APPENDIX O
“Unto the Age” and “Life of the Age”
How the New Testament’s Age Language Fits the Purpose of the Ages
Chapter 1 has shown that God’s plan unfolds in ordered ages: this present evil age, the Age to Come as the Seventh Day of judgment and restoration, and finally the Eighth Day when death is abolished and God is all in all. Many readers then stumble when they encounter New Testament phrases such as “unto the age,” “to the ages,” and “to the ages of the ages,” which are usually translated “forever” or “forever and ever.” Without explanation, these expressions can seem vague or can appear to conflict with the ordered pattern of the ages that Scripture reveals. This appendix explains how these phrases work and how they fit within the Purpose of the Ages.
Throughout this book, most Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. In passages where the New Testament uses this “age” vocabulary, however, I will provide a more literal rendering in order to keep the connection between the text and the Purpose of the Ages clearly before the reader. Thus, where the NKJV reads “everlasting punishment” and “eternal life,” the underlying Greek phrases are “punishment of the age” and “life of the age” (Matthew 25:46). In such cases I will render the verse in a form such as: “And these will go away into punishment of the age [that is, punishment in the Age to Come], but the righteous into life of the age [life in the Age to Come] (Matthew 25:46 literal).” These literal renderings are not offered to soften the severity of judgment or to diminish the glory of life, but to show that both are anchored in the coming sabbath age and then unfold into the Eighth Day, in accordance with the Purpose of the Ages. The decision to translate aiōn as “age” and aiōnios as “of the age” or “age-lasting” is not unique to this work; it reflects the ordinary lexical sense of these words as recognized in scholarly study and in several literal and academic translations. What is distinctive here is that this age-conscious rendering is carried through in a systematic way, so that the reader can see how the New Testament’s own language of “this age,” “the Age to Come,” and “the ages to come” [that is the Seventh and Eighth Days together], coheres with the restoration pattern unfolded in this book.
The New Testament uses the noun “age” (Greek aiōn, αἰών) and the adjective “of the age” (Greek aiōnios, αἰώνιος) in two main ways. First, it names specific ages. Scripture contrasts “this age” with “the age to come” (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30; Ephesians 1:21). In this basic two-age pattern, “this present evil age” is the fallen order in which sin and death still reign, and “the age to come” is the first future age beyond it. In this book, the term “the Age to Come” is used in this precise sense. It refers specifically to the Seventh Day, the Day of the Lord, the sabbath age that begins at the appearing of the Lord Jesus and the universal resurrection, in which judgment and restoration unfold upon the renewed earth and the faithful celestial sons serve in the Heavenly Jerusalem. Beyond this Age to Come lies the Eighth Day, the new-creation age that begins only after the Seventh Day is complete and death and Adamic corruption have been destroyed, so that God becomes all in all. When this book speaks of “the ages to come” (Ephesians 2:7), it has in view both future ages, the Age to Come and the Eighth Day together, the full sabbath-and-new-creation sequence by which God brings His purpose to completion.
Second, the New Testament uses “age” language to describe how long something lasts in relation to these ages. The phrase often translated “forever” is literally “unto the age” (Greek eis ton aiōna, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα), which means “into the age.” This is a directional expression. It does not name which age is in view; it assumes that from the context. It says that the reality being described will not be cut off when this present age ends, but will carry on into the age that follows, the Age to Come. In many contexts, especially in the teaching of the Lord Jesus and in John’s Gospel, the age in view is precisely that Age to Come. The phrase “unto the age” then means “from now into the Age to Come,” without yet describing everything that will happen beyond that age in the Eighth Day. That further clarification comes from other passages that describe the Eighth Day and the final abolition of death.
With this in place, we can now look at the main kinds of “age” language in the New Testament and see what each is pointing to.
The Lord Jesus repeatedly promises that those who hear His word and receive Him will live “unto the age,” or that they already possess “life of the age.” These promises are concentrated in the Gospel of John and are closely tied to the resurrection. He says, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live unto the age” (John 6:51, literal). In the same discourse He promises four times, “I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:39-40, 44, 54). Those who feed on Him by faith have “life of the age” (John 6:54), and that life is openly manifested when they are raised in the resurrection of life (John 5:29). In this context, “unto the age” does not mean “for a while and then no more.” It means that the life given now will carry a person across the boundary between this present age and the Age to Come, the Seventh Day. In the terms of this book, the believer who truly eats the bread of Christ will be counted worthy of the resurrection of life; he will live in the Age to Come as a celestial son and will continue in that life when the Eighth Day dawns. The phrase itself points to the Age to Come; the continuation into the Eighth Day is the natural consequence of the kind of life that is given, once we consider the whole Purpose of the Ages.
