Introduction:

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I realize the translation of these Greek terms is a controversial subject, and I do not wish to diminish the faith of those who believe they can either refer to finite periods of time within an age, or to infinite time – eternity, depending on the context. Most of my life I was advocate of that position, but I now believe these terms refer to ages – finite periods with each having a beginning and an ending. I came to this conclusion from God’s Word, particularly from the words of Jesus. As we discuss them, I pray this article will be easy to follow and provide good food for thought and consideration.

 

The etymology surrounding these words, the laws of mathematics (which our Father created), and our experiences as mortals, are all in perfect alignment with how Jesus defined “aionion life.” Simply put, He defined it as knowing the Father and Him during our lives right here on planet Earth (John 17:3.) After He died, He left all believers with this “inheritance.” It is to be enjoyed right now in the present, as we follow His calling on our lives.

 

The Bible states in multiple places that believers currently have (present tense) aionion life. Therefore, since Jesus alone has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16), and the rest of us die as mortals, then, aionion life cannot be referring to “eternal life,” but to an abundant, purpose-driven life in Him.

 

As believers, we also have the wonderful promise, hope, and assurance of immortality, which is living eternally without death. However, as we will show from the scriptures, this promise will be fulfilled after our deaths – at our resurrections. Therefore, present-tense aionion life is referring to the quality of life He designed for us to live within the period called, “the ages.” It is to be enjoyed by those who know Him and the Father during these periods, until the last enemy, death, is destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:28.)

 

Background:

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From lexicography, there is an immense amount of scholarly justification to attach the idea of “limited duration” to these terms. For example, Alexander Thomson, in his little booklet called, Whence Eternity, demonstrated how the original noun and adjective in​​ Greek and Latin never meant unending, but that idea was later injected into these words by theologians.

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Some, trying to find a compromise, suggest that the scope of the adjective may be expanded based on the noun it is describing. In other words, when describing God, the adjective could mean eternal. However, others have pointed out that describing Him as the God of any age, does not mean He is not eternal, but merely points to something special about Him within that age. I love how Thomson put it when he wrote that we do not have to describe a cloudburst as “wet rain.” Rain is wet; it goes without saying.

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In my studies, the research done by Dr. David Konstan and Dr. Ilaria Ramelli was extremely helpful. In their book, Terms for Eternity, they demonstrated how the adjective forms of aion were used before, during, and after the Bible was written, shedding light on the Greek understanding of them both inside and outside the Bible. (The Greek noun, aion, is eon, or age, in English.)

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Here is the quote David gave me that summarized his book: “Apart from the Platonic philosophical vocabulary, which is only specific to a few authors, aionion does not mean eternal; it acquired this meaning only when it referred to God, and only because the notion of eternity was included in the conception of God: for the rest, it has a wide range of meanings and its possible renderings are multiple, but it does not mean eternal.”

David was an award-winning professor in ancient Greek and Latin literature at Brown University, and he also taught at NYU. After reading his book, I met him at a conference in Rhode Island, where I had the privilege of listening to him speak and talking to him privately. I asked him a question, which had been bothering me for quite some time.

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I told him that from my background in math, it seemed like the noun and adjective could never mean eternal, even when describing God, because the finite and infinite were mutually exclusive concepts. Nothing in math could represent both, so I wanted how it could in language.

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To my surprise, David agreed with me. He said these terms do not carry the weight of eternity, even when describing God. But he also added that we need to be respectful of the training God is providing to every individual. I was stunned by his answer, and by his humility, even with his tremendous knowledge.

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He was so friendly and helpful. Later, I would email him with other questions, and he always would respond, almost immediately. However, after the last question I sent,​ there was an unusual delay. Finally, after a month and a half, I received an email from his widow, who told me he passed away on May 2nd of this year (2024). I knew he had cancer, but I thought it was in remission, because he was still teaching at NYU at the time of his death.

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I left my condolences and told her what a great influence he had on me. She thanked me and let me know that she was a language expert too, and that she could answer my question: “Can nouns modify adjectives in Greek or Latin?” She answered, “No,” not in English, Greek, or Latin. She said, adjectives modify nouns, not the other way around.

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Her insight eliminated the need for me to violate this basic rule of grammar, and another one, where the adjective form of a noun cannot exceed the scope of the noun itself. As one scholar put it, we get a daily newspaper, once a day, and a monthly bill, once per month. Neither can be described as “eternal.”

