Christ came - fullness of time
This is a time to remember God’s coming to us and to wait in hopes of His coming again. We must be careful lest our hectic schedules filled with shopping, parties, and other special events leave no time for the purpose of Advent. Advent is not about us filling our time full but rather about taking time to remember how God fills time full: “In the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son” (Gal. 4:4).
Christmas is important not for economic reasons, but because Jesus’ birth reveals that the fullness of time has arrived. What does “the fullness of time” mean? Long before Jesus’ birth God was preparing the way. The two genealogies of Jesus recorded in the gospels make us travel back in time either to the beginning of the human race in Adam (Luke 3:23–37) or to the beginnings of Israel in Abraham and David (Matt. 1:1–17). God was preparing the way centuries before the birth of His Son in Bethlehem.
How did God prepare the way? Since God rules over human history, He undoubtedly shaped the history of the nations, including the dominance of the Roman Empire that had an impact on Israel, on Jesus, and on the spread of the Gospel by the early Christian church. Certainly this was a part of God’s preparation, for God uses the history of the nations to achieve His purposes.
However, in Scripture “the fullness of time” points in a different direction. Here the fullness of time is determined by the unfulfilled promises God had given to Old Testament Israel, promises filled with hope for future blessing and peace. God had even set a time for the fulfillment of these promises (Hab. 2:3), although He had not revealed that time to anyone, not even to the prophets (1 Peter 1:10–12). Waiting for that fullness of time required centuries of patience because God works according to His own calendar and measures time differently than we: “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8 NASB).
When the angels announced the birth of Christ with their tidings of peace (Luke 2:14), God declared that His promises were now being fulfilled. The apostle Paul interprets this fullness of time as the time when God’s people could at last claim their promised inheritance. Prior to this time they were like minor children but now in Christ as mature children they had received the full rights to their promised inheritance (Gal. 4:1–7). In a similar way, Jesus declared at the opening of His public ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15 NASB).
The gospel of Matthew gives us a glimpse at God’s preparations centuries before the birth of Jesus in the fullness of time. Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus divides the history of Israel into three periods: from Abraham to King David, from King David to the exile, and from the exile to the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:2–16). Because God had given promises to Abraham and David that had not yet been fulfilled, the birth of Jesus reveals that the fullness of time had come. Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David in whom God’s covenant promises are fulfilled.
Author: David Holwerda (2005). Tabletalk Magazine, December 2005: The First Advent, 8–11.
Christmas is important not for economic reasons, but because Jesus’ birth reveals that the fullness of time has arrived. What does “the fullness of time” mean? Long before Jesus’ birth God was preparing the way. The two genealogies of Jesus recorded in the gospels make us travel back in time either to the beginning of the human race in Adam (Luke 3:23–37) or to the beginnings of Israel in Abraham and David (Matt. 1:1–17). God was preparing the way centuries before the birth of His Son in Bethlehem.
How did God prepare the way? Since God rules over human history, He undoubtedly shaped the history of the nations, including the dominance of the Roman Empire that had an impact on Israel, on Jesus, and on the spread of the Gospel by the early Christian church. Certainly this was a part of God’s preparation, for God uses the history of the nations to achieve His purposes.
However, in Scripture “the fullness of time” points in a different direction. Here the fullness of time is determined by the unfulfilled promises God had given to Old Testament Israel, promises filled with hope for future blessing and peace. God had even set a time for the fulfillment of these promises (Hab. 2:3), although He had not revealed that time to anyone, not even to the prophets (1 Peter 1:10–12). Waiting for that fullness of time required centuries of patience because God works according to His own calendar and measures time differently than we: “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8 NASB).
When the angels announced the birth of Christ with their tidings of peace (Luke 2:14), God declared that His promises were now being fulfilled. The apostle Paul interprets this fullness of time as the time when God’s people could at last claim their promised inheritance. Prior to this time they were like minor children but now in Christ as mature children they had received the full rights to their promised inheritance (Gal. 4:1–7). In a similar way, Jesus declared at the opening of His public ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mark 1:15 NASB).
The gospel of Matthew gives us a glimpse at God’s preparations centuries before the birth of Jesus in the fullness of time. Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus divides the history of Israel into three periods: from Abraham to King David, from King David to the exile, and from the exile to the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:2–16). Because God had given promises to Abraham and David that had not yet been fulfilled, the birth of Jesus reveals that the fullness of time had come. Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David in whom God’s covenant promises are fulfilled.
Author: David Holwerda (2005). Tabletalk Magazine, December 2005: The First Advent, 8–11.
