At the Right Time

At the Right Time
Galatians 4:4-5
December 24, 2023

A couple of days ago I thought of something that might be a nice gift for someone, but I didn’t have time to look for it, so I quickly went to Amazon and found what I was looking for.  The right price!  But when will it arrive?  I only had three delivery days left before Christmas.  And it would be delivered the next day!  Perfect timing!  And this week I also had a medical appointment where the doctor often is behind schedule.  I was called to the back before I even finished my paperwork and finished the appointment about 20 minutes earlier than I had anticipated.  Yes!  Perfect timing!

Perfect timing.  Don’t you like it when things show up on time?  Like payments and checks.  Deliveries.  Appointments.  Teachers returning papers and exams.  The end of sermons.

And the Messiah.  He arrived…right on time.  Perfect timing. 

I suppose Joseph and Mary could have been tempted to think the timing of Jesus’ arrival wasn’t great (and to be clear, there is nothing to indicate they thought that way):  the need to report to Bethlehem for the census right before Jesus was born, the fulness of the city precluding getting “reasonable accommodations,” Herod’s inquisitiveness — what if he had died just a little earlier and someone else had been ruling (perhaps they wouldn’t have had to go to Egypt)?  Birthing babies is challenging in “the best of times,” but the most unique birth in the history of the world seemed beset with numerous instances of bad timing.

But it wasn’t bad timing.  It was perfect timing.  Jesus arrived at exactly the right time.  And the Bible tells us that — “But when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son…” (Gal. 4:4). 

This morning, as we read, sing, meditate, and then fellowship at the communion table, I want to draw your attention to two verses in Galatians 4 and see how the timing of Christ’s arrival was just right — and then see four implications from that good timing.

Observe Paul’s opening statement, But when the fulness of time came.  Remember the context in which Paul writes this letter; there were Judaizers who had infiltrated the Galatian church who were attempting to obligate believers to fulfill the Law as a means of salvation.  They believed in salvation by grace through faith, but they also believed in sanctification by works through obedience to the Law.  That’s what Paul argues against forcefully in 3:1ff.  In this chapter Paul reminds the Galatians that believers are not obligated to the Law, but we have been freed from the Law.  He reminds them, “No longer slaves, we are now sons.”  And v. 4 is a transition in his argument — how is this sonship received?  But…  What God planned contrasted what the Galatians attempted to do through legalistic obedience.

God carried out His plan for saving sinners when the fulness of time came.  Everything necessary for Christ’s arrival, according to God’s plan, had been “filled up” or “fulfilled.”  The plan was ready to go.  Nothing more needed to be done to prepare for His coming.  Commentators have observed the uniqueness of the time when Christ was born —

• The time was right culturally. Alexander the Great had established Greek as the universal language providing a means to disseminate the Scriptures to all the known world in one language. 
• The time was right politically. The Roman empire had instituted pax Romana (Roman peace) and that peace, while enforced through a harsh government, provided economic and civil stability — money and goods and services were readily available.  There was freedom from war.  And the Romans built a system of roads that enabled travel relatively easily across the world.
• The time was right religiously. It had been more than five centuries since Israel had returned from Babylonian captivity and the temple had been rebuilt.  Additionally, there were synagogues in most major areas, making the Scriptures and worship available throughout the world.  While Israel worshipped freely, they also worshipped hypocritically and with formality without substance.  Though they were unaware, they needed a Savior and were ripe to hear the message of the Savior.

Those things are true and were undoubtedly helpful, but that doesn’t seem to be Paul’s emphasis.  His point is simply, “God made a plan that has not been revealed to you, but when it all came together, God acted.”  The Gospels and Jesus say very similar things:  Mt. 1:22; Mk.  1:15.  Approximately 20x the Gospels say something like, “this was to fulfill what the prophets wrote…” which all affirm what is being said here:  At the right time God acted to bring about His plan of salvation. 

When the time was right, God acted in four ways.

First, when the time was right God sent His Son.  This sending was part of a Triune plan (God didn’t compel the Son to do something the Son did not want to do; Heb. 1:1-2; Jn. 6:57).  This plan was also part of the Triune plan for the Father to give the Son a gift of redeemed people (Jn. 6:37ff) — making believers the “first Christmas gift.”  The arrival of Christ was not a “happy accident.”  It was the purposeful work and intentional plan of the Father.  Just as a Roman father chose the time for his child to become an adult son, so the heavenly Father devised the plan of redemption and then at the right time sent His Son to fulfill that plan.  One theologian has said this was no casual happening:  “God, no less, sent His Son, no less.”  Amazing.

