Freed miraculously to serve victoriously

David knew that the Lord had established him

(1 Chronicles 14, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 31, 2017)

[1] And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also masons and carpenters to build a house for him. [2] And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.

[3] And David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters. [4] These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, [5] Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, [6] Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, [7] Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet.

[8] When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went out against them. [9] Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the Valley of Rephaim. [10] And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.” [11] And he went up to Baal-perazim, and David struck them down there. And David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. [12] And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned.

[13] And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. [14] And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees. [15] And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” [16] And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. [17] And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the LORD brought the fear of him upon all nations.

David was an impressive man, and a central figure in world history. Let's examine what the Chronicler points to as evidence of David's greatness, and then address this important question: Where did it all come from?

David's House

David had a great palace built with materials from the forest of Lebanon and by the skill of craftsmen sent by Hiram, the king of Tyre.

David's Subjects

But David's house was more than a building. It included the entire kingdom over which he ruled. In earlier chapters we read about David's mighty men, and in future passages we will explore his various governing officials that put his commands into practice. Now we need to think beyond the few to the many, that David was able to unite all of Israel, and that thousands of families understood this man to be their supreme leader under Almighty God.

David's Family

A further extension of David's kingdom would come from the king's descendants. Several children had been born before Jerusalem was taken from the Jebusites, but now the Chronicler lists the additional sons of David that were born in Jerusalem. This included the man who would be king after David, Solomon, and his brother Nathan, both of whom would figure into future genealogies of Mary and Joseph.

David's Victories

Beyond the glory of David's house, his nation, and his family, the king's greatness would especially be known in his military victories, particularly over the most powerful enemies that threatened the Israelites in that era, the Philistines. This people group migrated to the western seacoast of the Promised Land from other Mediterranean shores and asserted their dominance over Israel in previous generations. David's notoriety among his countrymen began with his defeat of one large Philistine, Goliath, with a sling and a stone. It continued during many great victories in the days when Saul was king over Israel. Now that David was established firmly over both north and south, He continued to have great success over the Philistines.

David's Fame

All of this led to an increase in David's international reputation, for “the fame of David went out into all lands.”

David's God

But now we need to turn to the all-important question we mentioned earlier: Where did it all come from? We do not have to guess. We are told that “David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.” God had done it all, and these victories were a part of a larger design that extended to the entire nation of Israel and beyond.

As we look at the specifics of David's military success against the Philistines, it was God who was directing it all and granting him favor. As the Lord said to David, “I will give them into your hand.” And as David had concluded, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like a bursting flood.” The victory over adversaries was seen as Jehovah's dominance over false religious systems, for the Philistines “left their gods” on the battlefield, and “David gave command, and they were burned.”

As report of David spread to other lands, this desirable reputation for Israel's king did not come by David's own design. “The Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.”

David had so much that could have been a snare to him. All of it was a gift from God. Where would we be without Jesus, the ultimate Son of David? How did He conduct Himself during His days on earth? John 13:3-5 gives us an example. How should we live as those who follow Him?

Consider this one humble illustration: Supersaints don't need to travel the globe, be famous, or even be entirely theologically correct, since “the kingdom, the power, and the glory” belong to God. “May the Mind of Christ My Savior,” the hymn we are about to sing, was written by Katie Barclay Wilkinson, about whom we know so little... Every child of God has a purpose. So be “you,” the best “you” that God made you to be, and then boast in the Lord and not in yourself.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 37 – Fret Not Yourself

Gospel Reading—Matthew 10:34-39

[34] Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [35] For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. [36] And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. [37] Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. [38] And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. [39] Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Galatians 4:4-5 - Final Christmas Messages

Morning Service:

“Born under the Law”—Christmas Question 4: Why was Jesus Jewish?

(Galatians 4:4 – Part 4, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 24, 2017 10:30 AM)

What is the story line of the Bible?

The entire Old Testament is an epic of preparation, and the New Testament is a story of fulfillment and mission. God had an eternal purpose, “to unite all things” in a Messiah, “things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:10). The Bible is the account of this plan from beginning to end. His perfect ending of heaven on earth required the coming of Jesus.

What was the special role of the Jews as God's chosen people?

An essential part of the preparation half of the story involved the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, also known as the Jews, the chosen people group of the Old Testament. God made a promise to Abraham 4000 years ago that through one of His descendants, Jesus, all the people groups of the earth would be blessed. That promise was passed on to Abraham's son and grandson, from whom would come all the tribes of Israel, and eventually the eternal King of the Jews who would be from the line of David, who lived 3000 years ago. Jesus, who was born about 2000 years ago is this promised Messiah, and He has become not only King of the Jews, but Ruler over a resurrection kingdom that has begun in the hearts of all who receive Him.

What does it mean to be an Old Testament Jew according to the Bible?

