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IS THERE A CHURCH AGE?
Understanding the Dispensations, the Biblical Covenants, and the Everlasting Kingdom of Jesus Christ
For many years, Christians have been taught that we are presently living in something called the Church Age. According to this understanding, God temporarily suspended His prophetic program concerning national Israel, established the Church, and will eventually remove the Church from the earth before returning to His dealings with Israel during a future period of tribulation and an earthly millennial kingdom.
But is this how Scripture presents God’s redemptive plan?
Does the Bible actually teach that the Church occupies a temporary age between the Mosaic Law and a future Kingdom Age? Or does Scripture reveal something entirely different, a covenantal plan unfolding through the generations and finding its fulfillment in Jesus Christ?
I want to examine this subject carefully because I once approached biblical prophecy through the dispensational framework myself. However, as I began studying the Scriptures through their historical context, their original audience, and the promises God made through His covenants, my understanding began to change.
Today, I no longer believe we are waiting for a future Kingdom Age. I believe Jesus Christ has already established His kingdom, and that kingdom is everlasting.
To understand why, we need to begin with dispensationalism itself.
WHAT IS DISPENSATIONALISM?
Dispensationalism is a theological system that divides biblical history into distinguishable periods called dispensations. Each dispensation represents a particular administration of God’s dealings with humanity.
Although different forms of dispensationalism exist, the traditional seven-dispensation model is commonly presented as follows:
1. Innocence
From the creation of Adam and Eve until the fall. Humanity lived in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the human experience.
2. Conscience
From the fall of Adam until the flood. Humanity was responsible before God apart from the later written Mosaic Law.
3. Human Government
From Noah and the flood until the calling of Abraham. This period emphasizes the establishment of human responsibility and governmental authority.
4. Promise
From Abraham until Moses. God made promises concerning Abraham, his descendants, the land, and the blessing that would come through his seed.
5. Law
From Moses until the coming of Christ and the events surrounding Pentecost. Israel lived under the Mosaic covenant with its commandments, sacrifices, priesthood, and ordinances.
6. Grace, or the Church Age
From Pentecost until the anticipated future rapture of the Church. In classical dispensationalism, this period is distinguished from God’s prophetic program concerning national Israel.
7. Kingdom
The anticipated future thousand-year earthly reign of Jesus Christ, commonly associated with Revelation 20.
This framework has influenced generations of Christians, particularly through prophecy conferences, popular Bible teachers, and the notes of the Scofield Reference Bible.
However, we need to distinguish between what Scripture explicitly teaches and how a theological system organizes Scripture.
The Bible certainly describes different historical administrations, responsibilities, and covenants. But does it teach that Christ’s kingdom must await the conclusion of a separate Church Age before being established?
That is where I believe the dispensational framework encounters serious difficulties.
THE BIBLE REVEALS GOD’S COVENANTS
Rather than beginning with seven dispensations, I believe we should begin with the covenants God actually established and identified throughout Scripture.
A covenant is not simply a period of time. It involves promises, obligations, relationships, and divine commitments.
The biblical covenants reveal God’s unfolding redemptive purpose, and their promises ultimately direct our attention toward Jesus Christ.
Let’s examine them.
1. THE COVENANT WITH NOAH: PRESERVATION
Following the flood, God established His covenant with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature.
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Genesis 9:11
The Noahic covenant concerned God’s promise not to destroy all flesh again by a worldwide flood.
The rainbow became the visible sign of that covenant.
This covenant was not a temporary dispensation that simply disappeared when Abraham came along. It concerned God’s preservation of the created order.
And notice something important: God made this covenant long before the Mosaic Law existed.
God’s covenantal dealings with humanity did not begin at Mount Sinai.
2. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT: PROMISE AND INHERITANCE
God called Abraham and promised that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed.
And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 12:3
God also promised Abraham a seed and an inheritance.
But when we come to the New Testament, Paul explains the ultimate identity of that promised Seed.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Galatians 3:16
Notice that Paul does not leave us guessing about the central fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise.
The promised Seed is Jesus Christ.
And Paul continues:
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:29
This is extremely important.
Under the New Covenant, inheritance is not determined by physical ancestry or national identity. Those who belong to Jesus Christ are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
This does not mean that God failed to keep His promises to Abraham. It means those promises reach their intended fulfillment through Christ.
