02 - The Striking Characteristics of this Age
This age has characteristics of the most striking sort. That must necessarily follow from the event which closed up the affairs of the preceding age and ushered in the present day, namely, the crucifixion of the Son of God at the hands of His rebellious creature, man.
The cross of Christ makes a tremendous difference in the dispensational dealings of God. It puts Christ in a distinct place, namely, at the right hand of the majesty on high. That is His especial place for this age and for this age only. He took that place after His ascension, and will occupy it until His enemies are made His footstool; that is, till the end of the age. It puts the Holy Spirit in a special place, namely, in the earth with a special mission to believers and to the world. It puts Satan in a special place. Christ came to His own, and His own received Him not. They chose a murderer and crucified the Son of God. Hence Satan became “the god of this age” (2Co 4:4). He is not the god of any other age. It puts the world in a new and distinctive place, namely, under the guilt of rejecting Christ.2 It puts the believer in a distinct place, that is representatively in the heavenlies in Christ, and as to the world and all its affairs and doings, crucified (Gal 6:14). The believer’s place in this age is in Christ, in the midst of a new creation, wherein all things are new, and all things are of God (2Co 5:17-18).
2”The World” may be briefly defined as that system which includes all who reject Christ, and includes also their Christless pursuits and activities of all sorts, humanitarian and benevolent as well as positively wicked and criminal.