Christmas Could Not Come Soon Enough.

Into: Story of the dog on my paper rout.

I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Most of life feels like that. Have you even been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Let me phrase it like this, “this is not the time you would have picked to be at this place in your marriage or career.”

Maybe you were hurt by someone once because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Maybe you have found yourself in a doctors office listening to less than ideal news at a less than ideal time.

how does this relate to God’s Word.

Life is not a debonair Gentleman who will sweep you off your feet. Life is rude and has terrible timing, and will kick your knees out from ya.

And yet that 1st Christmas came at just the right time because Galatians 4:4 tells us...

Christmas came at just the right time! (The fullness of time or the time came to completion)

There has been much discussion in scholastic commentaries and in the seminary class room as to what this might mean? How was it that the time came to completion?

Could it mean that?

1) There was a great anticipation among the Jews of that time that the Messiah would come. The Roman rule over Israel made the Jews hungry for the Messiah’s coming.

the Jews were also fully convinced of monotheism by the time Jesus was born. They hated idolatry. Just let the Romans try to bring their images into Jerusalem; the Jewish zealots fought them “tooth and nail.”

The people were ready for a Saviour. 2) Rome had unified much of the world under its government, giving a sense of unity to the various lands. Also, because the empire was relatively peaceful, travel was possible, allowing the early Christians to spread the gospel. Such freedom to travel would have been impossible in other eras. Pax Romana 3) While Rome had conquered militarily, Greece had conquered culturally. A “common” form of the Greek language (different from classical Greek) was the trade language and was spoken throughout the empire, making it possible to communicate the gospel to many different people groups through one common language. The Greek language became “universal.” From 300 B.C. to A.D. 300, Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world. Linguists tell us that it was the perfect medium to communicate God’s truth – the New Testament. (Robert Gromacki: A Survey of the New Testament)

The Old Testament was translated into Greek (ca. 250 B.C.). This was commonly called the LXX or Septuagint and made

the prophetic word available to all.

4) The fact that the many false idols had failed to give them victory over the Roman conquerors caused many to abandon the worship of those idols. At the same time, in the more “cultured” cities, the Greek philosophy and science of the time left others spiritually empty in the same way that the atheism of communist governments leaves a spiritual void today.

5) The Romans also built a marvelous system of roads. A way is provided to spread the good news about Jesus to the remote parts of the empire. You can be sure the apostles used these roads to great advantage. (Taken from Notes for N.T. Survey – Dr. Keith Miller)

All Roads lead to Rome.

6) The Roman army recruited soldiers from among the provinces, introducing these men to Roman culture and to ideas (such as the gospel) that had not reached those outlying provinces yet. The earliest introduction of the gospel to Britain was the result of the efforts of Christian soldiers stationed there.

7) Jewish Synagogues were prolific throughout that region of the world. They were used for worship and the reading and teaching of the Scripture. Note in Acts that the synagogue in a particular city was often the first place Paul visited on his journeys.

Truly the time was just right for God to send Jesus to this desperate and waiting world. You cannot look at history and not think that God is sovereign.

But I ask you, “is that really ALL that is meant by verse 4: “When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law.”

Maybe there is more to it that the historical and scholastic! Maybe it is also Theological....

as we investigate more we that these also teaches the orthodox Christmas Truth that Jesus was:

Truly God & Truly Man

Set forth from God. (ἐξαποστέλλω) the root word is the same as apostle. sent out one. Truly God

Born of a women… this truth is one of the miracles of Christmas. Truly Man

in fact Paul tells us a lot of theological truth in these 2 verses. He tells us:

Who came - God’s Son.

When He came - When the time was complete.

How He came - Born of a Women.

Why He came - To redeem us.

This is a complete Soteriology/Christiology.

But I ask you because I am not satifisied yet is there more here than even the theological? Surely there is more than the historical, the Scholastic, and Theological?

Maybe it is also prophetic?

Not only did Jesus come at just the right time. But the Bible teaches and I would even say sternly warns us that He will come again when the time is ready.

this is also true but I still feel like there is more!

you see it is .... prophetic but it is also personable… it is not just rational but it is also relational.

God Wants To Have A Personable Relationship With Us

God wants to be our Father.

Abba is a word that people always say means daddy. And it can but unfortunately the word Daddy means a lot of things in our culture.

and some people had bad daddies growing up…so in what way does the deminutive Arimaic word Abba mean daddy?

Let me tell you a story. My Grandfather was dying of Alshimers. …Mom kissed him as he took is last breath and said, “Oh daddy, I love you daddy”

God wants to relate to you like a loving Father and a good Dad.

The law could never be personal like that. It was never super relational or a family thing it was just rules to protect the Jewish people and to help them understand the Holiness of their God. And it was so impossible to keep all of it that it made us slaves and not sons servants and not children.

Look at this funny thing I saw on Facebook.

You know I figured it out.... 4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law,

When the time was just right. ....

When the time was just right A little boy in the parsonage of the Independent Bible Church in the poorest county of Iowa.

When the time was just right God sent His Son to bring me into a relationship with Him so that we could call Him Abba Father.

And not just me but all of humanity. You see humanity was in the wrong place at the wrong time but God had perfect timing to save humanity.

Did you see the new this week? They just elected John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. into the baseball hall of fame this last week.

Let me show you a Christmas present that my dad gave me a few years ago. look at the title, I was just in time. It made we think of this passage.

The next time you see or hear of Buck O’Neil or if you dive over that Buck O’Neil bride downtown I what you think about how God was just in time to save you.

There is no plan B with God. All along He was writing the story of salvation and timing it perfectly.

Humanity was in the wrong place at the wrong time, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time…but God had perfect timing to save humanity and to save you. When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a women, born under the law, to redeem us!

After the sermon tell them about my Dad come over the hill from 2 blocks away and charging at the dog.