The Fullness of Time

When I was playing basketball there were two ways you knew the game had reached its conclusion. One was that the last seconds of the clock in the fourth quarter, or second half, would run off of the clock, and assuming that one team was ahead of their opponent the game was over. The other method that was when one team reached a certain number of points was declared the winner. One or the other of these methods is used in a lot of athletic competitions. Another method is that a certain number of laps, or a certain distance, are completed and the one who crosses the finish line first is declared the winner. Sometimes is might be the one with the longest jump or throw following the last competitor giving their attempt. What ever the case, we know when the end is eminent and wait for, and sometimes eagerly anticipate, the finish.

The Apostle Paul uses a similar idea in the book of Galatians, and it is to a statement that he makes that we turn our attention this morning. We are going to be in Galatians 4:4 – 7 this morning.

Galatians 4:4–7 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

I. The Fullness of Time

A. Everything was in place

1. Common language

2. Religious systems

a. Synagogues

b. Deplorable situation of Greek gods

3. Ease of travel

a. Protection

b. Roads

4. Roman Means of Execution!

B. Fullness of Sin

1. Sin of Israel

2. Sin of humanity

3. I remember singing an older hymn, One Day. The first verse catches this pretty good: One day when heaven was filled with his praises, One day when sin was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin-- Dwelt amongst men, my example is he!

C In either case it was God’s time

1. Genesis 3:14 - 15

Genesis 3:14–15 ESV

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

2. Hebrews 11:39

Hebrews 11:39 ESV

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,

3. Prophets’ messages

II. God Sent

A. His Son

1. First His Son – Declaration of His Divinity!

2. Born of a Woman – His Humanity

3. So that He might redeem us

- Only as one under the law, who perfectly kept the law and thus had no debt to law, could Jesus pay the redemption price of those who were slaves under the law and slaves to sin!

4. So that we might be adopted.

5. The second through fourth verses of he hymn One Day proclaim: ‎2. One day they led him up Calvary's mountain, One day they nailed him to die on the tree; Suffering anguish, despised and rejected: Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is he!

‎ 3. One day they left him alone in the garden, One day he rested, from suffering free; Angels came down o'er his tomb to keep vigil; Hope of the hopeless, my Saviour is he!

‎ 4. One day the grave could conceal him no longer, One day the stone rolled away from the door; Then he arose, over death he had conquered; Now is ascended, my Lord evermore!

B. His Spirit

1. To give us the ability to call out to God!

2. Identify us as His children

3. To make a promise of redemption

III. Therefore We Are

A. No Longer Slaves!

B. A Son or Daughter

C. An Heir

Conclusion: The clock was almost run down, the score for the end was nearing, and when it looked as if sin was going to win “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” When sin was as black as could be. When we were slaves and objects of God’s wrath He sent, He came so that we might be restored in relationship with Him! Where there was no way He made a way, when we had no way to pay the debt we owed He said, IT IS PAID!

Just as the people of Israel were to be waiting for that day, Scripture promises us that there is a day that we are to be looking towards too. In fact, the Old Testament prophets speak of the Day of The Lord, a day when He will come in judgment and reclaim and restore His own. That old hymn finishes with this verse: One day the trumpet will sound for his coming, One day the skies with his glories will shine; Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing; Glorious Saviour, this Jesus is mine! And the Chorus: ‎Chorus. Living, he loved me; dying, he saved me; Buried, he carried my sins far away; Rising, he justified freely, for ever: One day he's coming--O, glorious day!

As we celebrate this Holy Week, let us remember that God sent His Son at just the right time, to Die for us, and He will send His Son at just the right time to bring us home to Himself.