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Venom the Symbiote of sin
What a fun day to be in Plano Tx at Redemption Church. Greetings internet! My name is Chris Fluitt and I am blessed to be the lead pastor of Redemption Church.
We are in the middle of a fun sermon series, but we already need your help with our next series.
Our next series will be search engine. In this series we will interactively answer your questions about faith, life, & scripture. We need your questions now. Please use our anonymous text line 214-856-0550. Yes it is an anonymous text, so you can feel free to ask anything and then join us in mid-June where we will answer your questions live.
But for today we are back in our 4th week of the Jesus Vs series
Jesus Vs
Scripture tells us that God will fight for you. So we are taking a look at how Jesus might fight for us, but hypothetically pitting him against Marvel comic characters like Thanos, Uatu the Watcher, & Galactus.
Today we are talking about the well-known comic villain Venom
Jesus Versus Venom
How will Jesus fight the powerful Venom? Let’s learn more about this bad guy.
Venom the Symbiote of Sin
What are we dealing with when it comes to Venom? As you can see from the picture and our intro video… Venom is a different kind of creature.
The character is a sentient alien Symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host. This dual-life form receives enhanced powers and usually refers to itself as “Venom”. A symbiote is an organism in a partnership with another in a way that profits both.
So when we are talking about Venom we are actually talking about two characters… #1 being the alien symbiote & #2 being the host it has bonded with.
When not bonded, Venom appears like a blob like substance that scampers around. In this form it does not seem very powerful… yet when it bonds with a host the power is evident.
The Symbiote was originally introduced as a living alien costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984). In addition to it being a cool black costume for Spidey to wear, it was also tear resistant. These were the original benefits of the symbiote, but the black goo had more to reveal.
As Peter Parker, **Spoiler Alert** Spiderman… iF you didn’t know Peter Parker was Spiderman I want to pray with you in this altar today… As Peter Parker is bonded with the symbiote he starts to receive power & abilities that are new for even Spiderman.
Here are the abilities of the symbiote known as Venom…
- Superhuman strength, durability, & stamina
- Accelerated Healing Factor
- Webbing generation (Spider no longer needed web shooters the symbiote suit did this on its own)
The Spiderman superhero was more super than ever with the venom symbiote. He felt more powerful than ever… but the symbiote started to try to control Peter Parker. It started to control his thoughts… it started speaking its own will into the mind of Parker. The symbiote wanted Spiderman to do evil things.
When Peter Parker tried to separate himself from venom, the creature fought back. It did not want to lose its host. When Parker was finally free from Venom, the symbiote then grew to hate Spiderman and found a new host that also hated Peter Parker. This is how Eddie Brock becomes Venom.
Now bonded over their shared hatred, Eddie Brock has all the abilities of the symbiote… including new abilities the creature learned from being bonded to spiderman… webcrawling, immunity to Spiderman’s spidey-sense… the Symbiote even shares Spidey’s true identity with Eddie Brock.
Spiderman versus Venom is a fan favorite comic book story line… but what about Jesus versus Venom?
Jesus Versus Venom
This ought to be an interesting showdown. Really it is a battle between the sinless one & the symbiote of sin.
The sinless one vs the symbiote of sin
The symbiote is a lot like the bond of sin.
The way that sin entered the world is through a promise of increased ability. The serpent told Eve…
Genesis 3:5 (NIV2011) “…when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The Serpent was partly right…
Genesis 3:7 (NIV2011) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
They saw the world in a new way… they saw each other in a new way… they saw themselves in a new way… and they both put on a new costume…
When they bonded to the symbiote of sin they were changed… it changed who they were all the way down to their nature. This change took control and they did not like what they had become… but it seemed impossible to free themselves from the symbiote of sin.
Watch how the symbiote of sin changed Adam & Eve’s son, Cain.
Genesis 4:5 (NIV2011) …Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
And God said to Cain…
Genesis 4:7 (NIV2011) “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Notice the description of sin here. Sin is personified as some sort of dangerous creature that is crouching and waiting to pounce… Sin desires to have you… It desires to bond with you and never let you go.
