Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Greetings…

Typically, I strive to have a plan for each year as far as “sermons” are concerned.

I try and have, over the Christmas break, my sermon topics for the year laid out and an “overall” theme for the year.

This year the theme will be “The Life Of Christ.”

There is no one more suitable to study and mimic than our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

And so, starting with this lesson and throughout the coming year, if the Lord wills, we will be examining that precious life Christ led here on earth.

However, before we dive into his life, I think it appropriate to examine what marvels God did to bring about that moment in time or as the apostle Paul called it that “fullness of time.”

To be reminded of some of those magnificent events and situations God providentially developed.

So, with that in mind, what can we examine throughout the Old Testament that leads us to God’s development of the fullness of time?

There are three specific things we can point to in this.

God’s People.

God’s Promises & Prophecies.

God’s Providence.

The fullness of time could not have happened if it weren’t for…

God’s People

The Israelites.

The reality is God needed a “people” that he could establish his son’s lineage through and prove his righteousness within.

This is where the meticulous genealogies come into play and why the Israelites kept such great records of their family lineages.

The genealogies prove God keeps his word.

In Luke 3:23-38 and Matthew 1:1-17 we find Jesus’ genealogy which establishes God’s credibility concerning Jesus’ lineage.

God promised Jesus would come from Abraham and he did.

God promised Jesus would come from David and he did.

We also see that when it comes to the fullness of time God’s used the Israelites to produce the…

The Mosaic Law.

This is significant in the fullness of time because it was the guide which was to lead the people to the Law of Christ and prepare the people for the Messiah.

The idea here is that God created the Law of Moses to guide the people and thus prepare the people for Christ and His new covenant or new Law.

The Mosaic law was more than just information about sin to the Israelites, it was a guide and guardian until Christ came.

Summary

The fullness of time and thus the birth of Jesus, could not have happened if God’s chosen people hadn’t been made to “flourish like a plant of the field” (Ezekiel 16:7).

Thankfully for your and I we have a God who knows what he is doing and prepared for the fullness of time.

We also see during this preparation phase for the fullness of time…

God’s Prophecies

God’s Promises.

From the very beginning God started prophesying about the “coming Messiah” and continued to encourage humanity that he would come.

Summary

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecies lists 1,239 Old Testament prophecies.

The few we looked at today and the thousands found throughout God’s word prove God’s continued desire to prepare the earth and its people for the perfect time for Christ to come to this earth.

Lastly, let us look at…

God’s Providence

God’s Hand In World Powers.

Michael Crichton once wrote…

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything.

You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” 1

When it comes to world powers and their direct impact on the fullness of time it is impossible to study this without examining the great history of God’s providence in the world powers.

Though we don’t have time in this particular lesson I encourage a study of Daniel 7-8.

Medo-Persian Empire.

The Medo-Persian empire overthrew the Babylonian empire wherein Daniel and the Israelites had been captured by some 70 years prier.

The Medo-Persians played a significant role in bringing about the fullness of time in its actions towards those it conquered.

Before this empire the previous empires would come, destroy, and then disperse the conquered people throughout their empire with the hope that this would discourage revolting.

King Cyrus the Great or Cyrus the Elder was different because he gave the people his armies came to a choice.

Keep everything the way it was and simply put up with tributes and someone watching over them or be utterly destroyed.

Now this wasn’t just because he was smart but because God was with him, and he knew it.

So, the Medo-Persians impact on the fullness of time was a different way to handle the conquered.

They allowed them to stay home and keep their religion and customs.

Next God providentially used the…

Greek Empire.

By far the greatest impact of the Greek Empire was their insistence that everyone speak Greek.

Of this the Roman Cicero wrote…

“Greek is read in almost all nations; Latin is confined by its own narrow boundaries.” 2

The Greek language was so dominant that the Jews asked the elders to have a Greek Old Testament written so they could study it in their “native tongue.”

In fact, of the 300 plus Old Testament quotes in the New Testament 85 percent are from the LXX and not the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

God used the Greek Empire to create a universal, worldwide, language for the fullness of time.

Lastly, providentially God used the…

Roman Empire.

There are two specific things that God used Rome to do that would help enable the fullness of time.

First is the security or “Pax Romana.”

Because Rome was so dominant and powerful it wasn’t long, in the grand scheme of things, until there was peace throughout the world.

This allowed Jesus to travel safely from place to place and eventually the church missionaries.

Secondly, is the great roads.

To keep everyone under control and to be able to travel quickly from one place to the next if some uprising occurred, the Roman Empire built elaborate and well constructed roads.

This allowed Jesus to travel quickly from place-to-place preaching and teaching.

Summary

God providentially used each of these empires to bring about the fullness of time.

Conclusion

In fact, the reason it is called the “fullness of time” instead of maybe the “perfect time” is because God had fully or completely created a moment in time that would present Jesus and the gospel all the necessities needed, to not only complete their missions but thrive at it.

Thanks be to our God that he had the knowledge, ability, and patience to create that “fullness of time” for when Christ would come to this old sinful world and live not just among us but as us.

Invitation

Endnotes

Quotes From Michael Crichton (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/188569-if-you-don-t-know-history-then-you-don-t-know-anything)

History of the Christian Church (https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc1/hcc1.i.I_1.12.html)