Wildcard Wednesday was a historic night in major league baseball. The losers lost after being ahead and appearing to be winners. The winners won after looking like losers until the very last moment. The losers (Boston and Atlanta) lost worse than anybody before them! No team had ever collapsed as badly as both of these teams did in September.
It was a great day for the game of baseball—but that’s not the way life really works!
Let’s lay out the metaphor to make sure we are talking about the same things. Instead of a game, I’m talking about Life—your life and my life—and in place of the last game, I’m talking about what the Scriptures call the Day of Judgment. What is at stake is eternal life, not a pennant.
Here’s where I want to go with this metaphor:
First, there will be no surprises on that last day! Everyone will know what is true. They will also know what is false. They will all confess that Jesus is Lord! Those who are saved will know why and those who are lost will know why. No surprises.
Second, the winners will all be winners and the losers will lose. Those who have been saved are guarded, their salvation is sealed, and no one will be lost. The losers may have pretended at times to be saved, but they don’t fool God. He has seen their heart from the beginning and known its hardness.
Third, no walk-offs –no unexpected victory for the hopeless ! Jesus already has defeated death. He trampled it—so while a last minute conversion may appear to us as a last minute victory, we have not surprised Jesus! He has been pursuing and preparing for that “last minute” since the foundation of the world.
Fourth, no triple play can spoil the victory! The opponent is helpless against the righteousness of God. The opponent is helpless—not that he cannot create pain and havoc, not that he can’t challenge and twist and lie—but the opponent does not have the power to pull off a miraculous play that dooms one that wants to be saved and belongs to the Lord.
I love baseball and can’t wait for the roller coaster of emotions during the playoffs this year, but I’m glad that my salvation does not depend on something as capricious as—me!
Mark's Blog 