It was the glory of the Jews to be “entrusted with the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2), the divinely inspired words of the Torah, the Prophets, and the other writings of the Hebrew Bible such as the Psalms of David. Through God's Word Israel was given rituals like circumcision and an entire system of law, worship, and life, whereby they were a separate people who would be kept by God even to the present day. To be a faithful Old Testament Jew, walking “blamelessly” (Luke 1:6) before God, one needed to keep that divine Word, including provisions for the forgiveness of their sins. All sinned, but they were to seek the mercies of God through a coming Messiah.

Was Jesus Jewish, and why does that matter? (Luke 2:21, 22-32, Leviticus 12:8, 23:5, 9-11, 1 Corinthians 15:23)

Jesus was and is that Messiah. The Coming One has come. If He were not Jewish, the entire story line of 2000 years of preparation would be a lie. He needed to fulfill all righteousness, and He has—living without sin, dying as Passover Lamb, and rising as Firstfruits of a new world.

What exactly does it mean to be under the Law?

While all of humanity is subject to God's commandments, Jews were uniquely “under the Law.” Others groups were not entrusted with the oracles and life of holy preparation for the Savior.

Was it important that Jesus kept the Old Testament Law?

But only one Jew entirely kept the Law, and in keeping God's just requirements, He who was the Word made flesh has provided the works that are the foundation for divine grace. Without this larger story, there is no heavenly grace for us and no eternal joy in Christmas. Application: Celebrate Jesus, and love the Jews, all the people groups on earth, and the church for His sake!(Romans 9:1-5, 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Evening Service:

Christmas Question 5: Why would God care about me?

(Galatians 4:4-5, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 24, 2017 5 PM)

But when the fullness of time had come, …

God is the Definer of time, and especially of perfect timing in every life and in the history of the world. His salvation comes at just the right time—both in your life and in the turning of the ages from the era of preparation, the Old Testament, to the day of global mission, the New Testament, and all the way to the eventual moment of second coming. (Christmas is the sufferer's holiday.)

God sent forth his Son, …

Christmas was part of God's eternal plan in timing and content. Jesus is just as entirely divine as the Father. Only God could have suffered an eternal punishment for us in space and time in such a way that He could declare, “It is finished.” And only a Savior who is fully divine could handle the job that Jesus has now, since “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to Him.

Born of woman, …

God is the only one who could decide what was required in order for us to have fellowship with Him forever. He determined that that blood of animals could not take away our guilt and shame. Only through Jesus of Nazareth, the real God/Man, could we have what we desperately needed.

Born under the law, ...

Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, kept the Old Testament Law flawlessly. Without the amazing works of Jesus' obedience to the Law of God, there would be no heavenly grace for us and no eternal joy in Christmas. Jesus was born to be our Redeemer and King. Does Jesus care about you? Most definitely. You need to know who He is, to encounter Him in the Word, and to respond to that encounter in a way that is appropriate.

To redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

The historical facts and life-changing importance of Jesus came first to the Jews who had a burden of the Law that they could not bear. Jesus lifted them from that bondage. The thousands of other people groups on the face of the earth have their own law problem. While they may not have had the temporary Old Testament rituals to guard and keep, they did have the requirement to worship God, to give Him honor, and thanks. They knew in their consciences that it was wrong to covet and to steal. All of us, Jew and Gentile, have a law problem because we have a sin problem. But now we have Jesus, and each in our turn, at just the right time, are brought into the family of God through Him. (Consider one woman's story: Luke 13:10-17)

1. Who is Jesus? God. Man. Redeemer. Savior. Lord.
2. What does it look like when people encounter Him personally? Life.
3. What is an appropriate response for all who are found by Jesus through His Word? Love.

(These three points are from Andrew Vogan of Young Life who is a real person I encounter every week!) Jesus is real, and He gives life to people who meet Him. Receive Him. Love Him.

“To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)

We worship Jesus, fully God and fully Man, and find context for sorrow and trial.

Born of woman ...

Christmas Question 3: Why was it necessary for Jesus to be a true human being?

(Galatians 4:4 – Part 3, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 17, 2017)

What does the Bible say about Jesus Christ?

Jesus was the Son of Mary, but not of Joseph. Mary's firstborn is the Son of God. Looking at God's revelation to and through Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, what did God teach us about Jesus? Through Jesus, God would “visit” and “redeem” His people. He would be a powerful “horn of salvation” as the promised King from the “house of David.” This Messiah would “save us from our enemies,” particularly from our worst foes, sin and death. He would be the living embodiment of the “mercy” of God and the eternal sign that God had not neglected to “remember his holy covenant promises.” Because of this one Savior, we would be able to “serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”

Jesus would also be the “Most High” God, even the “Lord” Himself. By Him, God's people would have “forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God.” He would be the “sunrise” of a new resurrection era, who would “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” and would thus “guide our feet into the way of peace.”

These are enormous claims, but in order to become a reality, everything would have to be done God's way. While Jesus was and is truly divine, He also needed to be perfectly human. And so He was. Paul says in Romans 1:3 that Jesus was descended from David according to the flesh. You do not get to fulfill that requirement unless you are born of woman. As Paul says in Philippians 2:7, the Son of God “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Or in the words of John 1:14, the Word who was in the beginning with God and who Himself was God, “became flesh.”

