From our "At the Movies" series - Superman 2025

I love the new Superman movie.  Superman has always been my favorite comic book character, and I know some people think that's cheesy, but hear me out. Superman represents something deeper than just another superhero story.

Think about this: Batman is really Bruce Wayne. When he puts on the costume, he's concealing who he actually is. Same with Spider-Man.  He's really Peter Parker using the costume to hide his true identity. But Superman is completely different.

Superman is from another planet. His real name is Kal-El, and that is his actual identity. Clark Kent is the costume. Clark Kent is what he puts on to conceal the true power and nature of who he really is. He doesn't want people to see all the time how powerful he is. Clark Kent is his take on humanity: clumsy, goofy, nerdy. That's what he thinks about people as he tries to blend in.

You Have a Secret Identity Too

Here's what I want you to understand: you might be known as a real estate agent, healthcare worker, school teacher, or business owner. That might be the thing everybody knows you by. But you have a superpower that you may be unaware of. That superpower is called the anointing.

God has sent you as an ambassador undercover. People may know you as a school teacher, but you are undercover. God has sent you to infiltrate culture and society with something that is a secret superpower.

Understanding the Anointing

When we look at the name Jesus Christ, we need to understand that Christ is not His last name—it's His title. Jesus is His given name, but Christ is a messianic name meaning "anointed one." That's what Christos actually means.

When you call yourself a Christian, you need to know that this word was originally used by people making fun of the early believers. They were mocking the idea that Jesus proclaimed to be Christ and that His followers believed He was the anointed one. But here's the beautiful irony—we've taken that word and made it our identity.

Jesus was His given name. Christ was His calling.

The word "anoint" means to smear or consecrate with oil. So Jesus Christ literally means "Jesus, the one smeared or consecrated with oil."

The Anointing is Like Being Deputized

The anointing isn't some mystical force like in Star Wars. It's a consecration, an ordination. Have you ever seen a movie where they're running out of cops and someone says, "Come here, I'm going to deputize you"? Suddenly, this person who was nobody goes through a little ceremony and now they're officially a deputy.

That's exactly what the anointing is. Someone with authority lays their hand on you, and the oil biblically is symbolic. It's a religious ceremony that God does. When that oil touches you symbolically, you are no longer just a regular person, but you've been deputized by the Holy Spirit to live a God kind of life with new power and new authority.

Jesus Knew His Assignment

In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then He did something incredible.  He rolled up the scroll, sat down, and after what must have felt like the longest pause in history, He said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

He was saying, "I'm Him. I'm the fulfillment. You don't have to wait any longer."

Jesus didn't just say He was anointed, He said what He was anointed to do. There is purpose behind the anointing in your life. You have been called out. You have been set apart.

Your Anointing Has Purpose

Just like Jesus was anointed with purpose, you are anointed to:

• Proclaim good news to the poor
• Proclaim freedom for prisoners
• Bring recovery of sight to the blind
• Set the oppressed free
• Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

The world needs a preacher, and that preacher lives right next door to them. When people around you say, "Can you believe the world we're living in? Everyone's out for themselves," you get to respond with, "But there's something better out there. Jesus is good. God is good. There's a different way of viewing the world."

Don't Step Outside Your Anointing

Here's where the Superman analogy gets really important. Superman has one weakness: kryptonite. But your kryptonite isn't the devil, becausethe devil can't steal your anointing. Even death can't separate you from your anointing.

The only thing that can rob you of your anointing is when you choose to live outside of it.

King David learned this the hard way. In 2 Samuel 11:1, it says that in the spring, when kings go off to war, David sent Joab and stayed home. David was anointed to be a king, but he stepped outside his anointing by not doing what kings were supposed to do. This led to his affair with Bathsheba and a series of devastating consequences.

Don't step outside your anointing. You can't expect God to follow you around to all the exploits that are not according to His will. He says, "This is my will. I have mapped out for you what my will is, and this is where you belong."

Living in Your Anointing

There are decisions we must make to stay in our anointing that aren't always convenient or popular, but we must make them to stay under the covering God has provided.  For instance, I don't drink alcohol.  This isn't because I can find a scripture that says I can't, but because I've seen lives destroyed by it.  This is a conscious choice I make because I don't want someone to point to me and say, "Pastor Jeff drinks and he's a Christian."     

I want to live in my anointing. I've gotten out of it too many times, and life is so dry living outside of it. I hate waking up with guilt, wondering if God will forgive me again. When I live in my anointing, I have holiness and boldness. I wake up knowing I'm born to make a difference, that I'm more than a conqueror.

Your True Identity

For years, people have told me there's something different about me. It's not my intellect or giftings, because I can open Instagram right now and find millions of people better than me in every way. The only thing that gives me distinction, and you yours, is the special and precious anointing of the Holy Spirit that God has just for you.

Even in my weakest moments, I've got a secret. I've got an anointing. It's my superpower. It's what makes me who I am, and it's the same thing that makes you who you are.

You may wear the costume of a school teacher, construction worker, or sales associate, but they don't realize that what's underneath is a superpower that cannot be contained by the world. It cannot be stopped by anybody. The only person that can halt it is when you choose to live outside of it.

The Line is Drawn

A line is being drawn today. Everyone who decides to step fully into their anointing is stepping over that line and will never go back again. Chains are breaking—addictions, inappropriate relationships, pornography, alcoholism, drug addiction, party lifestyles, inappropriate desires, identity issues. The Bible  says that the anointing breaks the yoke of bondage (Isaiah 10:27).

Your anointing is your superpower. Remember who you really are underneath whatever costume you wear in this world. You are anointed. You are set apart. You have been deputized by the King of Kings to make a difference in this world.

Don't wait for everything to be perfect. Serve God where you are today, with the circumstances you have right now, knowing that your true identity isn't what people see on the outside, it's the anointed child of God that you are on the inside.