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Since this understanding was in line with what I had already learned from math, the perceived barriers, which had prevented me from translating these terms consistently, were vanishing.

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What Jesus said about aionion life

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But the decisive moments for me came from the words of Jesus. And that is what I want us to focus on – five instances in the Bible where Jesus spoke about aionion life.

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The first one comes in John 17:3, where Jesus, in a prayer to His Father, defines it. But before we get to the definition, it is important to remember the context. Jesus opened the prayer with “Father, the hour has come.” In other words, the time for His death had arrived. Following this prayer, He went to the Cross. Consequently, His prayer was an expression of His will for those living after His death, the ones who knew Him, the ones God gave Him.

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Now for the definition – He prayed: “Now this is aionios life (“is” in the present tense) that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” And then, He claims the disciples knew them both. That can only mean the disciples had aionios life, yet all of them died!

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Aionios is in the nominative case, and this case is frequently attached to a finite verb. “Is,” is a state-of-being verb, and it sounds to me like Jesus is referring to that state-of-being, this life, which is finite.

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In the previous verse, He called it “aionion life.” Aionion is in a different case – the accusative. This case puts a limit on the verb, “give.” So, the giving of it was limited to those who would follow Him in this present finite state-of-being.

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My point is, Jesus used words associated with the limited, the finite – this life – specifically, the life of the disciples, the ones who knew Him. He said, “I am not praying for the world, but for those thou hast given me”– a limited number who would follow Him in this life and experience aionion life.

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He added: “my prayer is that you not take them out of the world, but that the Father would protect them from the evil one.” He said, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” Obviously, He was not referring to eternity, because the evil one will not be roaming around causing us trouble in heaven.

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The central focus of that entire prayer was about the execution of His will after He died. It was in His WILL that those who lived after Him, would have aionion life in this world with protection from the evil one; it was not about life in the hereafter.

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Now, I would like to insert the definition of eternal: It means: “Continuing without interruption, unceasing, perpetual, permanent.” Aionion life does not fit the definition of eternal life for the disciples, because all of them would later cease from living; they are now “deceased.”

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Now, let us leave this story and go to another, where Jesus gives us a little more information about aionion life. It is the first record of Him mentioning it in the Bible, as far as I can tell, and it is found in Mathew 19:16-30. There, we recall the story of the rich, young ruler, who came to Jesus and fell at his feet, according to the same story as told by Mark and Luke. The man asked Jesus: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have aionion life?” (Mark and Luke also added that he called Jesus a “good” teacher.)

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Now comes the brilliance of our Lord, because He gives an answer that addressed all the confusion within this young man’s question, within the questions from the disciples, and to all generations afterwards with our lack of understanding. I mean, we would not know even where to start. These guys were so messed up in their thinking, and it was mainly because of the religious teaching of the day. Have some of us ever been temporarily impaired because of previous religious teaching? I certainly have been.

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The first thing the young man had wrong was that Jesus was not just a good teacher; He was the Son of God. Secondly, we do not get to heaven by our works, but by faith,​which is a gift. Remember, the Pharisees taught that entry into heaven was based on their works under the law – their ability to fulfill it! (Some even taught that one had to recite certain prayers and psalms every day.) And thirdly, the young man’s focus seemed to be centered on the life to come after resurrection, while the words of Jesus centered more on the here and now for those who would follow Him.

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Yet, in all this confusion, Jesus kindly left the young man with some profound truths for his later consideration. We will not address all of them within this article, but I will focus more on the encouragement He gave the disciples after their questions: “Who then can be saved?” And, “What about us who have left everything to follow you?”

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Jesus answered with some very profound and encouraging words, which began with – even though it is impossible for men to enter the kingdom, (based on their actions), with God, all things are possible, (based on His actions). As with us, these words should have given them assurance they could enter His Kingdom, even in their weakness.

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And then, he addressed their immediate concern – their rewards, both present and future. For the future, He told them that they will be allowed to sit on twelve thrones ruling over Israel for a long period of time, later referred to as a 1000-year-reign. This is in reference to those who will experience the first resurrection as the barley crop, the anointed first fruit.

