The Fullness of Time

 

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son… (Galatians 4:4)

Have you ever wondered why Christ came into the world when He did?

He certainly had plenty of options, didn’t He?

The Lord first revealed the Good News in the Garden of Eden: Though mankind had fallen, and death and destruction would fill the earth, one day God would send a Savior.

The Messiah would come, but only after 4,000 years of kingdoms rising and falling.

And as Paul the Apostle puts it:  “But when the fullness of time had come,” God sent Jesus into the world.

The “fullness of time” is just another way of saying: at the perfect time—at just the right moment.

So what was it that made it the ideal time in human history for the Savior to “come down from heaven” (John 6:38)?

Well, one thing we know about God—He’s not haphazard.

Sending Christ to save the world is no insignificant endeavor; I’m sure He considered every angle before He gave the nod.

Long story short:

He was waiting for world conditions to come together in such a way that would enhance the spread of the Gospel and maximize the world’s ability to hear and understand the Good News.

And so it begins with Rome and their penchant for paved roads.

It wasn’t fusilli and Ferraris that ancient Italians were famous for; it was their well-constructed roads that connected much of the Roman Empire.

And that’s where we get the saying All roads lead to Rome.

Because back in the day, they did!

At the peak of Rome’s progress, there were 250,000 miles of roads (!) that allowed those first missionaries to travel great distances efficiently with the message of eternal life.

Ships, too, had come of age.

Egypt, Italy, Syria and Spain had turned the Mediterranean Sea into a virtual highway—which, of course, became another way the Gospel would be spread far and wide.

There was also something called the Pax Romana—the “Roman peace.”

From 27 BC until AD 180, God made sure the world enjoyed a small window of relative calm so that the Gospel could be preached and so the Church could get established.

And one last thing:

Thanks to Alexander the Great and his victories over much of the then known world, Greek was the international language—much like English is today.

So when you add all these things together…

The world needed a Savior, and when it was united by a single language, connected by a network of roadways, and protected with an enforceable peace, it seemed the perfect moment.

And when the fullness of time had come (and conditions on the earth were optimal), God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4).

Because God loves the world and doesn’t want anyone to perish; but rather, that everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.

That’s why Jesus came when He did.