Terms Describing the Age of Fulfillment: “This Age” vs. “The Age to Come”

In addition, Jesus and his apostles believed in two ages which they repeatedly refer to as “this age” and “the age to come” (cf. Matthew 12:32, 12:24-30, 36-43; Mark 3:28-30, 10:32; Luke 18:30, 20:34-36, Ephesians 1:21, Colossians 2:14, Hebrews 6:5).
As an example, Matthew 12:32 reads, “And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world (age), nor in that which is to come.”
Luke 20:34-36 reads, Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
The sons of “this age” are contrasted to those worthy to attain to “that age.” The ending of an age does not necessarily imply the end of physical elements or characteristics. The destruction of Jerusalem did not cause the cessation of the Jewish population or many of their traditions. The flood did not cause the earth to cease to exist, either.  Both destructions affected the physical forms in which they lived.   Yet, both brought in a new world order and the way of God’s dealings with humankind.   The new covenant ideology included a new birth, a new creature, and a new covenant that was spiritual in nature.   For example, when Jesus tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world,” this does not mean that no one on planet earth is in his kingdom. He is separating the physical from the spiritual realm, distinguishing the spiritual principles by which we now live in Christ from the physical, carnal rules that dictated the old covenant.   In Christ, my wife is my sister.   I have no wife in Christ.   In that realm, marriage does not exist. This does not negate the presence of a marriage in the material world any more than the destruction of Jerusalem negated the present of Jewish people and their way of life. But, the physical lineage and the traditions of the Jews are not the measure of sonship and the physical ties in marriage is not the real measure of our relationship in Christ. Philemon and Onesimus experienced a new beginning in their relationship. They became brothers and that relationship was the spiritual measuring stick in their relationship. In Christ, Onesimus was not a slave, but a brother. Paul explains this concept in Galatians 3:28 when he writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the physical world, these relationships continued, but the kingdom is not measured by the physical. In the same context of Luke 20, Jesus says, “neither can they die any more” (cf. John 6:50-51, 8:51, 11:26). Paul writes that “with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18, cf. Heb. 8:13). Such transformation is accomplished by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:1-2).