We run into the phrase “world without end” in many places and with some regularity. It is hard to know exactly how it all got started. The phrase, in English, first appeared in the 1549 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. This was King Henry VIII first prayer book which was created when the Church in England became the Church of England. Henry wanted the people of England to have their prayers in English instead of Latin, which very few people understood. Later on, in the 1600’s the phrase “world without end” appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in a few places; notably in Isaiah 45:17 (Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end) and in Ephesians 3:21 (Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen).
The phrase, “world without end” seems to be a translation, in English, of the Latin phrase, “in saecula saeculorum” which is more literally translated as “For ever and ever”. That phrase is also commonly found in the prayer book. Either use in English is used to describe the eternal nature of God’s Kingdom, Deliverance, Protection, Salvation, Glory, Dominion, etc. Both phrases, as used in the Book of Common Prayer, are saying that God and all of His being, promises and properties are forever. It seems that five hundred years ago there was less distinction between Eternity as it relates to Time and Infinity as it relates to Space. These are distinctions that we readily make as users of modern English, but it seems to be somewhat muddled in the Middle English of Henry’s day.
As a side note: In the Creation, God created Time on the first day separating the “Greater light from the lesser light” and establishing the most fundamental division of time between AM and PM. On the second day, God created Geographic Space by separating the land from the sea. These two distinctions make clear in the first few verses of the Bible that God himself exists outside of both Time and Space and yet is included in both. He therefore is both “world without end” as well as “forever and ever”.
Therefore, the two usages of “in saecula saeculorum” are both appropriate and accurate as they apply to God. Their use does not imply that either this world that we now occupy or this age that we inhabit are without limit. This “world” will have its end and this “time” will reach its conclusion at the consummation of creation on the Last Day. The Kingdom that will have no end in either time or space is the one that was before the beginning and existed beyond the created Universe.
The prayer that I often use at the conclusion of our service calls to mind “our true native land, with thee” and it is that place, which is no place and that time that has no measure, where you and I will dwell with and in Almighty God forever and ever, world without end. Amen