Month: December 2014

“When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…..”  (Galatians 4:4)

How is “the fullness of time” determined?  Ultimately we can never know the formula God used to determine when “the right time,” or “the fullness of time,” or “the perfect moment” came for Christ to be “sent forth.”  We can, however, discern some remarkable things that were happening in the hour of Christ’s birth:

• The Dispersion of the Jews.  The Jewish people by now had, due to persecution, military conflict, and an evangelistic zeal among some of them, moved to most parts of the known Roman world of that day.  The first thing they did when establishing a colony was to build a synagogue where Torah and Law could be taught.  These were the birthplaces of some of the earliest Christian teaching with ready-made public platforms.
• The Protection of the Jews.  For the first seventy years following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Christian faith (“The Way”) did not exist as a “stand alone” religion but instead was considered legally a sect of Judaism under Roman Law.  Because of their inability to break the Jews by making them worship Caesar as every other religion under Rome was forced to do, they granted an exemption to this idolatrous act.  Christianity was protected under that same principle of law.

  The Culture of the World.  The culture of that day had been overtaken by Greece.  While the Romans conquered the world militarily and enforced the rule of law of the people conquered, Greece captured the hearts and minds of the people.  Koine Greek was spoken almost everywhere by nearly every person.  It was in that common (koine) language that the New Testament was first written.

• The Peace of Rome.  Christ was born into a world no longer at war.  Rome had conquered the world.  This left thousands of unemployed soldiers looking for work….and they were hired by Rome as “security guards” to build and protect the intricate highway system that interconnected the empire.  Early Christians could travel safely on these roads and even the waterways courtesy of the “pax Romana…” The peace of Rome.

These factors alone made this “the right time;” the FULLNESS OF TIME for God to send forth His Son into the world….to redeem those who were under the law.  The early church thrived in this environment socially, culturally, politically, and philosophically.   It was, indeed, a time of the Father’s choosing.

The “fullness of time.”

It’s completely invisible.  Odorless.  Colorless.  Weightless.  And yet, it’s indispensable.  Without it, life becomes intolerable.  Relationships become impossible.  The future becomes unthinkable.  To live without it or to try and do so, is an exercise in doing the impossible.  Recovery for the cancer patient becomes unlikely…and the grieving find the path ahead impossible without it.

This indispensable reality, of course, is hope.  Four simple letters frame one of the most important realities for all of us…and in a special way for those who are Christians.  It is hope that helps us press on through difficulty, believing a better day is coming.  It is hope that moves us past the graveyard to life again.  It is hope that allows us to experience a new beginning for broken relationships and to focus on the dawning of a new tomorrow and not the death of dreams from yesterday.  It is hope that moves us beyond failure.

“Hope,” the Word of God assures us, “ does not make us ashamed.”

One day, our hope will be confirmed by what we can see, feel, hear, and touch.  Until that day, hope holds us tightly and keeps our eyes focused on that which is still to come.  And of course, we have the “blessed hope” of Christ returning.  We have much to be hopeful for and Christmas is an annual reminder of the hope which is ours through the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  My prayer for you is that, during this season, your hope will be strengthened and renewed, and that we will all experience a hope-full Christmas!