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But He also stressed the invaluable blessings they were enjoying at that present time, along with receiving some persecution. (Mark used these words: “now in this time.”) Think about it; they had the privilege of physically walking and talking with Jesus for 3+ years! Then, notice the word “and” in verse 29, signifying in addition to the rewards they were receiving at that time: “and they will inherit aionion life.”

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In Mathew’s account, Jesus used the word, inherit, because an inheritance is a gift received by the living, after another person dies. The gift is to be used and enjoyed during the lives of the receivers – during their lifetime! In Mark’s and Luke’s account, Jesus put it this way: “and (in addition) in the age to come,” they will receive aionion life, or age-lasting activity.

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I believe the new age Jesus was referring to was the age of grace – a new age, which came after our Lord’s death on the Cross, when He took away the sin of the world. The age of the old covenant was one where both parties bore responsibility, but in the new one, God alone took all the responsibility.

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Paul referred to the old and new ages, when he said, “you who were once dead in your trespasses and sins,” under the old covenant of the law, “have been made alive.” In other words, those who had put their trust in Him had received new life in the new age of grace.

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Therefore, our Lord was promising age-lasting activity – life – in the next age after He would be gone. This was huge for them! While physically walking with Him, they could not imagine a time when He would be gone. And this is what Jesus was referring to in the 17th chapter of John, when He expressed His WILL, which was for God’s blessings and protection on the disciples as an inheritance after He died.     

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But Jesus also implied those blessings were not given so that they could have more than anyone else. They were made rich by His presence, so that they could give away all they had to the poor - those who had not. This is why Jesus let them know it is hard for a rich man to enter His Kingdom, because one must have the desire to give it all away to the less fortunate.

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I believe the rich young man symbolically represented the nation of Israel, who were rich because of God’s calling on them. However, because of self-centeredness, they were unwilling to give away their riches to the rest of the world, the poor that Jesus referred to in Mathew 25: 41-46.  

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Their message was a very familiar one: The religious leaders of their day had taught the young man: “If you wanted to be rich like us, you gotta work for it!” That may be true in this world, but not in God’s Kingdom!

  

Now, let us look at a third occasion where Jesus spoke about aionion life. It is found in the third chapter of John, where Jesus was teaching Nicodemus. I will only hit some of the highlights of that training.

 

At the beginning of the story, we find a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night with some questions. And Jesus went right to the heart of Nic’s concerns. He told Nic that he needed to radically change before he would be able to see the Kingdom of God.

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William Barclay points out that the phrase, to be “born again” was well known to the Greeks at that time; it meant “to radically change.” And Nic responded with an appropriate question, “How can a man radically change when he is old?” (The older we get, the more we get stuck in our old ways.)

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Jesus responded with a comparison of spiritual re-birth (the radical change) to physical birth, and the action of the Spirit in the process, to the action of the wind, which no man has control over! And it should go without saying, that no one had a choice in their birth! Therefore, entry into the Kingdom was going to be a decision made by the loving actions of the Father.

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Nicodemus immediately went into shock. “How can that be?” This did not align with what he had been teaching as a Pharisee. Then, Jesus said to him, “Nic, you are a teacher of Israel, and you don’t understand?” Then, the very next question is profoundly important! Jesus asked, “If I told you of earthly things (like giving birth, and the action of the wind) and you don’t believe, how can you believe if I tell you of heavenly things (things beyond this world)?”

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This question is vitally important, because it informs us about the teaching mechanism Jesus was about to use for Nic’s education. Jesus started teaching with more earthly experiences, so that Nic might later connect them with the heavenly, or spiritual implications.

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He started by informing Nic that He descended from heaven to earth (as He physically stood there in front of him on the earth), and He lets him know that He would also be physically lifted up on a pole on this earth, just as Moses lifted up the serpent on a pole in the wilderness.

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Jesus used this well-known earthly story to point Nic toward the heavenly implications. In that story, the people, who were on their way to the Promised Land (hint, hint) were snake bitten and physically dying. And Jesus continues with “when” the people on their way to the Promised Land saw the accursed one lifted up on the pole, that is “when” they were made whole and able to enter God’s Kingdom.

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Jesus used this earthly story to answer Nic’s question about how people will be radically changed from death to life without working for it. And He continued his teaching from an earthly perspective by summarizing all of it in verse 16, still teaching with earthly examples.

