The ❌-men
The X-Men issue #1 first hit the comic book stands in 1963. A devout Marvel fan I had that comic, plus many subsequent ones. The X-Men were an elite group of humans with what was called the ‘X’ gene. They were mutants, but with a mutation which granted them superhuman powers. Initially the cadre consisted of five: Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, and Marvel Girl – yes, Marvel Girl, but this never seemed to affect their moniker.
The lot of them were assembled together under Dr Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, which actually served as a training ground for mutant superheroes. Since then the team itself morphed into many renditions until today they have a whole new box office appeal.
The ✝️-man
But if ever there be an actual cut-above kind of human it is this man. Call Him the Cross-man. The Deity Who dared take on mortality, the God-Man. Not half-God, half-man, but fully God and fully man. Though He laid aside the full infinitude of His Being, He at all times had access to it. Yet instead He chose to walk among us, to teach us and prepare us too to become like Him — beginning here and now, and ultimately realized in eternity. “We shall be like Him,” writes John, “for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2).
The transformation He works in mortals is not by chance of mutant gene, but by invitation of a submissive spirit. He offers this transformation to all, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink (John 7:37); Prophets and Apostles agree “…whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13; Acts 2:21); “…whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). He asserts “…whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” And He asks, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).
You were meant for eternity, meant for happy fellowship with the Father, your Creator. This transformation He makes possible is not a mutation to something abnormal. Rather the mutation was sin, a marring of the Imago-Dei making us far less than the original design. This transformation He makes possible is a redemption, a re-birth, a return to all that humanity was meant to be… to be like Him, for ever.
Nothing else in all space and time matters more to you than your answer to this question: “Do you believe…?”
Press on…
Pressing on... 