Did Hulk Hogan win his greatest battle??
Hulk Hogan is dead. The world knew him for his wrestling, his charisma, his strength. He was larger than life. But last year, something far greater happened: he was baptized and publicly rededicated his life to Jesus Christ. Now he's gone—and so are dozens of other high-profile celebrities just this year. Each passing name whispers the same solemn reminder: you have an appointment, I have an appointment, one that none of us can cancel. "It's appointed to men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Some may be ready for death, but few are prepared for what comes after. This is a wake-up call. Time is short. People are dying. Eternity hangs in the balance. Don't be distracted. Now is the time for the Christian to preach the gospel with an urgency and with compassion and for all who hear to repent and put their trust in the Saviour.
The testimony of Hulk Hogan:
“At the end, the one guy I finally became friends with—which we did not get along at all—was Roddy Piper, and I got real close at the end. You know, right before he passed, man, we were on the phone every day talking about scripture, and he wanted to understand about, you know, accepting Christ as a Saviour. Every day, I was on him, brother—every day.
I was saved when I was fourteen. I was playing guitar at a youth ranch, you know, I was playing football, and a couple of football players said, "Hey, we go to this Christian youth ranch, and we sing every week." So, I went with them, and then, you know, they said, "Oh, he can play guitar. He can play guitar." So, the next week I brought my guitar, ended up playing guitar for all the songs and stuff, and I accepted Christ as my Saviour then, but it took a while for me to get it.
But then, you know, rock and roll music, wrestling—I didn't follow the path for many years. And then, with all the stuff that's happened in my life personally—all the crashing and burning and getting up and moving forward and starting over and crashing and burning again, and this mistake after that mistake—I just totally surrendered, man. And I said, "You know what? I've fought harder than anybody. I've worked longer hours than anybody. And I'm just so tired of being in the same empty, back-to-zero space. I started going back to church every weekend and got baptized, totally surrendered, and now I just tell my big God about my little problems."
The important element of Hogan’s testimony is at the end, 3 years before he died, he “got baptized and totally surrendered. To be a Christian is to totally surrender yourself to God, with an understanding that you cannot save yourself. You may be as strong and wealthy as Hulk Hogan, but you can’t beat death. Your sins are expensive – each one costs an eternity of wrath from God. If you die in your sins, you have to pay for them all. The Lord Jesus, fully God and fully man, died on the cross taking on all the sin of all who would believe in Him. All the wrath Hulk Hogan deserved, I deserved and everyone else – Jesus bore it all. The pain and punishment, bearing it all as if He had done it (Isaiah 53:5). On the third Jesus rose again, defeating death. The good news of the gospel is that all who put their trust in Him, will have their sins paid for by Him, will be resurrected like Him and will have everlasting life with Him.
The next step is simple, let go of your pride and surrender yourself to God. Matthew 16:25, For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Hulk Hogan didn’t win his greatest battle. He lost it and surrendered willingly to God. And because of that - he won. What will you do?
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Matthew 16:26)
