Of all the superheroes produced by the creative minds of human beings, nothing comes close to the real thing. The Initiator wins, hands down. He is the One that all the others strive to become. Every good and lofty trait and goal that the many superheroes hold as the ideal, The Initiator already has perfectly. He is the super superhero!
Now, you won’t be able to pick up a Marvel comic book and read about The Initiator. That is a real shame! But the reason Marvel, and all the other superhero inventors don’t write about The Initiator is that he would put all the other comic book characters to shame. He does everything perfectly. No shortcomings here. He never fails. The success of any particular mission doesn’t rest on his ability to overcome.
But that is what makes The Initiator such a terrible superhero. He is perfect. He doesn’t have any of the struggles that we possess. He has already won, and He has been declared the victor. He never gets in a battle where the outcome is in doubt. Only once did he receive a mortal injury. It was fatal. He died. But He even overcame death.
So why is The Initiator’s role so important? The superheroes that we know respond to trouble. They wait until we are overcome by an enemy and then they step in. And help is only there when they are present. Even Superman can only spin the earth backward so many times to reverse time in order to rescue. And since he can only be in one place at one time, many unwritten chapters could be written about his failures to save.
But The Initiator solves the problem before, during and after. He rescues us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin. He started the rescue and is there every step of the way. He is there at the finish line even before we start our race.
The writer of our text today summarizes this kind of action by telling us that He loved us first. He started this love thing. It is His idea. He perfected its expression when He came and died in our place. Our victory is now assured because He is victorious over death and the grave.
We have total acceptance by Him. And if we need acceptance by anyone, it is by Him. All the earthly acceptance will one day end and come to nothing. The earthly accolades will end up on the landfill of history. All the awards will be recycled by worms. Nothing will be left of this life. The only exception to this rule are those things done through the power and influence of the Spirit, an outworking of Jesus in this world.
For our writer John, the love we express toward each other is the mark of our membership in His body. Love shows our connection to Him. And this love started with Him loving us first. We only love in response to His love. Love is not our idea. It is His.
It is our response to His love that the world sees and is drawn in. They see His love in us and it paints a stark contrast between what they have and what Jesus offers. Jesus offers us freedom in the middle of our bondage. He provides the solution before we ever get in trouble. If we love as He loved, every trouble that comes our way works for His glory and our benefit. He even turns our selfish defeats into victories. He uses the mud and mire of our lives to bring Him glory.
Now that is a superhero worth emulating.
The Arnold Journey 