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John 3:16 … and that’s the bottom line.
Welcome to Fair Fight – a Christian blog for wrestling fans. Before you raise the people’s eyebrow in confusion, yes, that is a thing. At least now it is.
This concept came to me overtime after realizing how many Biblical references have been used over the years in wrestling storylines. It is my goal to dive into these references, revealing their Biblical truths in a casual and hopefully comprehensible way. I am by no means a theologist or a Pastor. I’m just a dude who loves Jesus and loves wrestling. It’s like a Bible study… but with chair shots.
Today, we are going to look into Austin 3:16 and John 3:16.
Even if you’re only a casual wrestling fan, you most likely know that Steve Austin's rise to stardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring. He began using his trademark Stone Cold Stunner finisher and, with this new brawling technique, won the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jake the Snake Roberts.
At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian. After the match, during his coronation, Austin cut arguably the single most famous promo in the history of the industry, telling Roberts, "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! You talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your… um, are there PG ratings in blogs?
Anyway, Austin's win and rise to stardom proved to be an amazing stroke of luck, causing a swarm of Austin 3:16 shirts to arrive in every arena and teenage fan’s closet across the nation. Austin was a made man and is still arguably the most influential star the industry has ever seen.
So now let's look at what the Bible says about John Chapter 3, verse 16. First off... who wrote it?
The book of John was written by a guy named ...wait for it... John - a fisherman, who was one of Jesus Christ’s twelve disciples (followers), and an eyewitness to Jesus’ life and words.
Next - who said this verse? In most Bibles, any words printed in red are quotes from Jesus. Coming from a guy who’s not a big reader, here's a helpful tip - compared to most of the content in the Bible, the red words are the easiest to understand. John 3:16 is actually a quote from Jesus.
Next - who was he saying this to? Jesus was talking to an important Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus. Since most of the other religious leaders were skeptical of Jesus, Nicodemus decided to visit Him secretly at night. To give a wrestling comparison, imagine if Pat Patterson or Gerald Briscoe secretly met with Eric Bischoff during the Monday Night Wars. They would have to do it secretly so that Vince wouldn’t find out.
Jesus’ miracles, His profound teaching, and righteous life had convinced Nicodemus that Jesus was sent from God. He believed that Jesus knew the secret to eternal life. After he found Jesus, Nicodemus bluntly asked Him how to obtain eternal life.
Jesus replied, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
In this passage, Jesus speaks of God’s love, leading to His mission to save a lost world. In other words, Jesus was on a rescue mission. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemus to become more religious in order to go to Heaven. Neither did he tell him to give more money or do more good deeds. Instead, He told Nicodemus that eternal life is based upon what Jesus did for us, not on what we have done for Him. In John 3:16, Jesus tells Nicodemus that those who believe in Him will have eternal life.
God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born on earth and die on a cross. Why? Because we are all sinners and the Bible says the consequence of sin is death – eternal separation from God. There is nothing we can do to make us “good enough” for Heaven.
But Jesus will not force us to trust Him. We have the choice to accept or reject Jesus. Yet, He encourages each of us to accept His free offer of eternal life. God made a way. Christ lived a perfect, blameless life and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He died in our place.
It is only by God’s grace – His undeserved mercy – that we can have eternal life with Him in Heaven. All we have to do is have faith, to believe Christ died for us and ask Him to forgive our sins. But Jesus' gift doesn't work like cash. It works like a check - it's only worth something if you endorse it.
. . . . . . .
Twitter & Facebook: @FairFightAudio
Instagram: fair_fight_wrestling
Email: Theron RD Steinke fairfightaudio@gmail.com
. . . . . . .
Resources for New Believers:
*Note: Some of these are affiliate links. Thank you for the support!
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
http://amzn.to/2ez9SSU
Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story - Brian “Head” Welch
http://amzn.to/2wuZLEK
Not a big reader? Check out The Bible Project YouTube Channel:
The Bible Project
. . . . . . .
References:
What Is the Meaning of John 3:16? - Y-Jesus.com
The Real Meaning John 3:16
The Real Meaning John 3:16
Welcome to Fair Fight – a Christian blog for wrestling fans. Before you raise the people’s eyebrow in confusion, yes, that is a thing. At least now it is.
