out… it will keep our secret… no one will ever know… it’s just a little…
The kryptonite will say that you are too weak to be without it, yet you are strong enough to control how much of it you partake in…
But it lies.
It deceives.
If we have been to that dark side of the moon, that place of darkness and running and hiding from the Light… we can even allow this krytponite to convince us that because our flesh still craves it, we must not even really be saved… and God must hate us… and would never forgive us… and we are in a place of silent desperation and internal turmoil.
We can even sit back and look at the world and wonder how on earth we can fight this when the whole world seems to be floating to this dark side of the moon… some struggles can be in our face almost constantly… only one mouse click away.
Inside we feel the struggle… we worry if anyone finds out about this kryptonite will they still call us “superman”? Will they still see us the same… or will we be belittled before them? Will they still call us a Spirit-filled born again believer… will they still love us… will they hold our hand through the this… or will they condemn us?
Even worse will God condemn us? Will He forsake us? Will He deny us?
Can I really trust Him with this secret…
Can I trust them with this kryptonite?
Will they think I am crazy and completely shun me and leave me alone… or will they be there to hold our hand?
Precious one, there is only one way to find out. Step away from the kyptonite that kills and let it go… and put your hand in the hands of God and know that…
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1
And know that any true born again believer understands this struggle, for they recognize their own… there are indeed those who will be some Jesus with skin on… and will hold your hand as you learn to use your superhuman might in Christ to forsake the kryptonite… instead of keeping it by your side.
To quote my Pastor again, “Paul is our example. The only sin Paul hated was his own… we are to preach the gospel“
This kryptonite might not even be a personal struggle of your own… but the struggle you experience while living through the struggles of another… a wayward child, an abusive spouse, even a child with internal struggles or disabilities that you fear will cause them to be shunned if anyone knows… so you hide it… and try to deal with it in your own superhuman might…
You don’t have to.