Well, my prayer for this time and this message is that it will
bring warmth to our hearts, it will strengthen our faith, and
it will bring illumination to our minds.
My sincere desire is that it will enrich your relationship,
my relationship with the living Christ.
And we're going to do that prayfully by seeking to answer a
simple question. Why did Jesus come when he did?
Why did Jesus arrive in his first advent in that period that
we know to be 2000 years ago? Why not 500 years before?
Why not delayed until 2025? Why did Christ come when He did?
And we have to be humble in answering this question because
we may never receive a complete answer on this side of eternity.
That being said, the Scriptures does provide a remarkable
comment regarding this very reality.
And I want to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles in
Galatians, the book of Galatians, and see what Paul
says to these believers in chapter 4, verse 4, Galatians 4
verse 4, the great apostle by the Spirit writes, But when the
fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of
woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
That phrase, the fullness of time, essentially means at the
perfect time, when everything was ripe at the best possible
moment, God sent his Son. And this concise statement is
enough to let us know that not only was the means of our
salvation prepared and planned from eternity past, but the
timing of it was also carefully calculated.
And though again, we may not know all the reasons why, I
believe that there are indications in the Scriptures
that allow us to catch glimpses of God's wisdom pertaining to
the first advent of the Messiah. And I believe there are at least
three perspectives, 3 dimensions to this.
There is a spiritual one, there's a political, and there
is a cultural. And regarding the first, we
actually have the answers in this very same book, in the book
of Galatians. And so I want us to just
meditate on these things together.
And again, I pray that it would do something in your view of
God's wisdom and glory and majesty.
So let's consider these things separately.
What was going on spiritually for God to send his Son when he
sent him? But we have to step back and ask
ourselves this question. What is the main purpose of the
book of Galatians? It's very plain.
Paul is writing to these Christians in that region of
Galatia because they were being seduced by Jewish false teachers
who were trying to persuade them that there needed to be an
adherence to the law in order to attain salvation, namely
circumcision. And so, yes, these Christians
believe that Christ died on the cross, but you, you have to
understand there's much more history than that.
There are other components that you must comply with and must
observe in order for you to really secure with your
relationship with God. And so Paul writes to this group
of believers and this treaties really is is him educating these
Christians that the law serves no redemptive purpose, that the
law instead serves a different role.
And he explains it essentially it boils down to this, that that
the law is meant to convince you, not that you need to
observe these things in order for you to be made righteous,
but to convict you about your lack of righteousness.
And that no matter your efforts, no matter your attempts, you
will never be able to win your own redemption.
And so the law, Paul says, is meant to persuade you and
prepare you to be ready to accept Christ from the
understanding as you stand it before the mirror of God's
righteousness and holiness. I I cannot win my holiness.
It must be outside of me. It must be an alien
righteousness. And Paul says in many ways, look
back at Galatians chapter 3, verse 23.
He says now before faith came, we were held captive under the
law. In other words, the law didn't
liberate you had arrested you, had apprehended you.
And he goes on to say in prison until the coming faith would be
revealed. So then the law was our guardian
until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.
It's so straightforward, isn't it?
But how does this tie into the idea of Christ being sent the
fullness of time? How do those things relate well
in the mind of God? It was at that moment where the
law served its full purpose and Christ was ready to enter into
our world. In other words, the Old
Testament stands as an overwhelming historical record
of humanity, namely Israel's inability to keep the law
completely and consistently. And that wasn't a matter of 2030
or 100 years. It was centuries upon centuries
of documented unfaithfulness. So with the whether there are
many or few in the nation, it didn't matter.
With or without judges, kings or prophets, it made no difference.
You see, the Lord allowed the law to remain in effect for a
certain period of time in order to build a case against Adam's
race so that when it would be studied and when it would be
examined, and this one is completely delusional or filled
with pride, they would see and understand we can't do this.
The law has condemned us over and over and over again.