This concept came to me overtime after realizing how many Biblical references have been used over the years in wrestling storylines. It is my goal to dive into these references, revealing their Biblical truths in a casual and hopefully comprehensible way. I am by no means a theologist or a Pastor. I’m just a dude who loves Jesus and loves wrestling. It’s like a Bible study… but with chair shots.
Today, we are going to look into Austin 3:16 and John 3:16.
Even if you’re only a casual wrestling fan, you most likely know that Steve Austin's rise to stardom began at the 1996 King of the Ring. He began using his trademark Stone Cold Stunner finisher and, with this new brawling technique, won the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jake the Snake Roberts.
At the time, Roberts was portraying a born-again Christian. After the match, during his coronation, Austin cut arguably the single most famous promo in the history of the industry, telling Roberts, "You sit there and you thump your Bible, and you say your prayers, and it didn't get you anywhere! You talk about your Psalms, talk about John 3:16... Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your… um, are there PG ratings in blogs?
Anyway, Austin's win and rise to stardom proved to be an amazing stroke of luck, causing a swarm of Austin 3:16 shirts to arrive in every arena and teenage fan’s closet across the nation. Austin was a made man and is still arguably the most influential star the industry has ever seen.
So now let's look at what the Bible says about John Chapter 3, verse 16. First off... who wrote it?
The book of John was written by a guy named ...wait for it... John - a fisherman, who was one of Jesus Christ’s twelve disciples (followers), and an eyewitness to Jesus’ life and words.
Next - who said this verse? In most Bibles, any words printed in red are quotes from Jesus. Coming from a guy who’s not a big reader, here's a helpful tip - compared to most of the content in the Bible, the red words are the easiest to understand. John 3:16 is actually a quote from Jesus.
Next - who was he saying this to? Jesus was talking to an important Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus. Since most of the other religious leaders were skeptical of Jesus, Nicodemus decided to visit Him secretly at night. To give a wrestling comparison, imagine if Pat Patterson or Gerald Briscoe secretly met with Eric Bischoff during the Monday Night Wars. They would have to do it secretly so that Vince wouldn’t find out.
Jesus’ miracles, His profound teaching, and righteous life had convinced Nicodemus that Jesus was sent from God. He believed that Jesus knew the secret to eternal life. After he found Jesus, Nicodemus bluntly asked Him how to obtain eternal life.
Jesus replied, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
In this passage, Jesus speaks of God’s love, leading to His mission to save a lost world. In other words, Jesus was on a rescue mission. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemus to become more religious in order to go to Heaven. Neither did he tell him to give more money or do more good deeds. Instead, He told Nicodemus that eternal life is based upon what Jesus did for us, not on what we have done for Him. In John 3:16, Jesus tells Nicodemus that those who believe in Him will have eternal life.
God loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born on earth and die on a cross. Why? Because we are all sinners and the Bible says the consequence of sin is death – eternal separation from God. There is nothing we can do to make us “good enough” for Heaven.
But Jesus will not force us to trust Him. We have the choice to accept or reject Jesus. Yet, He encourages each of us to accept His free offer of eternal life. God made a way. Christ lived a perfect, blameless life and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He died in our place.
It is only by God’s grace – His undeserved mercy – that we can have eternal life with Him in Heaven. All we have to do is have faith, to believe Christ died for us and ask Him to forgive our sins. But Jesus' gift doesn't work like cash. It works like a check - it's only worth something if you endorse it.
. . . . . . .
Twitter & Facebook: @FairFightAudio
Instagram: fair_fight_wrestling
Email: Theron RD Steinke fairfightaudio@gmail.com
. . . . . . .
Resources for New Believers:
*Note: Some of these are affiliate links. Thank you for the support!
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
http://amzn.to/2ez9SSU
Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story - Brian “Head” Welch
http://amzn.to/2wuZLEK
Not a big reader? Check out The Bible Project YouTube Channel:
The Bible Project
. . . . . . .
References:
What Is the Meaning of John 3:16? - Y-Jesus.com
The Real Meaning John 3:16
The Real Meaning John 3:16