Eternal

“The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.”
1 John 1:2 (NIV)

The story of Arthur Stace forever marked Australia. His nickname was “Mr. Eternity.” After growing up in the foster care system, he joined the army and later became a chronic alcoholic. 

On August 6, 1930, with his life in ruins and on the verge of suicide, Stace wandered into a meeting at St. Barnabus Church in Sydney. He gave His life to Jesus Christ, and from 1932, until he died in 1967, walked the streets of Sydney everyday writing a single word in yellow chalk on bridges, buildings, streets, footpaths and manhole covers. That single word: Eternity.

In today’s verse, the Apostle John proclaims that Jesus Christ not only has eternal life, He is eternal life. What John is saying here is that the Christmas baby that is serenaded with carols and celebrated with lights and trees is the God that created sound itself, the notes of any carol the wood of every tree. 

Jesus Christ is the subject of more books, songs, conversations, sermons, debates and discussions than any other human being who has ever lived. As great as He was, if He was simply a great historical figure, the joy would be temporary and Christmas wouldn’t exist. 

John tells us that this man who was a historical reality had a heavenly identity.

This single fact makes Jesus Christ completely, totally, radically and supremely different from any other religion or prophet’s claim. They all point to some idea of “eternal life” but Jesus Christ embodies it with such strength that He makes death itself turn backward. As the great carol proclaims:

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity.
Pleased as Man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Immanuel.

Each day that you encounter Jesus in prayer, He gives you the quality of life that is eternal. Since God’s eternal Spirit dwells within you, so you are and embody His eternal life. And Jesus says the life He gives you is better than you can find it anywhere else. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV)

Jesus is the source of your physical life and He is the source of your eternal life. That means you can embrace His message of comfort and joy right now. Jesus gives you the power to face every struggle with His abundant life. And that means you can live full of comfort and joy. 

Arthur Stace said that one word summarized His encounter with Jesus. And over thirty-five years, Stace wrote that one word over a half a million times. Once eternity captures your heart, you see everything else through heaven’s perspective. 

You receive comfort in grief and joy in sadness. These are not temporary feelings, but eternal realities that never let you go. Through the Holy Spirit, you can welcome fresh comfort and renewed gladness into your heart. 

At the change of the millennium, when many were uncertain about what was ahead in the year 2000 and beyond, one word appeared at the New Year's Eve celebration on the Sydney Harbor Bridge: Eternity. 

And it is a single, mighty word describing the abundant life of Jesus in you right now. 

Prayer: Father, Thank You for the eternal life You give me. Help me recognize the reality of Your abundant life in me right now, giving me grace to offer kindness instead of reaction, live with hope instead of heaviness, and receive peace and eternal joy. I thank You for it all, and welcome Your Spirit now. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.