So I don't know how you feel about Avatar, but I want to share some insights that have been refreshing to me. When I first saw the Avatar I was one of eight people in our group. I was a bit perplexed, found it hard to relate to, distracted by the blue people. My wife loved it! The others in our party didn't really care much for it at all. When the movie was recently released on DVD my wife purchased it the first day. Since then I have watched the movie, at least partially, several times and have grown fond of the message.
In particular I really appreciate how broken the main hero, Jake Sully is! Consider him on the physical level his legs are wrecked as a result of an injury that seems completely unfair. He is a hero in everyday life. As a military man he has served his country. What does he get in return . . . the loss of the use of his legs? Doesn't that just seem like someone who does what is right and pays a heavy, even seemingly unfair price? We haven't all suffered unfairly to this extent, but we certainly do understand what it is to sacrifice and sometimes feel like it wasn't worth it in the end.
Once I saw the hurt in the character Jake Sully rather than just a blue giant I was overwhelmed with the beauty He experienced. No wonder he ran as soon as he had legs. No wonder he was willing to risk everything for the chance to experience the avatar existence!
2 Corinthians 5
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
It is the acknowledgement that Christ makes us a new creation that fulfills my wildest hope. Though we don’t sore on dragon backs, we are children of God able to withstand and even defeat anything that comes against us (Romans 8:28-39). The brokenness is forsaken and the abundant life is my experience in Christ! The brokenness I once felt so immersed in is no longer my home (Psalms 40:2-4)! God has revealed that my home is different, better (Hebrews 11:13-16). It is to that home that I look forward to (Revelation 21:1-4). It is to that home that I look for motivation. It is that place with Christ that helps me make each decision while here. Praise God for that home! So if you haven’t had a chance to jump in your avatar give it some thought. Christ has prepared a way for you to take flight!
In particular I really appreciate how broken the main hero, Jake Sully is! Consider him on the physical level his legs are wrecked as a result of an injury that seems completely unfair. He is a hero in everyday life. As a military man he has served his country. What does he get in return . . . the loss of the use of his legs? Doesn't that just seem like someone who does what is right and pays a heavy, even seemingly unfair price? We haven't all suffered unfairly to this extent, but we certainly do understand what it is to sacrifice and sometimes feel like it wasn't worth it in the end.Consider Jake Sully's self-esteem . . . doesn't it seem like he is just trying to swap lives. Here he is returning from service nowhere really to go. In his mind nothing really to contribute. Someone offers him an incredibly difficult assignment that had been intended for his much more brilliant and intellectually focused brother. The smart move for Jake would be to say “I don't think that is for me,” but he he jumps at the opportunity. How bad must you think your life is to jump at the opportunity for something different even if what is different is so difficult and even seems to be something you are not able to do? You must think you current existence has no value.
You know Jake Sully's emotions were rocked to the core. He had just lost a twin brother. That kind of loss carries hurt and scars that can't be whisked away by anything short of a miracle. Again most have never endured such pain but all are familiar with at least some measure of loss and can at least relate to the pain.
Once I saw the hurt in the character Jake Sully rather than just a blue giant I was overwhelmed with the beauty He experienced. No wonder he ran as soon as he had legs. No wonder he was willing to risk everything for the chance to experience the avatar existence!Since this story has circulated so frequently through my home it has now served as an illustration for me in my own walk with Christ. I am broken just like Jake Sully. He carried it better than I do, but we are broken. No wonder I so readily reach out for a new way. No wonder I trust that I will be completely healed. Regardless of the struggles we can trust that we will be and even are already being restored physically, emotionally, psychologically and every other struggle we encounter.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
It is the acknowledgement that Christ makes us a new creation that fulfills my wildest hope. Though we don’t sore on dragon backs, we are children of God able to withstand and even defeat anything that comes against us (Romans 8:28-39). The brokenness is forsaken and the abundant life is my experience in Christ! The brokenness I once felt so immersed in is no longer my home (Psalms 40:2-4)! God has revealed that my home is different, better (Hebrews 11:13-16). It is to that home that I look forward to (Revelation 21:1-4). It is to that home that I look for motivation. It is that place with Christ that helps me make each decision while here. Praise God for that home! So if you haven’t had a chance to jump in your avatar give it some thought. Christ has prepared a way for you to take flight!
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