I’m a fan of the Marvel franchise, so allow me to reminisce on one of their best releases yet: Endgame. I’m transported to the scene where Tony Stark (Iron Man) scuffles with Thanos, desperately trying to seize the metal glove. The glove doesn’t come off. Thanos, confident in his victory, raises his hand to snap his fingers, declaring, “I am inevitable.” But as he snaps, nothing happens. The camera shifts to Tony, who now has the Infinity Stones embedded in his own metal glove. With a final, resolute gaze, he responds, “And I… am Iron Man,” before snapping his fingers, undoing Thanos’ destruction and wiping out the evil man and his army in the process. It’s the moment everyone hoped for. But just minutes later, Tony Stark gives up the ghost. Absolute cinema! It’s emotional yet victorious. Tony sacrificed himself to give the Avengers—and the rest of the world—the victory they needed over Thanos.
If you thought that was cool, then imagine how much more cool it was for Jesus to–willingly–do the same for you and I (Jn. 10:18). This time around, it wasn’t fiction, and a producer wasn’t going to yell “cut,” only for Jesus to jump off the cross and dust Himself off. In a true life occurrence, Jesus, like Tony Stark, sacrificed Himself on the cross so that believers–and the world at large, could enjoy an absolute victory over Satan (Col. 2:15; 2 Pet. 1:16).
Why did we need victory?
To appreciate a thing better, you have to understand its “why”. If we don’t know why we needed victory, we may not appreciate it very much. The reason many countries celebrate independence is because they’ve seen how it’s like to be colonized, and now that they have freedom, they appreciate it.
Sin is a lot scarier than most of us think. Apart from the earthly consequences, it also has eternal consequences like separation from God (Isa. 59:2). This implies separation from peace, joy, light, and basically, everything good. It means separation from the One who loves your soul. Thanks to the fall of man, we were all born into sin and bound for this terrible fate (Psa. 51:5; Rom. 5:12). This was the case up until when Jesus came to earth. Because the wages of sin is death, the only possible atonement for our sins was death (Rom. 6:23). Imagine if everyone had to die to atone for their sin…I mean, what’s the point?
However, Jesus took all the blame and shame and walked that death road for us. His death and subsequently, our faith in His death, brought us victory over sin. Now, we are not compelled to sin, as we were before. It’s no longer our nature. We now have the right and power to say “no” to sin. (Rom. 6:6-7; Isa. 53:4-5)
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
1 John 5:4 ESV
Moreover, death is not an ally to the one who lives in sin. Apart from giving us power over sin, Jesus’ victory conquered death. Because the sin-problem was dealt with, the death-problem could be dealt with as well. The hope of every believer is eternal life after death. We know that this earthly death isn’t the end and we would be reunited with our loved ones who slept in Christ. These weak and frail bodies cannot inherit the kingdom of God and that is why we need the physical death to access the life beyond this world. But how could we have been sure of a second life without proof of resurrection? (Jn. 11:25-26; 1 Cor. 4:13-14, 15:50)
As much as I love Endgame, I still can’t get over the fact that Tony died. Natasha (Black Widow) also died, sacrificing herself– “a soul for a soul” as instructed by the Stonekeeper. Their deaths made this story a bittersweet one. I mean, the avengers were happy that they won but this happiness was laced with the sadness of losing precious friends.
Jesus also gave Himself up so our souls could be released from the grip of the enemy. He was the ultimate exchange for all of humanity. He gave up his life so we could have ours restored. But unlike Tony and Natasha, He rose again (+ infinity aura and steeze). Jesus didn’t stay down. He didn’t stay dead (Lk. 24:5-6). On the third day, He sealed the deal with a three-fold, absolute victory over sin, death, and the grave. He gave us victory, not bittersweet, but joyous.
Jesus’ death was enough to atone for our sins, but it was His resurrection that made it known that the grave could be conquered. Through faith in Him, we have participated in these events and obtained the victory which He gives (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12). Through faith in Him, we share in this victory and are made partakers of His triumph over sin and death. Our victory would have been incomplete, or worse, useless, if we only had hope for this world (1 Cor. 15:19-20). However, because Jesus rose again, it means when we clock out of this world, we have assurance of re-awakening to eternal life and peace (Jn. 14:19).
I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Revelations 1:18 NIV
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