Page 106 - Gods Plan of the Ages

Jude 6-7
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He
has kept in hidden bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom
and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged
in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in
undergoing the punishment of age-abiding fire.

Another point in support of this rendering is the reference to Sodom. We read
previously that Sodom will be restored to her habitation one day. Sodom's inhabitants are
at this time kept hidden away in bonds, but they are not eternal bonds.

Ezekiel 16:55
Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to
their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state.

The question remains to be answered, "If eternal life is not the correct understanding
of aionian life, then what is this expression intended to convey?" If I do not err, aionian life
must refer to that life that God provides for man within the bounds of the ages. This present
creation is not eternal. It must one day pass away. Yahweh has devised a plan for the
creation encompassing many ages. All will culminate in one great age of ages when all is
reconciled to the Father and sin and death are no more. Then comes the end when Christ
delivers up the kingdom, all rule and authority, to the Father. All things, including the Son,
are then summed up in Yahweh so that He becomes "all in all."
Aionian life must therefore constitute that divine life that is free of sin and death
which Christ provides for men during the ages (aions) of creation. Aionian life is that
exceptional life entered into by men who have been reconciled to the Father. These ones
partake of fellowship with God, knowing Him, and being known by Him.

I Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will
know fully just as I also have been fully known.

There are many Scripture verses that speak of aionian life as something promised,
something set before the Christian as a hope. Although we are partakers of the life of Christ
now, we have not yet arrived at the fulness that Paul speaks of in the verse above. One day
we will know (Yahweh and His Son) fully even as we are known. This is the end toward
which all things are heading. Knowing God is the predominant characteristic of aionian life.

John 17:1-3
Yahshua spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour
has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority
over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give aionian life. This is
aionian life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yahshua Christ whom You
have sent."

In these words of Christ we see that the true characteristic of aionian life is not eternal
length, rather it is unfettered fellowship with the Father and the Son. Christ came to set the
captives free. Those whom the Son sets free are free indeed. No longer will sin and death
keep men from knowing the Father. The Son has brought life that all may know the Father
and the Son.