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“For thus God so loved the world that He gave his only-begotten Son (right here on earth), that all, believing (present participle) in Him should not perish (aorist tense), but have (present tense, subjunctive mood) aionion life.”

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The word, translated “that” is “hina” in the Greek, and it is used to indicate a purpose with a result that is certain to follow. That is, it represents both the intention and its sure accomplishment, according to Dr. Daniel Wallace in his book, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. What God intends, will happen! His will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Again, notice the verb “have,” is in the present tense! This tense is also used in John 6:40, where aionion life is received in the present by believing in Him: “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have (present tense) aionion life.”

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Note: The fact that the verb “have” is in the subjunctive mood throws some people off. However, it is all but required when using hina, according to Dr. Wallace. As he firmly states, the use of the subjunctive with hina does not argue for the uncertainty of the end result! By believing in Him, we will have aionion life!

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Therefore, Jesus declared that those presently on the earth believing in Him, would have, in the present, aionion life. Furthermore, those not believing in this present life, would be perishing.

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I would like to point out something about the word “perish.” Lexicons parse it in the aorist tense, middle voice. Strong’s Concordance points out that the middle voice does not imply extinction, but a loss of well-being.

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And Dr. Wallace informs us that the aorist tense is only describing a snapshot in time; it is not intended to describe the duration of an event. Wallace: “Outside the indicative and participle, time is not a feature of the aorist.” So, if he is correct, treating “perish” in this verse as a once-and-for-all-time outcome, would be, to use his words, “a well-known gaffe.” Therefore, this word, perish, implies a snapshot of a condition in this life.

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Additionally, an Australian minister, Santo Calarco, produced a video a few weeks before my writing this article about how the life referred to in John 3:16, is not eternal life. He also pointed out the word perish can mean: “to be lost.” So those not believing, would be considered temporarily lost, until found, like the lost sheep, coin, and son.

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In summary, with all these verbs in the present tense, the question again arises: How is it that believers have eternal life in the present, if death still reigns in this life? The answer is simple. Jesus was not talking about immortality here; He was speaking about​ the abundant life we can experience in the present. If Jesus was speaking about eternal life after our resurrections, He would have used the future tense of the verbs.

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Additionally, if one believes the Greeks had no word for eternity, as some believers assert, then, He would not have used aionion to describe eternal life; He just would have referred to it as “life.” However, as Konstan, Ramali, Thomson, and many, many other scholars have pointed out, there were Greek terms available to Jesus which did carry the idea of endlessness, but He chose not to use them in these passages. One of those Greek terms used in the Bible to convey endlessness was “aidios.”

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Dr. J.W. Hanson wrote that Philo, a contemporary of Jesus, always used the adjective forms of aion to describe something as temporal, and Dr. Mangey, in his edition on Philo, agreed.

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We also have further proof from Josephus, who described the Pharisees as believing “the wicked are detained in everlasting prison (eirgmon aidion) subject to eternal punishment (aidios timoria) ...full of never ceasing punishment (timoria adialeipton) where they suffer a deathless punishment (athanaton timorian).” Notice how he avoided using the adjective forms of aion to denote what he believed to be an endless duration.

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Additionally, Thomson pointed out that Emperor Justinian also did not use the adjective forms of aion when he wrote his views on endless (ateleuteetos) life and punishment within his famous “Justinian Code.”

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With all this evidence, I believe Jesus could have used other words to convey the idea of endlessness, but He chose not to use them when referring to the wonderful life we inherit as a gift from Him during the time of “the ages.”

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The age-abiding life that Jesus was stressing in all three of the stories just discussed, centered around the quality of life in the present. When Jesus said that He came to give us life, and more abundantly, He was speaking to the living. And why not? Per His words to Nicodemus, resurrected life in the future is a given! That decision was God’s to make, and He has made it.

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Understandably, our Lord’s focus was on what individual believers can experience now with a “purpose driven life.” He loves us and is concerned about us in this life! Paul spoke it in Ephesians when he said that we have been lifted to heavenly places in​​​ Christ. He was not speaking of the physical heaven, but the wonderful state of mind we have in knowing Him now!  

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Singer, Jeremy Camp, wrote some lyrics about this theme in one of his very famous songs: Dead Man Walking. It is one of my favorites.

