Ephesians 1.3-10
We are on a clock, much larger than life! It is God's time clock. It is ticking away in heaven. Most people do not realize this.
We have been in the Last Days since Jesus ascended back into heaven!
It has been ticking since the Genesis. God created time from eternity. This is chronicled in Genesis 1. The whole first week is laid out for us there in detail, each day.
When Adam, the first man, sinned, the LORD promised a Redeemer. Genesis 3.15
1. The prophets searched for the time which the Spirit of Christ was pointing, the time of the coming of the Messiah.
I Peter 1.10-12
They received the Word of God but not the time of its fulfillment.
It was so wonderful that they longed to know "when".
Investigate, scrutinize and search diligently to find out the exact time.
The words are strong and emphatic, alluding to miners, who dig to the bottom, and break through not only the earth, but the rock, to come to the ore; so these holy prophets had an earnest desire to know.
2. In The Fulness of Time Jesus was born. Galatians 4.4 (chronos)
Chronos= time either long or short
Rome had unified the world so there were no "boundaries" set up to stop the Gospel. A century earlier this would not have been the case.
Roman Roads, 50,000 miles of them had been built. Many had street light lanterns. The Roman engineering was aimed at bringing Caesar's legions to every corner of his dominion but on those imperial lines of communications the missionaries marched with the message of the Gospel. Paul letters were carried on them! Evangelists traveled them to bring the Good News to the whole world.
The Romans had cleared the Mediterranean of pirates, making travel by ship much safer.
Greek had become the universal language. The Gospel could be spoken and God's Word written in a language that all could understand. This hastened the spread of the gospel. There was no language barrier to contend with.
. “It was a time when the pax Romana extended over most of the civilized earth and when travel and commerce were therefore possible in a way that had formerly been impossible. Great roads linked the empire of the Caesars, and its diverse regions were linked far more significantly by the all-pervasive language of the Greeks. Add the fact that the world was sunk in a moral abyss so low that even the pagan cried out against it and that spiritual hunger was everywhere evident, and one has a perfect time for the coming of Christ and for the early expansion of the Christian gospel.” (Boice)
The time was also right because the 483 years prophesied by Daniel were drawing to a close (Daniel 9:24-26).
Providence, by various arrangements in the social and political, as well as the moral world, had fully prepared the way for the coming Redeemer. God often permits physical evil long before he teaches the remedy. The smallpox had for long committed its ravages before inoculation, and then vaccination, was discovered. It was essential to the honor of God's law to permit evil long before He revealed the full remedy.
Economically it was in the fulness of time. 2 out of three men were in some form of slavery. The burden of taxation and the growth of the population made life care ridden and full of anxiety. The word seemed tangled and gone wrong. It was a dark hour. The words of the two on the Road to Emmaus were indicative of the population at large, "We had hoped."
Morally the world was ready. The Greek mythological gods were losing their luster and the worship of nature was in the minds of many. Read the first chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. It is descriptive of the moral condition of the first century. There was great despair.
Religiously the world was ready.
gods from the east were coming into play
The gods of Olympus had become a joke.
Caesar Worship had begun to emerge.
None of these gods addressed broken hearts, forgiveness of sins or other deep human need. Yet in the air there was expectancy, particularly in Israel. John the Baptist was asked if he was the Messiah. People's hearts were opening to the LORD.
In summary:
The Jews, with their concept of monotheism and the Old Testament Scriptures (with scores of prophecies regarding the Messiah) had prepared the way.
The Greeks had provided a language that was the most precise instrument for the conveyance of human thought the world had ever known.
The Romans had given humanity a time of peace and marvelous transportation and communication systems. - Christian Courier
Probably no period in the history of the world was better suited to receive the infant church than the first century A.D….By the second century Christians…began to argue that it was a divine providence which had prepared the world for the advent of Christianity.
3. The full number of Gentiles/ The Times of the Gentiles
Romans 11.25-27
Luke 21.12
Implying (1) that one day Jerusalem shall cease to be "trodden down by the Gentiles" ( Rev 11:2), (2) that this shall be at the "completion" of "the times of the Gentiles," which from Rom 11:25 (taken from this) we conclude to mean till the Gentiles have had their full time of that place in the Church which the Jews in their time had before them--after which, the Jews being again "grafted into their own olive tree," one Church of Jew and Gentile together shall fill the earth ( Rom 11:1-36). What a vista this opens up!
4. Times reached their fulfillment. Ephesians 1.10
Time= kairos
a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for
An opportune or seasonable time
the right time
Everything under Him.
His return v.21
So today we wait for the times to reach their fulfillment, for the Fulfillment of the Ages to come. I Corinthians 10.11. We do not totally know how we fit into the plan of God for the ages. It is not for us to figure out. We are to obey, remain faithful to His dear cause, and trust in Him with all our hearts, share His love. One day we will know.
Most of the time people are not aware of how God is using them. Sometimes, many times it isn't until after a person is gone into heaven that the influence of their life's work is realized.
The times will reach their fulfillment soon. Jesus is coming again. He is coming soon.
What clock are you living by today? We have to live by both of them, but remember one day the clocks of this earth will cease and eternity will swallow up time. Then we will live by what we have done for Christ on earth. The time is coming when no man can work. Let's serve Him while it us still day.
Keep on trusting.
Keep on serving.
Keep on giving yourself fully to the LORD.
Your labor in the LORD is not in vain.
