WHEN THE FULNESS OF THE TIME WAS COME?

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: GALATIANS 4:4,5




INTRODUCTION:


  1. The most wonderful message ever told is that God sent forth His Son to redeem us from our sins. As the worldly crowd whoops it up and celebrates, let us take every opportunity to remind them "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (I Tim.1:15).
  2. As I attempt to open up the Word of God today, let me draw your attention to two wonderful phrases here in Gal.4:4 – "when the fulness of the time was come" and "God sent forth His Son."
  3. "The fulness of the time" refers to the time appointed by God (cf. Gal.4:2). "The fulness of time" refers to that time back in history when the world was providentially ready for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  4. Several fundamental doctrines are taught in the little phrase, "God sent forth His Son":
    1. The pre-existence of Christ – "God sent forth His Son." For the Son to have been sent He must have existed before He was sent (John 1:1,14,16).
    2. The eternal Sonship of Christ – Christ did not "become a Son" at His birth – He always was the Son of God (cf. Pro.30:4; Dan.3:25).
    3. The incarnation and virgin birth of Christ – Jesus Christ was not born through the natural process of ordinary generation, but was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 1:34,35; Matt.1:18-25).
    4. Also, this passage affirms the humanity of Christ – "made of a woman." It is just as heretical to deny the humanity of Christ as it is to deny His deity – the Bible clearly teaches both.
  1. What I would like for us to focus on today is the first phrase in Galatians 4:4, "when the fulness of the time was come." God does not work haphazardly – God is always precise and orderly. God has a perfect timetable and His clock is never off.
  2. I heard about the foreman at a factory who, every morning, called a government bureau for the correct time and then he set the clocks at his factory accordingly. When the noontime whistle at the factory blew, the supervisor over at the bureau changed his clock to conform with the factory’s noon whistle. Thank God, He does not work that way – His clock never has to be adjusted.
  3. Way back in eternity past God had it planned to the exact moment when our Lord was to be born, when He was to die (it was not coincidental that He died during the Passover), when He was to rise from the dead, when He was to ascend into heaven, and there is an exact time, known only to God, when He is coming back.
  4. James, our Lord’s brother, put it this way: "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18).
  1. THE FULNESS OF THE TIME INVOLVED A RELIGIOUS PREPARATION
    1. The Bible clearly teaches us that God chastened the Jewish people by sending the Babylonians upon them (Jer.25:1-11; cf. II Kings 24:11-16).
    2. This was a very sad time for the Israelites (cf. Ps.137:1-4) but out of this sad ordeal came three important events, each one of which prepared for the coming of the Jewish Messiah. As you carefully study the history of Israel, you can see the hand of God at work.
      1. The Jews were cured of their idolatry. Being in Babylon for 70 long years, surrounded by unspeakable heathen wickedness and disgusting immorality, the Israelites were thereafter and forevermore monotheistic.
      1. The Persians defeated the Babylonians (cf. Dan.5:25-31). The Persians were Zoroastrians, monotheistic, friendly and sympathetic to the Jews. They allowed the Jews to return back home.
      2. Also, the wise men, the Magi described for us in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, were Zoroastrians who traveled a great distance to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
      1. Secondly, out of the Babylonian captivity came the canon of the Old Testament. Under Ezra the scribe and others, the sacred Scriptures were gathered together and taught to the people of Israel.
      2. Thirdly, out of the Babylonian captivity came the institution of the synagogue. Our churches today are modeled after them – places where people gather to pray, and study the Scriptures, and to sing and worship. During the captivity and afterwards, these synagogues were organized all over the civilized world. The Old Testament Scriptures were taught in these synagogues; this was all part of the religious preparation for the coming of Christ. A friend of mine showed me and Carmela a Jewish synagogue his church is buying – it looks just like a Baptist church.
  1. THE FULNESS OF TIME INVOLVED A CULTURAL PREPARATION
    1. As I stated earlier, the Babylonians were defeated by the Media-Persians. And later on, the Media-Persians were defeated by the Greeks, under the strong leadership of Alexander the Great.
    2. Alexander the Great was ruler of Macedonia at age 16, victorious general at 18, king at the age of 20, and died a drunkard at the age of 33. While in Babylon, he drank so much alcohol that he passed out fever stricken, and in a few days he was dead.
    3. Under the influence of Alexander the Great and the great Greek philosopher Aristotle (who was Alexander’s tutor), the entire civilized world became Greek – in its culture, in its philosophy, in its art, in its literature, in its drama, in its architecture, and most importantly – in its language.
    4. The Greek language 2,000 years ago was the perfect language for our New Testament – it was the language of distinction, of culture, and of intellectual learning. Little did Alexander the Great realize that he was being used by God in preparation for getting the Gospel out all over the world.
  1. THE FULNESS OF TIME INCLUDED A POLITICAL PREPARATION
    1. After the demise of the Greeks, there arose the mighty Roman Empire. They were disciplined, fierce, and powerful warriors. They had a genius for government and for pulling differing peoples together.
    2. They constructed magnificent roads all over the entire civilized world, facilitating travel and opening up the world for greater commerce. Many of these roads are still being traveled on today.
    3. The Romans inaugurated a first-rate postal system so that letters could be dispatched all over the known world.
    4. The Romans created the Pax Romana ("the universal peace"). The Romans worshipped a two-faced god named Janus (our month of January is named after him) and his shrine was closed when there was peace. The doors to his shrine was closed when Christ was born – there was universal peace throughout the civilized world, allowing men to go out everywhere and preach the Gospel.
    5. Of course, the Romans were pagans and had no idea that they were being used by God to prepare the world for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    6. In the first chapter of Luke, we read that God sent his angel Gabriel from heaven to announce to Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah. Mary lived in Nazareth (Luke 1:26,27).
    7. But 700 years before that, the prophet Micah had already said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic.5:2).
    8. In the providence of God, Caesar Augustus decreed a tax, forcing Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7). When there, the fulness of the time was come, and Mary gave birth to our Lord, fulfilling Micah’s prophecy. This is the hand of God in human history – the unsaved heathen, Caesar Augustus, had no idea that he was carrying out the sovereign purposes of God.
  1. THE FULNESS OF THE TIME INCLUDED A PERSONAL PREPARATION
    1. Way back before God formed the foundation of the world it was determined that Jesus would die for our sins (cf. Rev.13:8).
    2. Way back in the Garden of Eden God said that the Messiah would be born of a woman (Gen.3:15).
    3. Next we are told that the Messiah would descend from Abraham (Gen.12:3), and his son Isaac (Gen.21:12), and Isaac’s son Jacob (Gen.28:14), and from Jacob’s son Judah (Gen.49:10).
    4. Later on God revealed that the Messiah would come through the lineage of King David (II Sam.7:12,13,16,17). Micah prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem. And Isaiah prophesied that He would be born of a virgin.

CONCLUSION:

  1. God is the God of time, the God of history, the God of past, present and future.
  2. When the time was right religiously, culturally, and politically – God sent forth His Son.
  3. When the fulness of the time comes again, Jesus is coming back again!


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