No matter what chapter of Israel's existence you look at,
they fail, they fall short. And in God's perfect knowledge,
He allowed this to unfold throughout the centuries in
order to establish again a case that would be irrefutable, that
Israel's history was not merely meant to humble them.
No, the Saint Paul who wrote this actually tells us that
this, this Old Testament, these Hebrew Scriptures, was meant to
stand against all of mankind as a testimony.
You know these verses very well. Let me remind you of them in
Romans 319. Paul says, Now we know that
whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law,
so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may
be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human
being will be justified in his sight, since through the law
comes knowledge of sin. So hold on for a moment, how is
the whole world held accountable to God if the law primarily
speaks to those who are under the law?
Who are those who are primarily under the law?
The Jewish people. Well, here's one way this works.
If Israel, who enjoyed privileges and revelation and
first hand encounters with God, could not meet the demands that
God placed on them the the moral requirements, what chance do the
neighboring nations have who are outside of that covenant?
In other words, if any Gentile were to read the the Hebrew
scriptures and see look at the the awesome glory that was
granted to this one people. And yet they continually turn
their back on this God. What opportunity do we have?
What chance do we have? The answer is they don't.
God's wisdom shows here that Israel's long history of
failures, despite their unique advantages advantages, stands
out as an irrefutable argument against humanity as a whole.
And This is why it was the perfect time, because when
Christ came, the Lord essentially declared the law has
served its goal. My case has been made.
Anyone who looks back at humanity's history will see
clearly that mankind cannot save itself and needs a Redeemer.
This is the spiritual component. But we have to all understand
that there is a political element to this as well, because
the one who is sovereign over time is also sovereign over
kingdoms and empires. That should cause us then to
realize that Christ being born when the Roman Emperor and the
Roman Empire was at its peak of dominance was not an
afterthought in God's redemptive plan.
It was just as much a part of the whole plan than anything
else. And what you find so
fascinatingly is that the policies and the achievements
and the authority of this ancient government significantly
influenced gospel events that we may have overlooked and we find
it in the Bible. Let me give you one example.
In Luke chapter 2, verse one, it reads, in those days a decree
went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be
registered. This was the first registration
when Crenius was governor over Syria and all went to be
registered, each to his own town.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of
Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was at the House of the lineage of David to
be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who is with child.
So here's Caesar Augustus, who did much for the Roman Empire,
but in this case he calls for a worldwide decree.
And that became the means to orchestrate and position Mary
and Joseph to be where Christ needed to be born.
Now 1 might ask, well, did it require all of that?
Couldn't Joseph and Mary just make their way towards Bethlehem
on their own that they need all of this?
Not necessarily. But there is wisdom even and how
this event transpired. Think about it, if Mary and
Joseph would have just made their way back to Bethlehem,
some could have criticized them of maybe manipulating events,
maneuvering things in order to force prophecy to happen.
Instead, when we see how this took place through the extensive
rule of Caesar Augustus, the Holy Spirit shows us how God,
God was the one who moved the world in order to bring his Son
where he needed to be born. Now, Cesar Augustus is
historically known for much more than what we find here in
issuing the census. He is credible with what is
known as the Pax Romana, which simply means in Latin, Roman
peace. It was a period of 200 years of
general peace and stability in the Roman Empire following
decades of war, and all began with Cesar Augustus.
He expanded Rome's dominance with an iron fist, and because
of this, there was a unique period of relative tranquility.
There was calm, and now efforts were focused on things like
trade and sophisticated infrastructure like building
roads, and that created ripple effects of prosperity and
societal flourishing. And things like this not only
made travel easier and made the world a little bit safer,
communication now was much more accessible and convenient.
And when you consider what it did to the world at the time,
you have to understand how it accelerated and even protected
the spread of the gospel, how apostles would communicate with
these different churches, how these missionaries would be able
to go from place to place with greater ease and access.
I'm afraid there's a misconception among some
Christians who think that Rome was the church's fiercest enemy
from the beginning. The Bible suggests otherwise.
If you actually read carefully in the New Testament, you'll
you'll realize that there are there are other enemies at the
forefront before the church. Think about Pilate.
