Difference between revisions of "Eternal"

<div> '''1: '''''Αἰών''''' ''' (Strong'S #165 — Noun Masculine — aion — ahee-ohn' ) </div> <p> "an age," is translated "eternal" in &nbsp;Ephesians 3:11 , lit., "(purpose) of the ages" (marg.). See Age. </p> <div> '''2: '''''Αἰώνιος''''' ''' (Strong'S #166 — Adjective — aionios — ahee-o'-nee-os ) </div> <p> "describes duration, either undefined but not endless, as in &nbsp;Romans 16:25; &nbsp;2—Timothy 1:9; &nbsp;Titus 1:2; or undefined because endless as in &nbsp;Romans 16:26 , and the other sixty-six places in the NT. </p> &nbsp;2—Corinthians 4:18&nbsp;Philemon 1:15&nbsp;Romans 16:26&nbsp;1—Timothy 6:16&nbsp;1—Peter 5:10&nbsp;Hebrews 9:14&nbsp;Hebrews 9:12&nbsp;Hebrews 5:9&nbsp;2—Peter 1:11&nbsp;Luke 1:33&nbsp;John 3:16&nbsp;John 10:28&nbsp;2—Corinthians 5:1&nbsp;1—Corinthians 15:53&nbsp;Matthew 25:46&nbsp;Titus 1:2&nbsp;Mark 3:29&nbsp;Hebrews 6:2&nbsp;Matthew 18:8&nbsp;25:41&nbsp;Jude 1:7&nbsp;Mark 9:43&nbsp;2—Thessalonians 1:9 <div> '''3: '''''Ἀΐδιος''''' ''' (Strong'S #126 — Adjective — aidios — ah-id'-ee-os ) </div> <p> see Everlasting. </p>

<p> [[Eternal, Eternity]] </p> <p> The [[Scripture]] sense of these terms, in reference to the persons of the [[Godhead]] and the events connected with them, are in the strictest sense of the word, for ever and ever. Very solemn, and yet very blessed, and full of the highest consolation, are those views of the eternity of [[Jehovah]] and his purposes in salvation. How infinitely sublime are those Scriptures! "Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy." (&nbsp;Isaiah 57:15) "For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever." (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:40) "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:27) And JEHOVAH, in a threefold character of persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is thus described in the eternity of his nature and essence, so Christ the Mediator, by virtue of the union of the manhood with the GODHEAD, is declared by JEHOVAH to be eternal. "Thy throne, [[O]] God, is for ever and ever." (&nbsp;Psalms 45:6; &nbsp;Hebrews 1:8) "The Lord sware, and will not repent; Thou art a [[Priest]] for ever, after the order of Melchizedec." (&nbsp;Psalms 110:4) And hence, in Christ and by Christ, and from an union with him, all that is connected in the blessed work of salvation is of eternal duration. The covenant is declared to be an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. (&nbsp;2 Samuel 23:5; &nbsp;Jeremiah 32:40) The gospel is called an everlasting gospel. (&nbsp;Revelation 14:6) [[Redemption]] is said to be an eternal redemption. (&nbsp;Hebrews 9:12) And the consequence certainly follows from these properties, that the glory purchased by an eternal redemption is an eternal weight of glory. So the apostle to the Corinthians calls it, &nbsp;2 Corinthians 4:17. (See &nbsp;Hebrews 5:9; &nbsp;1 Peter 5:10; &nbsp;1 John 5:11) </p>

<p> ''''' ē̇ ''''' - ''''' tûr´nal ''''' ( עולם , <i> ''''' ‛ōlām ''''' </i> ; αἰώνιος , <i> ''''' aiō̇nios ''''' </i> , from αἰών , <i> ''''' aiō̇n ''''' </i> ): The word "eternal" is of very varying import, both in the [[Scriptures]] and out of them. </p> 1. ''''' ‛Ōlām ''''' <p> In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word <i> ''''' ‛ōlām ''''' </i> is used for "eternity," sometimes in the sense of unlimited duration, sometimes in the sense of a cycle or an age, and sometimes, in later Hebrew, in the signification of world. The Hebrew <i> ''''' ‛ōlām ''''' </i> has, for its proper New [[Testament]] equivalent, <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> , as signifying either time of particular duration, or the unending duration of time in general. Only, the Hebrew term primarily signified unlimited time, and only in a secondary sense represented a definite or specific period. Both the Hebrew and the Greek terms signify the world itself, as it moves in time. </p> 2. ''''' Aiōn ''''' , ''''' Aiōnios ''''' <p> In the New Testament, <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' aiōnios ''''' </i> are often used with the meaning "eternal," in the predominant sense of futurity. The word <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> primarily signifies time, in the sense of age or generation; it also comes to denote all that exists under time-conditions; and, finally, superimposed upon the temporal is an ethical use, relative to the world's course. Thus <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> may be said to mean the subtle informing spirit of the world or cosmos - the totality of things. By Plato, in his <i> [[Timaeus]] </i> , <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> was used of the eternal Being, whose counterpart, in the sense-world, is Time. To Aristotle, in speaking of the world, <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> is the ultimate principle which, in itself, sums up all existence. In the New Testament, <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> is found combined with prepositions in nearly three score and ten instances, where the idea of unlimited duration appears to be meant. This is the usual method of expressing eternity in the [[Septuagint]] also. The <i> ''''' aiōnios ''''' </i> of &nbsp;2 Corinthians 4:18 must be eternal, in a temporal use or reference, else the antithesis would be gone. </p> 3. ''''' Aı́dios ''''' <p> In &nbsp;Romans 1:20 the word <i> ''''' aı́dios ''''' </i> is used of [[Divine]] action and rendered in the King James Version "eternal" (the Revised Version (British and American) "everlasting"), the only other place in the New Testament where the word occurs being &nbsp;Judges 1:6 , where the rendering is "everlasting," which accords with classical usage. But the presence of the idea of eternal in these passages does not impair the fact that <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' aiōnios ''''' </i> are, in their natural and obvious connotation, the usual New Testament words for expressing the idea of eternal, and this holds strikingly true of the Septuagint usage also. For, from the idea of aeonian life, there is no reason to suppose the notion of duration excluded. The word <i> ''''' aiōnios ''''' </i> is sometimes used in the futurist signification, but often also, in the New Testament, it is concerned rather with the quality, than with the quantity or duration, of life. By the continual attachment of <i> ''''' aiōnios ''''' </i> to life, in this conception of the spiritual or Divine life in man, the aeonian conception was saved from becoming sterile. </p> 4. [[Enlargement]] of Idea <p> In the use of <i> ''''' aiōn ''''' </i> and <i> ''''' aiōnios ''''' </i> there is evidenced a certain enlarging or advancing import till they come so to express the high and complex fact of the Divine life in man. In Greek, <i> ''''' aiō̇nes ''''' </i> signifies ages, or periods or dispensations. The <i> ''''' aiōnes ''''' </i> of &nbsp;Hebrews 1:2 , and &nbsp;Hebrews 11:3 , is, however, to be taken as used in the concrete sense of "the worlds," and not "the ages," the world so taken meaning the totality of things in their course or flow. </p> 5. [[Eternal]] Life <p> Our Lord decisively set the element of time in abeyance, and took His stand upon the fact and quality of life - life endless by its own nature. Of that eternal life He is Himself the guarantee - "Because I live, ye shall live also" (&nbsp;John 14:19 ). Therefore said Augustine, "Join thyself to the eternal God, and thou wilt be eternal." See [[Eternity]] . </p>