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Continuing in John 6:40, Jesus adds: “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have (present tense) aionion (age-lasting) life, AND (additionally) I will raise him up at the last day.” These are two separate promises – one for life in the present, and one for immortality in the future. (How did I miss this for so long?)

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These two promises are also explained again by the words of Jesus in John 11:25-26. There, Jesus said to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live (future tense), even though they die (referring to believers in the first two resurrections), and whoever lives and believing in me (again, referring to believers who die and are raised in the first two resurrections), will never die.” Lazarus was “made” alive, but later died, and as a believer, He will be resurrected and not die.  

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Now, why would Jesus add that last part, that those who live and believe, will never die again? Because believers in this life are the ones who will participate in the first two resurrections as the barley and the wheat harvests. They will not have to experience the second death, like those in the third group.

 

Jesus was born as a mortal man. He died, and three days later He was resurrected and put on immortality. Furthermore, 1 Timothy 6:16 tells us that “He alone is immortal.”

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Obviously, this can only mean that all other men who are living, or who have died, have not yet achieved immortality. That promise will be fulfilled at our resurrection in the future, as stated clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:52 with the phrase, “will be raised imperishable.” The verb phrase found here is written in the future tense.

 

As a matter of fact, every reference to immortality (aphthartos in the Greek) speaks of it as a future event. It comes after our deaths, when we are resurrected to life again. 1 Corinthians 15:42 states: “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.”

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This can only mean that we do not currently have eternal life. Presently, only Jesus has obtained it. Therefore, the aionion life that we currently do possess as believers, is not eternal, because we have not yet put on immortality.

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Translating “aionion” as “eternal” is a mistake, and it has misled many, including myself, far too long. After correcting the error, later, there will be time to prayerfully consider the use of this adjective, and its corresponding noun form, in other scriptures. But for now, I’d simply like to focus on the fact that aionion life is an inherited gift from Jesus to be used and enjoyed during the lives of the receivers of it here on earth.

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Even with aionion life, we are still mortals, and our lives here on earth will come to an end. Immortality – eternal life – will be received at the end of the ages, after the resurrection of all, when death, including the second, is swallowed up in victory – 1 Corinthians 15:54.

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More from Paul:

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In the 6th chapter of Romans, Paul was encouraging those who have been baptized in Christ. He said they have been raised from death to life, so that we should no longer be slaves to sin in our present lives. He wrote in verses 11 and 12: “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” And He concludes the 6th chapter with: “But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God (presently), the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is aionios life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is aionion life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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As one can plainly see, the entire chapter was referring to the life we should be living now in the present; it was not referring to eternal life in the hereafter. However, most translations erroneously refer to it as eternal life, instead of the age-lasting life we inherit as a gift in the present.

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In 1 Timothy 1:15-17, again, Paul spoke about the present. He stated that God was showing him mercy (in the present), as the worst of sinners (in the present), to be an example to those who intend, or who are (presently) about to believe in Him for aionion life (in the present.)

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He ends his discourse praising the anionon King, describing Him as immortal and invisible. First, why would you add immortal, if you supposedly just told me that He was  “eternal” as most translations have it: “praising the eternal King”? Secondly, He is only invisible to us now, in the present.

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Continuing, He goes on to say that He is the only God, and to Him be honor and glory for ever and ever? No, for the aionas ton aionon, which is referring to the ages of the ages,” with some special meaning behind each word.

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Aionas and aionon are plural forms of the noun, aion, appearing here in the accusative and genitive cases respectively. Quoting Dr. Wallace, again from page 76 of his book: “The genitive and accusative are similar in that both are cases expressing some kind of limitation.” The limitations are on the verb and the nouns respectively, emphasizing the “honor and glory” can only go to God. Remember, no man will be able to boast.

 

But look what most of our translations did with it – “to Him be the honor and glory forever and ever.” Really? Kai is the Greek word for “and,” not “ton.” “Ton,” here, literally means “the.” Not only is the phrase “forever and ever” illogical, with the idea of multiple eternities, it is also an imprecise translation, according to the actual words used.  

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But what does Strong’s say about it? I will use a quote from him on page 10 of his Greek Dictionary of The New Testament, located in the back of his Concordance. Speaking specifically about aion, Strong’s says: “The primary stress of this word is time in its unbroken duration… The phrases containing this word, should not be rendered literally, but consistently with its sense of endless duration. Thus ‘eis ton aiona’ does not mean ‘unto the age,’ but forever.” Those statements by Strong leave me speechless.