A similar pattern appears in John 8:34-36. The Lord says, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house unto the age, but a son abides unto the age” (literal). The “house” is the image of God’s household. The slave of sin does not retain a place in God’s house when the Age to Come arrives; he enters the resurrection of judgment. The son, set free by the exalted Son of God, abides in the house unto the age. He remains in God’s household when the Seventh Day begins; he passes into the resurrection of life and continues as part of God’s house throughout that age. Once more, the phrase “unto the age” has the Age to Come in view; the abiding that carries into the Eighth Day is the outworking of that sonship in the larger economy of God.
The epistles take up this same language. The one who does the will of God “abides unto the age” (1 John 2:17). The truth “will be with us unto the age” (2 John 1:2). Those who sow to the Spirit “will of the Spirit reap life of the age” (Galatians 6:8), echoing the Lord’s promise that those who hear His word and believe Him who sent Him “have life of the age” and will not come into judgment but have passed from death into life (John 5:24). In each case, the contrast is between this present age, which is passing away, and the Age to Come. The promise is that the obedient believer, the abiding truth, and the spiritual harvest will not be lost when this age ends, but will stand in the Age to Come. The passages do not mention the Eighth Day by name, yet within the framework of this book that life and that abiding do not stop when the Seventh Day is complete; they continue in the final new creation.
The New Testament also uses “age” language to describe the permanence of God’s Word, truth, and righteousness. Peter says that believers have been born again “through the word of God which lives and abides unto the age,” and he quotes Isaiah to say, “The word of the Lord endures unto the age” (1 Peter 1:23, 25). Paul cites the psalmist to say of the righteous man that “his righteousness endures unto the age” (2 Corinthians 9:9). Such statements assure us that the Word God speaks now is not limited to this age, as though a different Word would be needed when the Age to Come arrives. The same Word by which we are born again and sanctified now is the Word by which we will stand in the Day of Christ. It remains the living Word throughout the Age to Come and is never set aside in the Eighth Day. Again, the phrases point first to the Age to Come; the enduring relevance of the Word in the Eighth Day is the natural consequence of the fact that God’s Word does not fail.
When the New Testament praises God’s glory, blessedness, and dominion, it uses the language of “ages” in a superlative way. The epistles often close with doxologies such as, “To Him be glory to the ages. Amen” (Romans 11:36), “to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ to the ages. Amen” (Romans 16:27), and “to our God and Father be glory to the ages of the ages. Amen” (Philippians 4:20). Paul says of God that He is “blessed to the ages” (Romans 1:25; 2 Corinthians 11:31). He speaks of glory given to God “in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, to the age of the ages” (Ephesians 3:21). Peter and Jude ascribe to God “glory and dominion to the ages of the ages” and “both now and to all the ages” (1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; Jude 1:25). Here Scripture stretches language as far as it can go. “To the ages of the ages” and “to all the ages” mean that God’s glory and blessedness extend through all the coming ages He has appointed. In the structure of the ages in this book, that includes the Age to Come and the Eighth Day together. These phrases are not intended to distinguish between the Seventh and Eighth Day; they gather the whole future under the worship of God.
There are also “age” statements that anchor the throne and priesthood of Christ in the coming age. The angel announces that the Lord Jesus “will reign over the house of Jacob to the age, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33). Hebrews speaks of the Son’s throne as being “to the age of the age” (Hebrews 1:8). The Father swears to Him, “You are a priest to the age according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:6; 6:20; 7:17, 21 literal), and the writer adds that He “continues to the age” and has an unchangeable priesthood (Hebrews 7:24). These texts declare that Christ’s kingship and priesthood are firmly rooted in the Age to Come. He will not be replaced by another king or priest when the Day of the Lord arrives. His throne and His priesthood carry through this age to the entire Age to Come. When that age has finished its work and the Eighth Day begins, His royal and priestly dignity does not vanish. He delivers the kingdom to the Father so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24-28), yet He remains the Firstborn Son and the Great High Priest perpetually. The phrases themselves point from this age to the Age to Come; the continuation of His honor into the Eighth Day follows from the fact that His sonship and priesthood are never revoked.
