At Just the Right Time

Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor

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. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:4-6

 God leaves nothing to chance. There is a mystery to God’s sovereignty and providence. Sovereignty is God’s rule and reign over all of creation. Providence is God’s guiding hand orchestrating and directing all human history in the details to his appointed end. He uses our choices and factors in our prayers into the tapestry of his overarching plan. For this reason, as believers we can say that “…we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NASB) The only way we can say that is if God is superintending the detail of human history and our lives.

Notice what Paul writes in Galatians, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…” Jesus came at just the right time. He came after the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo-Persians, and Greek empires when the Romans were in control. There was a peace and stability that was not known in previous generations and Greek was an expressive language that enabled God’s truth to be given with accuracy and detail. It was the fullness of time when God the Son entered human history. He was born of woman which points to the virgin birth of Christ. In some mysterious way, God the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and overshadowed her so that she became pregnant with Jesus, the God-man.

Why did God do this? The apex of all human history is the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he came to earth because of God’s great love for us and his desire to rescue a people for himself for all eternity. Quoting Paul, “God sent forth his Son…so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Jesus was born to die. But not in a tragic hero sense but in a sacrificial sense motivated by love for us!

Christmas reminds us that we are all sons of God. Paul had something particular in mind here when he said we were “sons.” It is true that we are “sons and daughters of God” in one sense, but here Paul highlights the role that son play as heir of the father. He is saying that as adopted “sons” we are his children “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:17 NASB) Just like both men and women are the “bride of Christ” (Ephesians 5:22-33) so also both men and women are “sons of God” and joint heirs with Christ. This is not to downplay the beauty in God’s diversity in creating man and woman equally in his image but to show our privileged position as full recipients of all of God’s blessings in Christ.

To every one of you this Christmas season I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!