The Time

Third Advent Wednesday

December 19, 2007

Galatians 4:4-5

"When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons."

This sermon is going to be like one of those commercials for some handy kitchen product, where they sell you on the product, then they continue to sweeten the deal, like, buy this pocket blender before midnight, tonight and, for your $29.95, we will throw in this decorative shoe horn—but, that’s not all! The first five million callers will also receive a lifetime supply of corned beef hash—but, that’s not all! All lefthanders Italians, who call in from states east of the Mississippi, will also receive a subscription to Lefthanded Pizza Cutters magazine.

This is going to be like that—the good stuff from our sermon verse is just gonna keep on coming.

Since this last Advent Wednesday sermon theme is The Time, our concentration is on this part of the verse: "When the time had fully come." What does that mean?

Some Bible translations put it, "At just the right time." Others say, "When all things had been completed." It’s nice to hear all of these possible translations, because they all lead into why God chose when He did to send His Son into the world, to be born under the Ten Commandments, so as to fulfill the commandments for the purpose of redeeming those under God’s Law—that’s us, and all people—for the purpose of giving us full rights of God’s sons—sure, sons and daughters, but sons is significant as it is the son, who is heir to the father’s property.

So, how had the time fully come? How was it just the right time? What had been completed? First of all, every prophecy had been fulfilled, which had been made, beginning in the Garden of Eden, right after Adam and Eve fell into sin, and onward through Abraham and Moses, David and all of the kings, Isaiah and Elijah and a host of prophets.

God made hundreds of promises over the course of 3,500 years, ceasing about four hundred years before Jesus would come into the world. Malachi was the last prophet of the Old Testament. After his book was recorded, God silenced the prophets, until the coming of John the Baptist, who would be the one to directly open the curtain on the Savior.

In Jesus, every prophecy would be fulfilled—where He would be born, that He would be born of a virgin, how He would act and speak, the manner in which He would die.

Hundreds of prophecies; loads of promises. All things, which God set up for the Savior, had been completed. The time had fully come for Him to send His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law, that they might receive the full rights of sons of God.

But wait—that’s not all! Not only had all prophecies been fulfilled, but this time in history was a time of peace, for hundreds of miles, around.

They call it The Pax Romana—The Peace of Rome. Now, we are aware that the Jews didn’t like having Rome governing them. They wanted to be a free people; they were not. Despite their desire to be free, there was great freedom between countries. Think of how easily we pass over state borders. Because of how much land Rome controlled, people were free to travel over many borders—hundreds of miles to the east and, to the west, as far as Spain, and France, and England.

Why was this important? This was vital because God did not send His Son into the world only to save one small nation. Jesus would have the apostles take the Gospel message from Jerusalem, to Judea, to all the surrounding nations, to the ends of the earth. If there were tight restrictions on travel, the preaching of Jesus Christ would have been greatly impeded. So, with The Pax Romana, this was just the right time for the Savior to be born.

But, wait—that’s not all! If you’ll grab onto your pew for just a while longer, you’ll hear what else comes in this grab-bag of delights. In fact, we will toss in the last two items, together, sweetening the deal as swiftly as possible.

Before the Roman Empire, there was Alexander the Great. Now, Alex the G, as his friends never dared call him, conquered some of the same territory, only a few hundred years before Rome did it. Alex was big on establishing cultural things, and keeping the land united. So, under Al, there was established what they call a lingua franca, which, loosely translated, means a widely spoken language. It is sometimes called a vehicular language. In other words, it’s a language that travels.

Greek was the lingua franca. No matter where a person traveled in A the Great’s domain, he could speak Greek. Travelers could gets rooms in inns. Sellers could do business. And, by the time Jesus arrived, the Good News of Jesus Christ could be understood by all.

Of course, you had to be able to travel. That’s the other thing that Alexander was big on. He believed that a common culture, and a standard language, and a good system of roads, were all necessities for a kingdom to remain united.

I heard on a radio show, last week, regarding the USA’s interstate freeway system, that we didn’t make a great freeway system, but a freeway system made America great. How easily we can travel from Maine to Washington—speaking the same language—same basic culture. If not, I never would have survived in the Thumb.

Well, a great system of roads made the time just right for God’s promises to be born in Jesus. Speaking the same language, wherever they would travel, allowed the apostles not to have to be concerned that their audience could only understand Latin, or Aramaic, or some other local dialect but, much as English is a common language, today, Greek was then.

Prophecies, fulfilled. Peace in the land. One language. Good roads. There was no better time for the Savior to be born, for the Savior to do God’s work, for the message to spread like pizza sauce on crust.

By the time The Pax Romana ceased in AD 180, it was too late to stifle Christianity. The apostles preached Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected for Jew and Gentile, alike, down into Africa, eastward to Arabia and, even, some believe, to India, northward to present day Turkey, then to the west, to Greece and, perhaps, Paul even made it to Spain.

And, of course, the Gospel didn’t stop there. The Good News of peace on earth, good will toward men, kept on going, as churches were established, and those churches would establish more churches, and those churches would train more pastors, who would keep the message moving—not unlike the US postal service: through snow and rain and heat and gloom of night—until we are where we are, today.

Port Hope, Michigan, USA, is just as much the furthest corner of the world from Jerusalem, as there is. And, here we are, hearing the good news of Jesus.

The time fully came, and God used it to your advantage. He moved men to move to Port Hope, to preach Jesus and Him crucified for your sins.

But wait—there’s more! He also gave you a washing in a baptism of life everlasting, adopting you as His sons and daughters, heirs to His property.

But wait—there’s more! Not only does He bespeak you righteous and wash you clean, He feeds your faith on the bread-body and wine-blood of the one whose time fully came two thousand years ago, yet who continues to fully come to you, with all of His Means of Grace, that you possess the full rights of sons, through the Son, your Savior, Jesus. Amen.