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Furthermore, Strong’s had just defined aion as: “age, by extension, perpetuity.” What? And he called this consistency, even with multiple examples in the scriptures of ages having beginnings and endings? Bless his heart, he was an example of someone being influenced by the theologians of his day, just I was for 70 years, and just like I know many of you have been, based on the stories I have heard from many other Christians.  

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Let us move to another passage in 2 Corinthians 4:6 through 5:5. I believe this is a passage where we can come together in our beliefs about these words. Again, Paul starts speaking about the present, and then, he moves on to his longing for the future in another age.

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Paul said in 4:16: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer flesh is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed.” His encouragement is that the inner should be our​ focus so that we do get discouraged in the present. Ever look in the mirror and get discouraged?

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Verse 18: “So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal? No, the word is “aionia.” It is a plural adjective, in the nominative case. It means, ages lasting; it lasts through the ages of our abiding. And may I add, it cannot mean eternity, because aionia is in the plural, and you cannot have multiple eternities, but you can have multiple ages.

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Continuing in 5:1, Paul refers to another age. He is letting us know that even though our current bodies are being dismantled in this age, we have a heavenly house (aionion) that will not be destroyed in the following ages. 

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I believe the aionion house Paul is referring to here, is in the ages at the end of them, where God’s work continues, until all groups have been resurrected, and He is all in all. It is first received by believers in the first resurrection, and the activity, or life, continues in those ages until His plan is complete.  

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In summary, the following is a picture of how I now see it on the time-line of eternity. Aions, in all its forms, apply to the middle section of the time-line I call, “The Ages.” Look at what we find in them.

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                                                                 The Timeline of Eternity

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                                           <------------------------------I-------------------I---------------------------------------->

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                                                    Before the ages                      The Ages                  After the consummation of ages

                                                             

                                                            1 Tim. 1:9                             Gen. 1:1                              Heb. 9:26 & 1 Cor. 10:11

                                                                                                                  Life                                      Immortality

                                                                                                                   Sin                                    God is all in all

                                                                                                             Perishing

                                                                                                               Death

                                                                                                              Gospel

                                                                                                             Salvation

                                                                                                          Resurrection  

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The scriptures clearly refer to a time before the ages began, “pro chronon aionion,” (1 Timothy 1:9). They also inform us about the consummation of the ages – the end of them! (Hebrews 9:26 and 1 Corinthians 10:11.) Does eternity end? No, but the ages do!

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Additionally, Jesus, the mighty messenger of God in Revelation 10, comes out with a little scroll in His hand, which contains the mystery of God. He makes a proclamation in verse 6 that chronos will be no more.

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In the next verse, He tells us when it will happen – in the days of the trumpet call by the seventh angel, when the mystery of God will be fulfilled, just as He had previously announced to his servants, the prophets. The proclamation: “Chronos will be no more,” arrives at the end of the ages.   

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This is very interesting to me because “chronos” refers to chronology, which is defined as: a sequence of time that can be measured, and it is associated with the linear movement of earthly things with a beginning and an end.

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 In Greek mythology, Chronos, was the personification of time. He was also called, Aiwn in Greek, and Aeon in Latin – both meaning age. Greco-Roman mosaics depicted him as a man turning the wheel of the zodiac, which was used at that time to tell the time of the seasons, particularly for the planting of crops. Chronos was a symbol of cyclical time.

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He is usually portrayed as an old callous man with a thick grey beard (that is why we refer to him now as “old man time”). He personifies the destructive and stifling aspects of time. And in his story, Chronos ate his own children. This background serves to enhance the Good News Jesus announced in Revelation 10, when He proclaimed that the end of that time is here!

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Paul spoke about the same in 1 Corinthians 15:24 when he declared, “Then comes the end (the telos) when he delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and authority and power” of the ages.

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 Closing: Even if we disagree on a precise definition of aion, in its various noun and adjective forms, we can all come together and celebrate the end result. I only wish to pass this information along so that we may be better prepared to serve the poor, those who do not know the enormity of our Lord’s goodness and concern for us in this life, as well as the next. I believe this revelation can be good, healthy food-for-thought, and it can bring abundant life to the dead ones walking without knowing who He is – Jesus, the Savior of the world.

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