Why Are Three Ages Needed to Obtain the Eternal Life of God? (This Age → The Coming Age → The Eternal Age)

 

Why Are Three Ages Needed to Obtain the Eternal Life of God? (This Age → The Coming Age → The Eternal Age)

Central Vision:
There is only one eternal life—the uncreated life of God Himself. Yet, according to God's eternal economy, this one divine life is experienced progressively through three ages: received in this age, developed and rewarded in the coming age, and fully enjoyed in eternity, ultimately consummating in the New Jerusalem.

Integrated Comparison Table

Item	This Age (Church Age)		The Coming Age (Millennial Kingdom)		The Eternal Age  (New Heaven & New Earth)
Meaning	Receiving eternal life		Developing and maturing eternal life		Fully enjoying eternal life forever
Stage of Life	Regeneration		Growth, maturity, and overcoming		Glorification and perfection
Life Experience	Receiving God's life		Living out God's life		Expressing God's life eternally
God's Work	Dispensing His life		Perfecting His life within us		Manifesting His life in glory
God's Purpose	Make believers God's children		Produce overcomers		Build the New Jerusalem
Primary Experience	Regeneration		Sanctification, renewing, transformation, conformation		Glorification
Focus	Possessing life		Growing in life		Enjoying life eternally
Reward	Eternal life received freely		Crown of life; kingdom reward		Eternal enjoyment of the Tree of Life and River of Life
Divine Nature	Initially imparted		Continually constituted		Fully expressed
God-man Living	Learning to live Christ		Maturely expressing Christ		Eternally expressing Christ
Ultimate Result	Children of God		Overcomers reigning with Christ		The Bride—the New Jerusalem
Overview of Related Scriptures	This Age — Receiving Eternal Life John 3:16 John 3:36 John 5:24 John 10:28–29 1 John 1:1–2 1 John 5:11–13 Romans 6:23	The Coming Age — Maturity and Reward Mark 10:29–30 Revelation 2:7 Revelation 2:10 2 Peter 1:3–11 2 Timothy 4:7–8		The Eternal Age — Eternal Enjoyment John 4:14 Revelation 21:6 Revelation 22:1–2 Revelation 22:14 Revelation 22:17		Divine Life and Divine Nature John 1:12–13 2 Peter 1:3–4 1 John 1:1–2 1 John 5:11–13 John 4:24 1 John 1:5 1 John 4:8, 16

 

Spiritual Sequence

Step	God's Operation	Believer's Experience	Result
1	God imparts His life	Believe and be regenerated	Receive eternal life
2	God causes life to grow	Sanctification, renewing, transformation	Partake of the divine nature
3	God rewards maturity	Overcome and reign with Christ	Receive the kingdom reward
4	God consummates His economy	Enter the New Jerusalem	Enjoy eternal life forever

 

Spiritual Illustrations

Illustration	This Age	Coming Age	Eternal Age
Seed	Sown	Grows to maturity	Bears abundant fruit
Child	Born	Grows into maturity	Fully matured son
Vine	Grafted in	Bears fruit	Eternal harvest
Building	Foundation laid	Building progresses	Holy City completed
Marriage	Betrothal	Wedding feast	Eternal union

 

Relationship Among the Three Ages

This Age	Coming Age	Eternal Age
Receive life	Develop life	Enjoy life forever
Grace	Reward	Eternal inheritance
Free gift	Faithful recompense	Full possession
Child of God	Overcomer	Bride of Christ
Beginning	Process	Consummation

Spiritual Formula

Receiving Eternal Life + Growth in Divine Life + Kingdom Maturity = The Full Enjoyment of Eternal Life

Biblical Examples

Person	This Age	Coming Age	Eternal Significance
Peter	Received eternal life	Matured in life	Rich entrance into the kingdom (2 Pet. 1:11)
Paul	Regenerated	Finished the race faithfully	Crown of righteousness
John	Received divine life	Lived in the fellowship of life	Saw the New Jerusalem
The Overcomers	Regenerated	Receive the crown of life	Reign and dwell with God forever

 

Practical Application

Daily Practice	Spiritual Result
Eat Christ as the Tree of Life daily	Growth in divine life
Exercise the spirit	Constitution with the divine nature
Live the church life	Building up the Body of Christ
Love and follow the Lord faithfully	Prepared for kingdom reward
Accept the working of the cross	Conformed to Christ
Maintain daily fellowship with God	Live the God-man life

 

Ministry Burden (According to Witness Lee)

1.      Salvation is the beginning, not the goal.

2.      God's intention is not merely to bring people to heaven, but to dispense Himself into man.

3.      Eternal life is a living, organic life, not merely a promise.

4.      Divine life must grow, develop, mature, and be perfected.

5.      God's present work is the building up of believers through life.

6.      The church life is the environment for the development of the divine life.

7.      The kingdom is the reward of maturity in life.

8.      The New Jerusalem is the corporate expression of the processed Triune God mingled with His redeemed people.

Prophesying Guidelines

A helpful sequence for speaking in the church:

1.      God has only one eternal life.

2.      Eternal life is received today through faith in Christ.

3.      This divine life must grow and mature.

4.      The coming kingdom rewards the mature believers.

5.      God's divine life produces God's divine nature in us.

6.      God is constituting Himself into His people today.

7.      The New Jerusalem is the ultimate expression of eternal life.

Ultimate Conclusion

There is only one eternal life—the uncreated, eternal life of God Himself. God's eternal economy unfolds this one life progressively through three ages:

• In this age, believers receive eternal life through faith in Christ and become children of God.
• In the coming age, the divine life develops to maturity through sanctification, transformation, and faithful overcoming, qualifying believers for the kingdom reward.
• In the eternal age, God's redeemed and perfected people eternally enjoy the Tree of Life and the River of Water of Life in the New Jerusalem, expressing God's life and divine nature forever (in life and nature, but never in the Godhead).

Thus, the three ages are not three different lives but three progressive stages in God's eternal economy for the dispensing, development, maturity, and eternal manifestation of His one divine life.

One-Sentence Summary

This age is for receiving the eternal life of God, the coming age is for the growth and maturity of that life, and the eternal age is for its full and everlasting enjoyment; together, the three ages accomplish God's eternal purpose by dispensing, developing, perfecting, and eternally expressing His one divine life.

 

*Please refer to the April 2026 Summer Training General Topic: Believers, Part Two: Eternal Life—God's Life with a Divine Nature; The Triune God as the Structure of the Bible; and the Hidden God, the Self-Hidden God.