I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “eternity.” In Hebrew, this word is translated as “life unto the age.” It is a theme that runs from the beginning of God’s story all the way to the end. In the garden, God invited man and woman to partake in life eternal – life just the way God created it. But soon after, the story takes a turn, and man and woman seize life on their own terms – life apart from God. Sadly, life eternal becomes a distant memory as sin and life apart from God become the reality of the age. As the story unfolds, we see the tension between choosing life unto the age with God at the center and life according to man which leads to death. All this building tension leads to Jesus where the eternal life of God comes in the flesh to defeat sin and death through resurrection. Jesus boldly proclaims, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3
A few weeks ago, the student chaplains and I had the opportunity to travel to the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. More than 60,000 college students filled the Mercedes Benz arena for three days of worship and preaching. It was an incredibly humbling experience to be surrounded by tens of thousands of young people pouring out their hearts to the Lord in worship. In this environment, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly small while simultaneously experiencing the greatness of God.
As we were worshiping, I was reminded of Revelation 19 which describes Jesus’ second coming. In the middle of the passage, the Apostle John describes “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb,” and this is what he writes:
“Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.’” – Revelation 19:6-7
This is eternal life: that we know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent! At the marriage supper of the Lamb, the eternal life made possible through Jesus Christ will see its consummation! With a roar of many waters we will cry out in worship, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns.” This is the picture of eternal life – the grand and glorious life unto the age for all who call on the name of Jesus for salvation.
We know how the story ends! The question we must wrestle with until that day is, “How are we making ourselves ready?” As we approach Spirit Week (CCA’s spiritual emphasis week) from February 26th – March 1st, we are praying for God to pour out his Spirit upon us, calling students of all ages into the eternal life He promised and made possible through Christ. Will you pray for the young and old to come to Jesus? Will you pray for the shackles of sin, shame, anxiety, and depression that so grip our students to meet their end in Jesus Christ? Pray that the voice of a great multitude of students, like the roar of many waters, would cry out together “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns!”
We know how this story ends…
Let’s make ourselves ready!
Austin Parker
Spiritual Life Director
