Skip to main content

39. In The Fullness Of Time

Daniel 9:20-27, Galatians 4:4-5
Key verse: When the time had fully come, God sent His son. 
Galatians 4:4A

God's time is not our time.  So often, in scripture, we read of God acting when the time was right.  He punished the enemies of the nation of Israel when their sin was full and the time was right.  God is never swayed by pressure.  He brings about His blessings and His punishments on His timetable, to accomplish His purposes. 

Trouble, hardship and punishment will come to those who do not wait patiently for the Lord, and do what they can to try to force God's hand.  Saul lost his kingdom because he couldn't wait for Samuel to arrive to perform the necessary sacrifices before the battle.  (1 Samuel 15)

Abram's household was full of strife because he wouldn't wait for God to give him a son in His own way.  Jacob and Rebekah created problems by snatching away the blessing because they refused to wait for God to act on His promise in His own way.  The world is full of turmoil and suffering because of our impatience and unwillingness for God to bring about His will when we want it, in our time. 

Too often, we can be like impatient children who smell the cake baking in the oven.  We pester and plead for the cake to come out.  The master cook knows however that the proper amount of time called for by the recipe must be respected.  The cake can fall flat by being removed too quickly, or the center may not be completely cooked, no matter how good it may smell to inexperienced children.  We want the end product, the finished cake, the Messiah, to rescue us from our struggle.  We know what we want.  He knows what we need. 

There is nothing that we could have done to bring about the arrival of Jesus in our own time.  We see, from the passage in Daniel that God had it all under control.  He knew when Jesus would come, how long He would be here and when His work on earth would be done.  God maintains His control.  Now, in the fullness of time, God's perfect time, Jesus was born, of a woman in Bethlehem.  He grew up in Galilee.  

 The Master Builder submitted to being taught by a human father how to build with human hands.  God waited patiently for Jesus to grow and develop and prepare for the ministry to which He had been called.  God would not rush His finest work.  Yes, there was suffering while Jesus grew.  There was still heartache and death, and Jesus saw it all. 

Now, in the fullness of time, God's time, Jesus would begin His earthly ministry.  He was ready to complete His Father's will. 

"In His Time"   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...
Post a Comment
Read more

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...
Post a Comment
Read more

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...
Post a Comment
Read more