From Adam and Eve in the Garden, God saw the sin of mankind — every sin of every individual — and in compassion, He fulfilled His eternal plan to redeem and save us.  At the right time, the Father sent the Son to earth and ushered in the era of redemption. 

Second, when the time was right God sent His Son born of a woman.  Some have suggested this phrase suggests the virgin birth.  It doesn’t suggest that, but it does state the uniqueness of Jesus Christ’s nature.  He was sent from God (and was God, Jn. 1:1ff) and was also born as a human being.  In this one statement we have two important realities of Christ —

• He “emptied” Himself of the rights and privileges of Heaven (Phil. 2:5-8), what theologians call the kenosis of Christ. He didn’t cling to His heavenly authority, but instead set aside His rights to serve both the Father and those He would redeem (Mk. 10:45). 
• He was both fully divine and fully human (what theologians call the hypostatic union). In His birth He did not cease to be God, but in His birth He also added full humanity — He became genuine man.  God entered the world through a birth canal.  The One who put the stars in place didn’t have strength or coordination to hold up His head.  The One who controls all things cried for help to be fed.  God who is transcendent and omnipotent came as an 8lb. fragile baby.

Christ had to be both God and man so that as God He could absorb an infinite amount of wrath against sin, and that as man He could live a perfect life and die a perfectly satisfying death to God, in our place.  Anything less than God and anything less than man and He would not be enough for us.

Third, when the time was right God sent His Son…under the Law.  It is significant that God had an eternal plan to save sinners.  It is mystifying how Christ (deity) could become man.  It is astounding that God in Christ is placed under the Law.  To be under the Law simply means that He is under obligation to fulfill the mandates of the Law.  That Law did not save anyone; it only condemned (3:10-11).  That Law also contained the judgment for failure to keep it, which made it a curse against mankind (3:10a, 13).  But being under the Law also suggests one other massively essential reality:  it was not enough for Christ to become human.  If He were Babylonian, or Roman, or Galatian, or if He had waited a couple of millennia and become American, it would have been remarkable, but in a sense it would have been pointless because He would not have been under the Law and He could not have kept and fulfilled the revealed Law of God and imputed His perfect righteousness to sinners who believe in Him.  It was not enough for us if Jesus came and simply sympathized with our plights in this world and said, “that’s pretty tough…”  It was not enough that He was under the moral Law of the conscience like the Gentiles were for millennia.  He had to be under the same God-revealed obligations as His Israelite brethren.  And being under that Law, He fulfilled every aspect of every part of that Law (Mt. 5:17-18).  And that became the hope of Israel, and us. 

Christ had to submit to and obey every one of the obligations of the Law so He could be our Redeemer.  If He were not under the Law, He could not save us.…

Finally, when the time was right God sent His Son…to redeem those who were under the Law.

The word redeem points to purchasing someone or something; in this case, the sinner is bought out of slavery to the Law.  The Law no longer “owns” the sinner; the sinner is set free.   But the sinner is not just set free — the beauty of redemption is that it also leads to adoption:  the slave becomes a son (vv. 5b–6).    And as sons, these redeemed slaves (us!) receive all the privileges of access to the Father, so we can come into His heavenly throne room and address Him not just as Master, but as Father — Daddy.  There is intimacy and fellowship waiting for us in this redemption. 

All this the Father and Christ accomplished in His advent, in the fulness of time.  If you are here this morning as a believer, rejoice in the astounding plan of God that was so carefully worked out — and that provided and continues to provide your salvation.  You have access to the Father and ability to worship Him.  Whatever else happens in this world, you are safe.

It is possible that you are not a believer in Jesus Christ.  You may attend worship regularly, and serve in some ministry of the church, and give generously to the church — but you have not repented of your sin and you do not desire fellowship with God.  You may want to be rid of your sin, but you don’t want Jesus; or maybe you want Jesus, but you don’t want to get rid of your sin.  My friend, I encourage you to repent (turn away from and repudiate your sin) and believe (have faith) in Christ only as your satisfaction in life.  That’s what Christmas is all about — that’s what Christ came to accomplish.  This Christmas Eve morning, believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Redeemer.   

When we see Christmas lights, when we decorate Christmas trees, wrap Christmas presents, and smell Christmas cookies, let us remember that all these are designed to help us remember Christ’s arrival some 2000 years ago.  And that arrival was all God’s plan.  And the plan was perfectly timed, right on time.  He came…at…just…the…right…time.