And we must remember that the Mosaic Law, which came centuries after Abraham, could not cancel God’s earlier promise.
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
Galatians 3:17
The Abrahamic promise was not destroyed by the Law. Its fulfillment was secured in Christ.
3. THE MOSAIC COVENANT: THE LAW AND ISRAEL
The Mosaic covenant was established with Israel at Mount Sinai.
It included commandments, sacrifices, priestly regulations, ceremonial observances, and the administration of the nation under the Law.
God made this covenant with Israel following their deliverance from Egypt.
And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.
Exodus 24:3
Unlike the promise to Abraham, the Mosaic covenant involved an extensive system of commandments and covenant obligations.
The Law served an important purpose, but Scripture also explains that it was never intended to be the final administration of God’s redemptive relationship with His people.
Paul writes:
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Galatians 3:24–25
Notice the direction of the passage.
The Law was pointing toward Christ.
Jesus Himself declared:
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Matthew 5:17
And Paul writes:
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:4
The Mosaic covenant served its appointed purpose. Christ fulfilled the Law and established the New Covenant.
This is not merely a change from one dispensation to another. It is the fulfillment of the covenantal promises and the arrival of the reality toward which the Law had pointed.
4. THE PRIESTLY COVENANT: PRIESTHOOD AND MEDIATION
God also made a covenant concerning the priesthood through Phinehas, a descendant of Aaron.
Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
Numbers 25:12–13
The priesthood was essential to Israel’s covenantal worship. Priests offered sacrifices, ministered before God, and represented the people in matters concerning atonement and holiness.
But the New Testament reveals that the Levitical priesthood could not bring God’s redemptive purpose to completion.
Jesus Christ became our eternal High Priest, not through Aaron’s lineage, but after the order of Melchizedek.
For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 7:17
Hebrews explains that a change in priesthood necessarily involved a change in the Law.
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Hebrews 7:12
Christ did not simply continue the Levitical priesthood. His superior and everlasting priesthood brought the former priestly administration to its intended conclusion.
Through Him, God’s people have access to the Father without the continuation of the old sacrificial system.
The particular hereditary promise made to Phinehas should not be confused with Christ’s priesthood. Nevertheless, the larger biblical purpose of priesthood and mediation reaches its ultimate realization in Jesus Christ.
5. THE DAVIDIC COVENANT: KINGSHIP AND THE EVERLASTING THRONE
Now we come to a covenant that is especially important when discussing the Kingdom of God.
God promised David that his throne and kingdom would be established forever.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
2 Samuel 7:16
The question is simple.
Who fulfills this promise?
The angel Gabriel announced concerning Jesus:
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 1:32–33
Jesus Christ is the promised Son of David.
But was His reign postponed until a future earthly millennium?
Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost is especially important.
Peter explained that David knew God had promised to raise up one of his descendants to sit upon his throne. He then connected that promise with the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ.
See Acts 2:29–36.
Peter declared that Jesus had been raised from the dead, exalted to God’s right hand, and made both Lord and Christ.
The fulfillment of the Davidic promise was not presented as something disconnected from Christ’s resurrection and exaltation.
The promised King had arrived.
And His kingdom was not described as a temporary reign awaiting replacement.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.
Isaiah 9:7
Notice those words: EVEN FOR EVER.
Why would we expect Christ’s everlasting kingdom to begin only after a temporary Church Age when the apostles proclaimed His exaltation and authority in their own generation?
6. THE NEW COVENANT: THE FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST
The prophet Jeremiah announced that God would establish a New Covenant.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jeremiah 31:31
This covenant would not be like the covenant made when God brought Israel out of Egypt.
It would involve forgiveness, an inward relationship with God, and His Law written upon the hearts of His people.
Jesus identified His own blood with the establishment of that covenant.
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:28
And Hebrews explains the significance of this transition.
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:13
Notice carefully what the writer said.
The first covenant had become old and was ready to vanish away.
This language is particularly significant when we consider the historical circumstances of the first-century Church.
Jesus had already offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice. The New Covenant had been inaugurated through His blood. Yet the temple in Jerusalem and its sacrificial system still stood.