You must rule over sin, God tells Cain, but Cain does not rule over the symbiote… the symbiote of sin rules over him.
Genesis 4:8 (NIV2011) Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
The symbiote of sin changed Cain into a murderer.
The Symbiote of Sin
Sin attaches itself to you. Sin tries to empower you with abilities… but those dark abilities will cause you to find yourself naked and a murderer… you will end up finding these abilities to be more like DIS-abilities.
Sin has a way of making people feel powerful and oppressed all at the same time… Here are some examples.
Sin will give you…
- A
hate that makes you feel powerful. Have you ever experienced hatred
in your heart that in the moment made you feel real good? You felt
good when you yelled those hateful words or flipped someone an
offensive gesture to let them know what you think of them. Maybe
you never yelled or gave a gesture but in your mind you sure did…
- But that hatred that gave you a powerful feeling soon starts to control you.
- A
pleasure that feels good. An addiction that gives you a feeling you
would never want to lose.
- That pleasure only lasts for so long. Hebrews 11:25tells us about a pleasure that only lasts for a season. The addict becomes controlled by the substance and then does unthinkable things under the control of the sin.
- A
lust and irresistible urge.
- That original moment the symbiote of sin enticed you with temptation it seemed so profitable… but that has led many people to a kitchen room table where there are divorce papers and crying confused children.
- Coveting
& Stealing & Lying
- Never being happy because you need something else.
- A willingness to take what belongs to someone else and even spread lies to do it…
- Denying
God
- Sin controls you in a negative ways… but worse… It separates you from God and it separates you from the person God created you to be. tHIS
The Bond
The Symbiote is tricky. The first time Peter Parker touched it, the creature latched on to his arm and started moving up his arm and before he could stop it, it had taken all of him. It took all of him and yet… it let him have enough of himself for him to think it was ok.
As Eminem says in his track entitled venom, “Knock knock, let the devil in.” The Devil never forced his way in… as much as we opened the door and allowed him entry.
The bond of sin is tricky. Once it enters, it takes control, yet it lets you feel like you are still in control.
- The addict who says I can stop anytime… They feel like they are in control, but that bond is in control.
- The person who is cheating on their spouse and says “I need to stop” but never does. Newsflash partner.. you are not in control.
- There are jail cells with people in them… they are saying “when I get out of here I am going to do things differently…” and yet we know the cruel cycle that will likely lead them back to that jail cell.
- YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL. YOU HAVE BONDED WITH SOMETHING THAT WILL NOT LET GO.
Alcoholism, Anger, a lack of self-control, over-eating, over-spending, pride, self-harm, pornography, gossip, hypocrisy, a critical uncaring spirit… Something has bonded with you. Something is crouched at your door and desires to have you. Something has over taken you and yet tricked you into believing you are in control.
Do you know what you are bonded with?
- You
are created to have open relationship with God, but you are bonded
with sin that can never be in the presence of a Holy God.
- Isaiah 59:2 (NIV2011) But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- You
are an eternal creature… God did not create man to die in the
physical or the spiritual, but we are bonded with death. Sin is
death.
- Romans 6:23 (NIV2011) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- You were created to be an instrument and vessel of righteousness. You were wonderfully created to create wonder, but you have bonded with something that knows nothing of beauty… an enemy who only knows how to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10)
The very thing that makes you feel alive, starts to kill you. The thing you thought gave you energy is now zapping you of all your energy. This is the bond of sin…
Romans 7:15-17 (NIV2011) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
Romans 7:18-21 (NIV2011) For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
There is a creature bonded with us. Although I want to do good.,.. evil is present. Sin is living in me!
Here is sin’s secret… It does not really want to bond with you… Like Venom, it wants to take full control of you and use you to destroy everything in its way.
There comes a place where you no longer want the symbiote… but the symbiote still wants you. You must break the bond.
Break the bond
God told Cain in Genesis 4:7 that he must RULE OVER SIN. I don’t think God would not tell us to do something that is impossible.
Romans 6:12-14 (NIV2011) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
In order to break the bond you must stop offering your body to the symbiote. You are ultimately in control of your body… stop giving your body to sin. SIN SHALL NO LONGER BE YOUR MASTER… Stop doing what sin tells you to do.