Was he the one who was hunting down Jesus?
No, he was pressured by the Jewish religious leaders and in
the book of Acts, who kept trying to stumble and attack and
bribe against and slander the church.
Was it wrong? No, it was the Jews again.
In fact, Rome paid little attention to the Church.
They were very neutral. They were being presented cases
again by the Jews who wanted to try to stop the momentum of this
Christian movement and instead we actually find the widespread
persecution from the Romans would come decades later.
God used them without their knowledge in His sovereignty to
actually protect and preserve the church.
In many ways that sounds shocking, but it's true that the
Lord used this massive empire to actually play a role in
incubating and safeguarding and not allowing those who had a
vehement hatred for Christ and His people to gain victory.
And you see that especially in the ministry of the apostle
Paul. Paul was arrested on many
occasions, but one of his most significant arrests was near the
end of the account of the book of Acts.
He was in Jerusalem. He was in the temple.
And the Jews who saw him there says, this is our chance.
This is the blasphemer. This is the one who has been
winning so many to this to this Christ.
Let's get him. And so there was a mob attack
and they nearly killed him. But who intervened?
The Roman tribune, they stopped the scuffle, they rescued Paul,
they brought him to the side, and they put him in the barracks
for a short amount of time. And while he was tucked away, we
learn in the Book of Acts that Paul's nephew learned about a
plot to assassinate Paul, that they even vowed, they even
fasted until this was accomplished.
So what does he do? Well, he goes to the tribune and
he tells him and informs him of the scheme.
Listen, they're going to ask you to bring Paul out at a council
meeting so that they can interrogate him.
But in reality, there's going to be an ambush.
Don't let it happen. And I want you to see what the
Roman officials did for Paul. Listen to these words in Acts
23, verse 23. Then he in Acts 2323, that is
the tribune. Then he called two of the
centurions and said get ready. 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen
and 200 spear men to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of
the night. Also provide mounts for Paul to
ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.
Wow, that is one impressive convoy for a preacher, wouldn't
you say? And my favorite part isn't even
the hundreds of soldiers surrounding this one man.
It's how they'd even let him walk.
They put him on a horse. Why did they go so far for this
man? Why this level of security?
Was it because he was a Christian?
Was it because he was educated? Was it because he was famous?
I don't think so. I believe we actually get the
answer in the same account. I believe actually what we're
about to see is a turning point in Paul's experience of this
life and death situation. Listen to these words.
This is earlier in Acts 22. In Acts 2224, the Tribune
ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he
should be examined by flogging. Do you want flogging in tales
very similar to what Jesus experienced before he was
crucified? This would have been brutal.
This would have destroyed Paul. So they were ready to flog him,
to get some answers out of him. Notice what it says to find out
why they were shouting against him like this.
But when they had stretched them out for the whips, Paul said to
the centurion who was standing by, Is it lawful for you to flog
a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?
When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said
to him, What are you about to do for this man as a Roman citizen?
So the tribune came and said to him, Tell me, are you a Roman
citizen? And he said, yes.
The tribune answered, I bought this citizenship for a large
sum, Paul said, But I am a citizen by birth.
So those who are about to examine and withdrew from him
immediately. And the tribune also was afraid,
for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had
bound him. What do you find repeated in
this passage? 2 words Roman citizen.
Now, undoubtedly the main source for Paul's protection is God's
preserving grace, sometimes manifested miraculously.
But that same power that hovered over Paul sometimes, yes, came
supernaturally, but also more commonly, was a providential
reality. And one of the providential
means for Paul to be protected was his citizenship.
Can you imagine that Roman citizenship was the very reason
the apostle of the Gentiles was not killed by the Jews, at least
at this point? And it happened more than once
where he had to appeal to his civil rights and he could thank
God for the protection that it afforded him.
And it makes me wonder if that thought crossed his mind at all
when he penned those words to the Galatians for the fullness
of time. God sent his Son that at the
best time for the gospel, that in a moment when it was most
profitable for the good news, God manifested the truth of who
He is to the world. Paul experienced that first
hand. Yes, because of his Savior
ultimately, but how God in his great power move through things
like this that we don't often think about.
