In the Fullness of Time

Galatian 4:4 "But, when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law,"

It is the time of year when we remember the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I shared in the devotional at our children's Sunday School program last week, this event occurred at the exact moment in history ordained by God the Father.

First, the fullness of time. In the Greek,

that which is (has been) filled

a) a ship inasmuch as it is filled (i.e. manned) with sailors, rowers, and soldiers

b) in the NT, the body of believers, as that which is filled with the presence, power, agency, riches of God and of Christ

2) that which fills or with which a thing is filled

a) of those things which a ship is filled, freight and merchandise, sailors, oarsmen, soldiers

b) completeness or fulness of time

3) fulness, abundance

4) a fulfilling, keeping


God put together all the pieces "as a ship fitted for passage" then he sent forth His Son.

What were those pieces?

We know that in Daniel 9, God promises that the Messiah would come 483 weeks/years after the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. That was 49 years or 7 weeks until the exiled Jews would return to Jerusalem plus the 434 week/years till the Messiah would come.

We also know that there were numerous other prophecies which had to be fulfilled in the birth of the Messiah. That he would be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David. That He would be born in Bethlehem.

That he would be born of a woman, see Genesis 3:15, Luke 1:34, and Galatians 4:4.

All these things God caused to occur just as He fortold, so that at the one moment in time when all of the necessary prophecies were completed or prepared, as ship fit for passage, God sent His method of Redemption.

As you and your family celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World, remember that Christ came at precisely the time God intended for Him to come.

And a question, if the God of the Universe is capable of telling when and how His Son would come, what prophecies are yet to be fulfilled? What does the future hold?

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. And may your future be filled with the hope of a Coming Savior.