From the fulfilled perspective, this was the transitional period between the inauguration of the New Covenant and the final removal of the Old Covenant order in AD 70.
The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple marked the historical conclusion of that former covenantal administration.
The New Covenant was not postponed until some future age. It had already been established through Jesus Christ.
THE COVENANTS FIND THEIR CENTER IN CHRIST
Now consider what we have examined.
The Abrahamic covenant promised a Seed through whom the nations would be blessed.
Christ is that Seed.
The Mosaic covenant contained the Law that pointed toward the coming Redeemer.
Christ fulfilled the Law.
The priestly covenant belonged to an administration of sacrifices and mediation.
Christ is our eternal High Priest, whose priesthood surpasses that former order.
The Davidic covenant promised an everlasting King and kingdom.
Christ is that King.
The New Covenant promised forgiveness, reconciliation, and a restored relationship with God.
Christ established that covenant through His blood.
These promises are not competing redemptive programs. They belong to the unfolding biblical account of God’s purpose in Jesus Christ.
And that brings us directly to the question of the Church Age.
WHERE DOES THE BIBLE TEACH A CHURCH AGE?
The expression Church Age does not appear in Scripture.
Now, the absence of a particular theological expression does not automatically make an idea unbiblical. The real question is whether Scripture teaches the concept being described.
In classical dispensationalism, the Church Age is commonly understood as the present period between Pentecost and a future rapture, after which God’s prophetic dealings with national Israel will resume in a distinct way.
The Church and Israel are understood as distinguishable peoples within God’s prophetic program.
But what did Paul actually teach concerning Jews and Gentiles in Christ?
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Ephesians 2:14
Paul continues:
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Ephesians 2:16
Notice the language.
BOTH MADE ONE.
ONE BODY.
Paul does not describe two separate redeemed peoples awaiting two different ultimate covenantal destinies.
He describes Jews and Gentiles reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
And Galatians makes the same point concerning inheritance.
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:29
The determining factor is belonging to Christ.
That is why I do not believe the Church is a temporary interruption in God’s plan for Israel.
The Church, consisting of Jews and Gentiles united in Christ, is the covenant people of God under the New Covenant.
We should also remember that the biblical word translated church refers to an assembly or congregation. The existence of Christ’s assembly does not require us to create a separate prophetic age in which His kingdom has supposedly not yet arrived.
ARE WE IN THE CHURCH AGE OR THE KINGDOM?
Here is where I believe the dispensational framework encounters one of its greatest difficulties.
It places the Kingdom Age in the future, yet the New Testament repeatedly describes the kingdom as a present reality for first-century believers.
Jesus declared:
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Matthew 12:28
Notice that Jesus did not describe the kingdom as something entirely absent until a distant millennium.
He spoke of its arrival in connection with His own ministry.
Paul wrote to the Colossians:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Colossians 1:13
Notice the language.
HATH TRANSLATED US.
Paul was not telling those believers that they would enter Christ’s kingdom thousands of years later.
He described them as already having been transferred into it.
And the writer of Hebrews declared:
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Hebrews 12:28
They were receiving a kingdom that could not be shaken.
This language becomes especially significant when read alongside the surrounding passage concerning the shaking and removal of what could be shaken.
Within the fulfilled understanding, Hebrews 12 describes the removal of the former covenantal order and the establishment of the unshakable New Covenant kingdom.
The first-century believers were not waiting for Jesus to become King.
They were participating in the kingdom of the risen and exalted Christ.
DANIEL DID NOT PROPHESY A POSTPONED KINGDOM
Daniel described a stone cut out without hands that struck the great image representing successive kingdoms.
He then declared:
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Daniel 2:44
Notice when Daniel said this kingdom would be established.
IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS.
Within the familiar interpretation identifying the fourth kingdom with Rome, this points toward the period in which Jesus Christ entered the world and established His reign.
The prophecy does not require us to believe that every earthly government would immediately disappear when the kingdom was established.
Daniel’s imagery portrays the ultimate superiority and enduring dominion of God’s kingdom over human empires.
And Daniel 7 provides another important picture.
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13–14
Notice the direction of the Son of Man’s coming in this vision.
He comes to the Ancient of Days and receives dominion, glory, and a kingdom.