Which makes me want to say one more thing before we come to our
final thought. Paul didn't just know the
Scriptures. Paul understood his rights as a
citizen who lived under an ungodly empire.
For what purpose? To the advantage of the
proclamation of the gospel. You know, some here might
criticize Paul. Some who are in Paul's position
might have just taken the flogging.
Paul didn't do that. He was much more wise and
strategic than that. He understood that this would
not help the cause of the gospel, it would hinder it.
And so he opened his mouth and he spoke up, and he utilized the
freedoms that he understood and enjoyed for the sake of the
gospel. May we do the same in the land
that we live in this day. May we not be foolish
Christians. May we understand that even in
this we can see God's grace extended to the church and the
world. But we come to a cultural
component to all of this. Again, we're trying to answer
the question, what was it about the timing of Christ's first
advent that was full, that was just right?
Well, long before Rome became an empire, Greek culture and
language had spread across the eastern Mediterranean due to the
conquest of Alexander the Great. And because of that Young's
man's ability and power and authority, the Greek language
was the common language and it was so deeply rooted in society
that when Rome took over, they adopted it.
They didn't seek to erase it. They integrated with it.
And as a result, it became the lingua franca, the shared
language across most of the eastern region.
And so if you want to think about what kind of influence
that had in Jesus time, just think about the influence of
modern English today. That is the the most used and
common way of communication among people.
And in the same way, Greek played such a significant role
in that ancient world, the time of the apostles.
And that's why the apostles wrote the New Testament in
Greek, because they wanted to have the furthest reach possible
with the message. They didn't want to limit
themselves with Hebrew or Aramaic.
And that's what we see here, that even in this small detail,
God understood that when one language dominated and spread
across the world. I'm going to send my son.
I'm going to send forth the Messiah.
Because God is not only sovereign over time, He's not
only sovereign over kingdoms and empires, but even over cultural
developments and the course of systems of communication over
time. Let me give you one final
example before we close together again.
We can miss this if we fail to meditate on the implications of
some of the details that were granted in the Bible.
We're we're we're recognizing the birth of the Messiah.
Let me take you to his death for a moment and listen to these
words in John 19 verse 19. This is our final scripture.
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.
It read Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
Many of the Jews read this inscription.
For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and
it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
So the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write the
king of the Jews, but rather this man said, I am the king of
the Jews. Pilate answered What I have
written, I have written it was customary for anyone who was
crucified by the Romans to have a plaque above their heads on
the cross stating their crime. When Pilate had Christ
crucified, you remember he could find no wrongdoing in the man.
So there was no there was no wrongdoing to inscribe.
So what does he do? He boldly writes what we just
read, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
But interestingly, John tells us that Pilate did so in three
different languages. Why?
Well, it's not because he believed it.
It's because he wanted to irritate the Jews who pressured
him to kill this man, and he could have just limited it to
their native tongue. But no, no, no, I'm going to
translate this to the most used and understood languages of my
time. You have to remember that Jesus
was crucified during what feast? The Passover.
What did that mean? Thousands from across the world
were in Jerusalem, from different parts of the world.
And so in the ESV, we learned that he wrote in Aramaic.
Some translators might say Hebrew, the language that the
Jews knew, but he also had it written in Latin.
Why? Because that was the official
language of of Rome, especially among the elite.
And finally, he writes it in Greek because as we just heard,
it was a common language of the culture.
Now, as we just saw, the Jewish leaders were absolutely
frustrated and angered by this. And so they demand, no, no, no,
no, don't write the king of the Jews, but that he claimed to be
the king of the Jews. Why?
Because they understood something that as his people,
tradesmen and travellers and pilgrims would cross this site,
they would read the sign and they could it could create
curiosity to the masses. King of the Jews crucified.
More than that, there could have been fear on the part of these
leaders that this could instigate something and that
higher Roman officials would look into this as there's a
claim to kingship apart from Caesar.
