by Brian Knowles

n his letter to the Christian assemblies in Galatia, the apostle Paul uses an interesting expression: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:2, NIV). The wording of this verse gives rise to several natural questions:

            Why did the Galatian believers need to be rescued from an “age”?

            How can an age be called “evil”?

            What was behind Paul’s use of this language?

Word Meanings

The word “age” here – translated “world” in the KJV -- comes from the Greek word aion. The basic meaning is “time” or “age.” “Age” is therefore a more appropriate translation than “world.” In Paul’s usage here, it means a specific segment of time as contrasted with another segment. This is indicated by the use of the word “present.”

            Why does Paul call the present age “evil”? The word “evil” is translated from the Greek poneros. The word has a range of meanings, depending upon usage. For example, in the physical sense, it can mean “in poor condition, sick.” Or it can mean “painful, virulent or serious” as in Revelation 16:2. Other meanings are “bad,” “spoiled” or “worthless” (cf. Matthew 7:17 ff.). It can refer to a wicked or evil-intentioned person – an evil-doer (Matthew 5:45). In Galatians 1:2, Paul seems to be using the word in an ethical sense: “wicked,” or “evil.” New Testament scholar James D.G. Dunn explains the language here: “So too ‘the present evil age’ presupposes the Jewish apocalyptic schema which saw world history as divided into two ages, the present age and the world to come, and the present age as one dominated by evil, in contrast to the glories of the future age” (The Epistle to the Galatians, p. 36).

            To the extent that we are caught up in the spirit of the times, we are sucked into the darkness – into the evil. As Dunn points out: “Paul certainly had no doubts that the present age was marked by corruptibility, superficiality, folly, and blindness…or that humankind as heirs of Adam were caught under the reign of sin and death (Romans v.12-21; I Cor. xv.20-2).”

            Ours is an age in which “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In our time: “God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 53:2-3). In context, the Psalmist is speaking of Israel (verse 6), but the principle is universal.

            The apostle John, writing to the Church generally, says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us…If we claim we have not sinned, we make him [God] out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (I John 1:8-10).

            So ours in an age in which “all have sinned”: it is therefore an evil time. The effects of evil are omnipresent. The Biblical writers have used a variety of images to describe the present evil age: more on that later.

            Jesus himself referred on occasion to the two ages as understood by Judaism. In his teaching about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit he said, “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32).

            In another place, Jesus is talking about the reward those who have left loved ones to follow him. He says, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). Here we see the age to come associated with eternal life.

            On another occasion, Jesus is answering a question from the Sadducees, who did not believe there would be a resurrection. They tried to trick him by asking a hypothetical question about whose wife a woman who had had multiple marriages would be in the resurrection (Luke 20:27-33). Jesus’ reply again reflects his belief in the “two age” model: “Jesus replied, ‘The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection of the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die, or they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:34-36).

            Now Jesus explains how some will come to have eternal life – through a resurrection.

Two Ages in Paul’s Writings

We have already seen that Paul refers to the present age as “evil” (Galatians 1:4). For Paul, this is the age of mortality and physical death (I Corinthians 15:20-22). It is “in Adam” that our mortality is assured. As the unknown writer of Hebrews wrote: “It is appointed unto men once to die...” (Hebrews 9:27a). Yet, after this death, there is another time – another “age” in which judgment will occur (vs.27b).

            In Paul’s view, the vaunted wisdom of this age – even at its zenith – is mere foolishness in contrast to the wisdom of God: “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (I Corinthians 1:20). The world’s “wisdom” often leads away from God instead of toward Him. Even today, our children may enter our “great” universities as Christians and graduate as atheists or agnostics. A few verses later, Paul returns to the idea of this world’s relative foolishness:

            “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before the world began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Corinthians 2:6-8).

            Ours is an age of folly when it comes to the things of God. It takes humility to grasp such spiritual wisdom. Spiritually speaking, the world languishes in a state of blindness (II Corinthians 4:4). The light of the Gospel is unable to penetrate the darkness that characterizes the age.

            This is the age of the “first Adam.” It is a time that is experiencing the “reign of death” as a result of sin: “…so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21). Because all have sinned (Romans 3:23), all are subject to the “wages of sin” which is death (Romans 6:23). In this age, sin reigns by consigning all of us to eternal damnation. The natural state of mankind in this age is “dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:5). In the age to come, the grace of God will kick in and those who have accepted Christ in this time will be resurrected to eternal life. It will be the age of the “Second Adam” – the one who never sinned.

Two Ages in Jewish Literature

Jesus and Paul’s model of the two ages is also found and confirmed throughout Jewish literature. Two apocalyptic works feature it: 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. Both of these works were written following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, but the thinking reflected in them is the natural outworking of a long tradition that may have its beginnings in the book of Daniel (Chapters II & VII). In the Qumran documents, we find references to the present age as “the time of wickedness” (CD VI:10, 14; XII:23; XV:7 etc.). We read of battles between “the sons of darkness” and the “sons of light.”

            Paul certainly shared the view that the world exists in a state of darkness: Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:8, 1l; 6:12; Colossians 1:13.

            The apostle Peter viewed Christians as “a people” separated out of the darkness of this age and introduced to spiritual light: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9).

            This age is an age of darkness in which sin and death reign supreme over the human realm. The antidote to the toxin of sin is divine grace, freely offered and gratefully received. The age to come will be an age of spiritual light, a Messianic age in which the wisdom of this sorry world will vaporize and God’s Torah (Instruction) will usher forth from Zion.

            For those of us who have been called, this is our day of salvation. It is a time to preach the good news that the condition of darkness and death will not last forever. God has sent his Anointed One into the darkness to bring it light. He is light, life and freedom for a world in bondage to sin. The age to come will be the Messianic Age, the time of the Second Adam (I Corinthians 15:45). Jesus is a “life-giving Spirit.” When his redemptive work is done: “…then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is our victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’” (I Corinthians 15:54-55).

            At some point, this present evil age will come to an end and a new age will dawn. Life, as it unfolds on this planet, is truly “a tale of two ages.”

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