This is an enthronement scene.
Jesus Christ received authority and dominion through His exaltation. His kingdom was not an earthly political administration awaiting a future inauguration.
It was the everlasting reign promised by the prophets.
WHAT ABOUT THE THOUSAND YEARS OF REVELATION 20?
Dispensationalism commonly identifies the seventh dispensation as a future Kingdom Age lasting one thousand years.
This interpretation generally anticipates Christ returning physically to earth, ruling from Jerusalem, and fulfilling promises concerning national Israel during that period.
But Revelation is a prophetic and highly symbolic book.
The thousand years of Revelation 20 must be examined within its literary and historical context rather than automatically treated as a future political administration.
From my understanding of fulfilled prophecy, the millennium belongs to the first-century fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan.
The kingdom itself, however, does not end with the thousand years.
Scripture repeatedly describes Christ’s kingdom as everlasting.
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 1:33
Notice the difference between the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20 and the everlasting kingdom proclaimed throughout Scripture.
I do not believe the thousand years should be interpreted as a future age that must begin before Christ can truly reign.
His kingdom was established through His redemptive work, resurrection, and exaltation, and its everlasting nature was manifested through the completion of the covenantal transition.
The kingdom is not awaiting establishment.
The King is already reigning.
THE END OF THE AGE WAS NOT THE END OF THE KINGDOM
One of the most important distinctions in understanding biblical prophecy is recognizing the difference between the end of an age and the end of Christ’s kingdom.
Jesus spoke of the end of the age in connection with the events leading to Jerusalem’s destruction.
The New Testament also describes the Old Covenant as growing old and approaching its disappearance.
These passages fit within the first-century transition from the Mosaic covenantal order to the fully established New Covenant order.
But the passing of that former age did not mean Christ’s kingdom would pass away.
Quite the opposite.
The temporary covenantal administration was removed, while the everlasting kingdom remained.
This is precisely the distinction Hebrews 12 makes between what could be shaken and what could not be shaken.
The Old Covenant order was temporary.
The New Covenant kingdom is everlasting.
That is why I do not believe we are presently living in a temporary Church Age while waiting for a future Kingdom Age.
We are living under the reign of Jesus Christ in the everlasting New Covenant kingdom.
THE KINGDOM IS PRESENT, BUT IT IS STILL ADVANCING
Some may ask, if Christ’s kingdom has already been established, why does the world still contain conflict, injustice, suffering, and unbelief?
But the existence of those conditions does not prove that Christ has not begun to reign.
Jesus described the kingdom as a mustard seed that grows and as leaven that works through the meal.
The kingdom’s presence does not require every person or nation to acknowledge Christ’s authority.
His kingdom is spiritual in nature, everlasting in duration, and active in the lives of those who belong to Him.
Paul explains:
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 14:17
The kingdom is not defined by external religious observances, earthly political boundaries, or national governments.
It is characterized by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
This does not mean Christ’s reign has no consequences for life on earth. It means the nature of His kingdom must be understood according to Scripture rather than measured by the expectations of earthly political systems.
The kingdom is here, and its influence continues as the gospel reaches people throughout the world.
CONCLUSION: ONE REDEMPTIVE PURPOSE, ONE EVERLASTING KINGDOM
When we examine the covenants, we discover that God’s redemptive purpose consistently points toward Jesus Christ.
Abraham received the promise.
Moses administered the Law.
The priests ministered under the former covenantal order.
David received the promise of an everlasting throne.
And Jesus Christ brought those promises to their intended fulfillment.
He is the promised Seed of Abraham, the fulfillment of the Law, our eternal High Priest, the Son of David, and the Mediator of the New Covenant.
That is why I no longer approach Scripture through a system that places the Church in a temporary age between the Law and a future earthly kingdom.
I believe the New Testament reveals the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises in Jesus Christ and the establishment of His everlasting reign.
The first-century transition was not a pause in God’s redemptive program. It was the completion of the former covenantal administration and the establishment of the New Covenant order.
And the kingdom established through Jesus Christ was never intended to be temporary.
We are not waiting for the Kingdom Age to begin. We are living in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ today.
The question is not whether God will someday fulfill His promises.
The question is whether we recognize what He has already accomplished through His Son.