And so they tried to again pressure Pilot to do their
bidding, and he refused. What I have written, I have
written. I don't see Pilot's authority in
this story. I see God's sovereignty.
Why though? This man was mocking Christ and
tried to spite these Jewish leaders.
Unknowingly, he was declaring one of the most powerful truths
to the entire world. Because you have to understand,
people would take what they saw and bring it back home, share it
with their friends, discuss it with their families, and who
knows what that would open in their minds and in their hearts.
And so here you have Pilot giving a gospel truth in seed
form. And what would that do?
Who knows, but I think it played somewhat of a role as Christ is
ready to die, race from the grave, ascend and then
commissioned his church to preach the full gospel, perhaps
to some who few days weeks ago read the sign Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews crucified, the fullness of time.
God sent his son and you and I just got a sample on this
Christmas Eve just how profound our God is, just how brilliant
he is. But let me end by telling you
just how gracious he is because the same one who oversaw and
Superintendent over all these details tells us in his word.
Now is the favorable time. Today is the day of salvation,
and it could be that you're in this place tonight, as Pastor
Mark mentioned, out of tradition.
Maybe this is very nostalgic to you, but Christ is not real to
you and you have never personally and consciously and
intentionally turned your attention towards Him and
confessed your sin and received His saving grace.
And what you just heard in this last 30 minutes is a very brief
explanation of all that God went through in order to win your
heart, in order to redeem your soul, in order to cleanse you
from all unrighteousness and to deem you as holy in the sight of
God. And what He asks of you in this
moment is to acknowledge that you are indeed a Sinner, that if
you compare yourself to God's righteousness, you have
absolutely no chance of winning any case pertaining to your
redemption. And yet you would not live in a
moment of despair, but recognize that provision has been made in
the person of Jesus Christ. Let me just speak as plain as
possible in closing. You need your sins to be
forgiven. You and I stand condemned before
a holy God, but Christ is the payment for our sin.
And if you would just humble yourself and recognize who He is
and what He has done, not only would your life today be
transformed, but you will have the hope of everlasting life.
All is required of you is an admission of the sin that placed
Christ on the cross and a recognition that only He can
forgive you completely. And the only thing I'll leave
you with is this. If you're hesitant to accept it,
ask yourself why. Why?
Why would you deny a free gift like this?
Why would you turn your back on a love so great and so powerful?
Ask yourself and I pray that that introspection would lead
you to not just asking why, but asking Christ to save you.
He is ready to do it. You know, this time is very
meaningful to me personally, not because I get to be with family
and be with my church family because it was around this time
14 years ago as a 20 year old man that I came to Christ.
That's why these services are very meaningful to me, because
you, you don't know who might trickle in.
For me, my brother and a dear friend, it was around this time
leading up to New Year's. We were so unsatisfied with the
world separate from one another, yet Christ dealing with us in
the same way. And all it took was an
invitation, at least for my brother and my dear friend, to a
service like this around this time, to hear a brief message
about the gospel and their lives to be transformed forever.
And in my case, it was very similar, except I didn't go to
church. They couldn't even get me to go
to church, but I was bothered enough by my sin to at least
read my Bible as a New Year's resolution.
And God spoke to me through that, and I've never recovered.
And I'm here telling you that you can know that same joy and
treasure in Christ if you just seek Him just the way you are.
He waits for you. Let's pray together.
Lord, Your word is indeed Your voice, and we've heard it loud
and clear, and again we ask that it would do only what it can do,
and that is convict hearts, comfort hearts, renew hearts.
Lord, we yield to you and we just come now to sing to You in
our Thanksgiving for what You have done, for those who are
saved, remembering their redemption.
For those who are not, perhaps tonight would be the night that
they can taste and see that the Lord is good.
We've done our part, Lord. We've sang the songs, we've
given the message, but only you can transform, and we give you
all the glory for that in Jesus name, Amen.
Why don't we stand? Let's worship the living Christ
together.