Now this is difficult because this symbiote is tricky. There is a place in the comics where Peter Parker becomes free of Venom, but the symbiote crawls into Parker’s room… slithers into his closet… and changes its form to look like Spider-mans super suit. It hangs there on the hanger and waits for Peter to come in and to put the symbiote on like an old outfit. Without even knowing it Peter Parker bonded again with the symbiote.
Sin is just like that. You will break the bond but it will slither its way back into your closet. If you are not careful you will start to wear that old temptation… that old habbit… that sin will become a part of your life again.
You have to throw sin out of your life… Rule over sin!
Sin is that tricky… but God has given you ruler-ship over sin. God can make you a master over sin.
There is a place in God where the sin that use to trip you up you now simply throw it out and keep running the race.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV2011) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…
There is a place in God where you have mastery… superiority… power over sin. You simply THROW OFF everything that hinders and the sin that entangles and keep running toward Jesus!
That said… you gotta know how to defeat Venom.
Venom the Symbiote of Sin
Venom does not have many weaknesses.. But he does have a major weakness.
When Peter Parker was controlled by the symbiote he discovered that there were certain sounds that caused the symbiote break its bond and flee. There certain frequencies that caused the symbiote so much pain that it had to leave, leaving Peter Parker free.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a liberating sound! Romans 1:16 says the Gospel is the SAVING POWER OF GOD! I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV2011) But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:17 (NIV2011) Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
When you hear the message of Jesus Christ it creates faith. And in that faithful moment it allows a moment for you to be free from the venom of sin.
I need to tell you something…
You may have a struggle with sin.. keep coming to church and hearing the message of the gospel.
You may be trying to have mastery over sin and keep falling short… keep hearing the word of Jesus.
You haven’t broken free yet… but keep blasting the sound of the cross, the grave, and the resurrection… because the sound of the gospel causes mountains to move, faith to rise, and chains to break!
Jesus Versus Venom
The fight between Jesus & Venom is complex… Jesus being the sinless one can certainly defeat the symbiote of sin. Sin held no mastery over Jesus Christ. What makes this battle complex is that there are two beings present, the symbiote & the host. How do you destroy the symbiote without destroying the man it is attached to…?
You see Jesus could have destroyed sin in the garden, but it would have destroyed Adam & Eve along with it. Jesus had to find a way to destroy the bond of sin without destroying the sinner.
Exodus 14:13-14 (NIV2011) Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
It says the Lord will fight for you! It does not say the Lord will FIGHT YOU!
The Lord fights sin… He saves sinners!
There is a great moment in the Spiderman comic where Spiderman is face to face with Venom who has taken Eddie Brock as his host. In this fight Spiderman does something no one saw coming. Instead of risking injury to Eddie Brock, Spiderman offers himself to the symbiote… You see what the symbiote wanted most was Peter Parker… As the symbiote slithered toward Spiderman, Spidey was able to save Eddie Brock and defeat the symbiote.
Sin wants the sinless one. Satan himself confronted Jesus and tried to get him to sin. The symbiote of sin was after Adam (a sinless man) and the last Adam (a sinless man named Jesus.) (1 Cor 15:45)
You and I do our best to avoid sin, but here is what Jesus Christ did to defeat Venom.
Romans 8:3 (NIV2011) God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh… Jesus in the flesh became the offering for sin and CONDEMNED SIN IN THE FLESH.
Sin ran into the one person who had mastery and rule over sin. And Jesus has condemned sin in the flesh.
Jesus did not condemn the sinner in the flesh… He condemned sin in the flesh!
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV2011) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The sinless one took on the Venom of sin… and we received His righteousness.
Jesus took on sin… and sin couldn’t rule him!
Jesus took on death… and death couldn’t rule him!
Jesus took on hell… and hell could not rule him!
Because of Jesus you can be free of sin. You can mastery over your sin. Do you want that today.
Jesus has already purchased your victory over sin. He has condemned sin… Sin you lose.
Do you want to break the bond of sin today?
Come break the bond…
Come thank Jesus for setting you free…