Some “age” texts speak of punishment and darkness “unto the age.” These can cause the most confusion and therefore must be read carefully within the Purpose of the Ages. In Matthew 25:46 the Lord Jesus says, “And these will go away into punishment of the age, but the righteous into life of the age” (literal). The same adjective “of the age” is used for both punishment and life. Both destinies are anchored in the same Age to Come. The righteous enter the life of that age; they are raised in the resurrection of life at Christ’s appearing and live throughout the Age to Come in the Heavenly Jerusalem as celestial sons. That life is never revoked and continues into the Eighth Day. The wicked enter the punishment of that age; they are raised into the resurrection of judgment and endure the punishments of Gehenna on earth during the Day of the Lord. Their punishment is “of the age” in that it belongs to the Age to Come, the age of judgment. It lasts as long as that age requires for God’s judgment and righteous purpose. It does not continue as punishment into the Eighth Day. When the Age to Come has completed its work and the Seventh Day ends, God brings about the resurrection “of the end” to those whose souls perished and their purified spirit returned to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Matthew 10:28). Those who passed through the punishments of the Age to Come are then raised as terrestrial immortals in the Eighth Day, either as outer-court priestly sons or as members of the restored nations. The phrase “punishment of the age” therefore describes the seriousness and age-long character of their chastening within the Seventh Day; it does not mean that their punishment never ends.
A similar usage is found in 2 Peter 2:17 and Jude 1:13, which describe false teachers and ungodly persons as “for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved unto the age.” The context in both passages is the severe judgment of those who lead others astray. “Unto the age” here does not mean “into a never-ending exclusion beyond all ages.” It means that they face the darkness that belongs to the Age to Come. In the language of this book, they are assigned to a portion of the darkness of Gehenna in the Seventh Day. That darkness fills the Age to Come for those persons; yet even this judgment is not stronger than the purpose of God. When the Seventh Day reaches its conclusion and the Eighth Day dawns, that dark assignment ends, and those who endured it are raised into the restored creation in the resurrection “of the end”.
There is one place where “of the age” is used in a more ordinary relational sense. In Philemon 1:15 Paul says of Onesimus, “For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever” (literally, “for age-lasting”). Paul’s point is to contrast a brief separation with a lasting reconciliation. He is not teaching about the Age to Come or the Eighth Day; he is speaking pastorally about the permanence of Onesimus’s restored relationship to Philemon as a brother rather than as a temporary slave.
Finally, Hebrews uses a different expression in Hebrews 10:12 and 10:14 when it says that Christ, after offering one sacrifice for sins, “sat down at the right hand of God” and that by that one offering “He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Here the word translated “forever” is not “of the age” but a term that means “continually” or “for all time.” It emphasizes the unbroken effectiveness of His sacrifice. There will be no new sacrificial order beyond His; His offering remains the only and sufficient basis for forgiveness in this age, in the Age to Come, and in the Eighth Day.
When these passages are read together, a coherent picture emerges that is fully in harmony with the Purpose of the Ages. The New Testament does not use “unto the age,” “life of the age,” “to the ages,” or “to the ages of the ages” as vague phrases detached from God’s ordered plan. It speaks from within the contrast between this present evil age and the Age to Come and uses “age” language to describe realities that cross that boundary. When Scripture promises “life of the age” or that a son “abides unto the age,” it promises that such a person will not be cut off when this present age ends. He will stand in the resurrection of life and live in the Age to Come, and the life he receives will continue when the Eighth Day begins. When Scripture ascribes glory and dominion to God “to the ages of the ages,” it stretches praise across all the ages that lie beyond this present one, including both the Age to Come and the Eighth Day. When Scripture warns of punishment of darkness “of the age” or “unto the age,” it speaks of the serious judgments of the Age to Come, the Seventh Day. Those judgments endure as long as that age requires, yet they are bounded by it and give way at last to the resurrection “of the end” and the restoration of all things.
Thus, the New Testament’s “age” language is not in conflict with the pattern set out in this book. It is an essential part of it. The Lord and His Apostles speak of “this present evil age” and “the age to come.” They promise a life that carries into the Age to Come, warn of punishments that belong to that age, and praise God whose glory fills all the ages He has ordained. The Seventh Day and the Eighth Day, as unfolded in this book, are the ordered outworking and completion of that same scriptural pattern.
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