Changed by His Love
1 John 1:2: The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
On one occasion after I had given a message, a man whom I would call a smart aleck came to me with this question: “You talked about eternal life. What is eternal life? I would like to know what eternal life is.” So I gave him this verse: “The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and declare unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” Then I said to him, “The eternal life that John is talking about is none other than Jesus Christ. If you want a definition, eternal life is a Person, and that Person is Christ.
It is so simple that even you can grasp it. You either have Christ, or you don’t have Christ. You either trust Christ, or you don’t trust Christ. If you do trust Christ, you have eternal life. If you don’t trust Christ, you don’t have eternal life. Now since that’s eternal life, do you have eternal life?” He turned and walked away without answering, which was an evidence that he did not have eternal life, and he did not want to pursue the matter any further. 1
Loving Him
We love Jesus when we allow His eternal presence to rule over our lives. This happens when we no longer allow our sinful nature to dominate our attitude and actions. Therefore, when we are tempted, we must say and believe: “Greater is He who lives in me, than he who is in the world.” It is in those spiritual moments that the power of His Holy Spirit proves once again that the Eternal God dwells within every believer.
Loving Others
We love others by telling them the truth about God’s exclusive way to heaven.
Make Me Like You
Lord, please open my heart to understand more about Your eternity.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (1 John) (electronic ed., Vol. 56). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
