Wonderboy!

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2010%3A1-6&version=NIV;NLT

 

In the 1984 movie The Natural, Robert Redford played the role of a baseball Phenom, Roy Hobbs, who had a supernatural bat called Wonderboy. As a young boy, Hobbs had made his bat from a tree that had been hit by lightning. He engraved both the name of the bat and a lightning bolt onto the barrel of the bat, memorializing its origin.

 

Years later, as a middle aged rookie in major league baseball, Wonderboy provided Roy Hobbs a spectacular comeback as he almost single handedly brought the fictitious New York Knights from last place to the World Series.

 

Hobbs most memorable home run was when he hit the cover completely off the baseball leaving the fielders and umpires a ball of unraveled string. Wonderboy was indeed a bat with mystical powers.

 

In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul was defending himself against false teachers who were spreading lies about his authority as an apostle. His defense lead to these verses.

 

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.        NIV

 

Paul was invoking the same divine power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is this divine power that changed his life and carried him through a life dedicated to serving Christ. A life that was full of controversy, conflict, hardship and persecution. Yet, through it all, he remained faithful to Christ.

 

Peter recognized this same divine power.

 

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3 NLT

 

Do you ever wish that something supernatural would happen in your life; that God’s divine power would come down like a lightning bolt and do something? We don’t have to depend on a fictitious, mystical bat because something supernatural has already happened. However, we do need to pick up the bat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s All Good

The Tree of Life

Revelation 22:1-5

 

“It’s all good”, is a popular response nowadays that means, nothing is bad. But the irony is that some things are bad, painful, irreversible and even life-changing. Is it all good after having a still born baby or when a family member dies unexpectedly? Is it all good when you get fired from your job of 30 years? Is it all good when a relationship is irreconcilable? Is it all good when life feels like there’s no hope?

 

At the time when John wrote the book of Revelation, the believers in Asia Minor were on the verge of suffering sever persecution for being a follower of Jesus. The Roman authorities were beginning to enforce emperor worship which would be unacceptable for a Christian.  What could this persecution mean for an individual?

 

“Nero was quite insane, and is reported to have tortured Christians with great cruelties for his own enjoyment. According to the Roman historian Tacitus:

Besides being put to death they [the Christians] were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beast and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed.”

 

“It’s all good”, would seem like a hollow response at best.

 

In the Book of Revelation, John gave the persecuted church a future with eternal hope through these words:

 

“And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, ² coursing down the center of the main street. On each

side of the river grew Trees of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. ³ There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.”          TLB

 

For the first century believers, as well as for us, these words bring great hope. It’s not that “it’s all good”, but we can have faith in a loving sovereign God that He has a future for us without pain and suffering. In other words, evil and pain do not have the last word… God does.

 

Now THAT IS all good.

 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%2022%3A1-5&version=NIV;TLB
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Rev.22.1-Rev.22.5