Age

Advanced in Years

What do you think about when you hear the word age? Probably your first line of thinking is about your age. We tend to personalize things pretty quickly. Age is a term referring to the amount of time that has passed since something began. (That's my definition!) The dictionary says that age is the length of time a person has lived or a thing has existed. Age in this sense is related to both experience and existence.

There is an interesting phrase in Luke 1 referring to the birth of John the Baptist. In verse 7, both ESV and NKJV translations use the phrase, “advanced in years,” to refer to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:7). I have always thought the English phrase is an attempt to tactfully make the point that they were old. Obviously, the point in the text is that they are beyond the age of having children. Two things are important to notice about this passage. First, we are to note the power of God in divinely bringing about the conception and birth of the forerunner who would prepare the way for Jesus. But also, we see that even after Zechariah and Elizabeth had most likely stopped hoping for a child, God was accomplishing His perfect will. All those years of barrenness and heartache mattered and had a purpose.

Only a Number

Age is also a rather relative concept. Old and young designations really have to do with life circumstances as much as years experienced. Just today I saw a video where a man called into a radio program because he felt hopeless about his finances and his future. What was interesting was not so much the financial issues (he had a couple thousand dollars in debt and a low to average income) rather it was the fact that he was 22 years old. This man felt like he had missed his opportunity to have a successful life and was beyond all hope. But most people over say 35 would probably immediately realize that he had plenty of opportunity still to come. 

Or consider a professional athlete, in many sports by the late twenties to the early thirties the athletes must retire because they have passed their prime athletic abilities. They may have 60 more years of life, but that portion is complete. 

Or consider the careers of so many individuals who didn't even start doing the things they are best known for until they were 60 or 70 or even older. Examples of such people are Col. Sanders (KFC), Laura Ingalls Wilder, Julia Child and Grandma Moses. My point is that we categorize old and young often based on relative circumstances not objective standards.

Ages

However, there is another use of the term age. The dictionary also gives the secondary definition as, “a distinct period of history.” This reference is about what we would also call eras and epochs. We define our history according to these periods of time. The Bible speaks of two ages. The first is called “this age” (Matthew 12:32). This refers to the current time in which we live. It is the age extending from the beginning of creation till the end of this cosmos. This age is also called an “evil age” (Galatians 1:3-5). This is the age when sin is present and persistent but not ultimate or eternal. It is from this present evil age that Jesus has come to rescue and deliver His people from the power and penalty of our sin. But Jesus will ultimately also deliver us from the very presence of sin by taking us from this age to what the Bible calls the “age to come” (Mark 10:29-31). Because this is true the Apostle Paul instructs us as believers to renounce ungodliness and live godly lives in this age as we are awaiting the blessed hope of the age to come (Titus 2:11-14). The Apostle Peter also encourages us to live lives of holiness and godliness as we wait for the new age where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:11-13).

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