If Jesus is one person, how can He have two natures—a divine nature and a human nature?

This creates a problem for our understanding. We wonder how one person could have two natures and be simultaneously both God and man. But to be sure this is not the only troubling doctrine of our religion. How could God make all things of nothing? How could God uphold everything in the universe? How could He bring about a new heavens and a new earth in the twinkling of an eye? How could God make the life and death of one man count for His just requirements for untold millions? So we do not know how Jesus could be fully God and fully man. We only know that the one Jesus is clearly God and that He is clearly man.

Is this kind of theological affirmation something that the church made up, or is it really the truth?

The church did not make up this doctrine of Christ, they were forced into it, by heresy and the Scriptures. We see in the Bible the start of what becomes a more pronounced matter of concern in the centuries ahead, that there were some who wanted to say that Jesus was God, but that He only seemed to be man. In 1 John 4:2-3 we learn that some were unwilling to confess that Jesus Christ had “come in the flesh.” This would have made Him fully God, but not fully man.

People would never have made up the Scriptural doctrine of Christ. What people have made up are simplifying doctrines that are not in line with the Scriptures. By the year 325 AD the church had condemned the false theology of docetism which is an unsatisfactory theology.

What does it mean that Jesus was born of woman?

Consider the cost from Genesis 3:15-16. Jesus identified with us in this broken world. Think of what took place between the Lord and His disciples after the Transfiguration. We read in Matthew 17:14–17, “[14] And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, [15] said, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. [16] And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.' [17] And Jesus answered, 'O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?...”

From the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus did the unimaginable: He took His place as the Substitute for sinners—as the Man who stood in the breach for sinful men and women. How else can we understand His willingness to be baptized by John? John was perplexed but was forced to accept the determination of His great Superior who put Himself in the position of an inferior in Matthew 3:13–15, “[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. [14] John would have prevented him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?' [15] But Jesus answered him, 'Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he consented.”

And that was only the beginning. At the end of His ministry in Gethsemane we read these words of Jesus in Matthew 26:38, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” This was no overstatement. Jesus had a real human soul and would soon truly die. His human body would be placed in a borrowed tomb. He has associated with us and we with Him. His death is our death; His burial our burial; but then also His resurrection our resurrection.

Why was it necessary for our Savior to be a true human being?

Jesus had to be a true man. Let me highlight three reasons. First, justice demanded it. The offense against the Lord was perpetrated by humans and the penalty needed to be paid by a man who could die, as God had said from the beginning. So we read in Hebrews 2:14–15, “[14] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” Or as we learn in Hebrews 10:4, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Second, Jesus' humanity is a great aid to our encouragement. There is a man in heaven, and we know where He is. Remember what Stephen saw in Acts 7:55—“the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” As Hebrews 7:24-25 tells us, “He always lives to make intercession” for us, and He will return on clouds of glory as God and man (Acts 1:11). Finally, we have a Friend in heaven who is more than sympathetic to us in our hour of distress, as we read in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus is just as entirely human as Adam and you—an absolutely necessity for our salvation. God is the only one who could decide what was required in order for us to have fellowship with Him forever. He determined that the blood of animals could not take away our guilt and shame. Only through Jesus of Nazareth, the second Adam, could we have what we desperately needed.

Application: Where do you find courage for living? Perhaps it will help you to know not only that heaven is real, but that there is just the right human being there, not just anyone anywhere, but the God/Man Jesus at the center of all power and authority. “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” We worship, and our sorrows find a resting place and a context that brings peace.

Wonderful, Marvelous, Savior, Jesus

God sent forth His Son...

Christmas Question 2: Why was it necessary for Jesus to be truly God?

(Galatians 4:4 – Part 2, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 10, 2017)

What does the Bible say about God?

God is wholly other, the one being who is uncreated. He is the Uncaused Cause. His Name, I-AM, tells the story of His incomprehensible nature, for He is the only Source of Being. We are creatures. We were not “sent forth” because we were not preexistent, but God sent forth His Son.

What is the Trinity?

The Word “trinity,” which is not found in the Bible, is a one-word way of saying what the Bible clearly does affirm. 1. Monotheism: There is only one God, 2. Three persons with Sameness in divine essence: The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God, and 3. Yet Distinctness: The Father is not the Son or the Spirit, The Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father or the Son. For our text, it is important for us to consider that the Father who sent forth the Son, and the Son who was willingly sent forth by the Father are both fully I-AM.

The angel Gabriel told the young virgin Mary to Name her child, Jesus, which means “Jehovah is salvation.” This is the Greek word for the Hebrew “Joshua,” the Name of the famous Old Testament warrior who led the people of God into the Promised Land. After so many years without a king in the line of David, Mary was told that regarding Jesus, “the Lord God would give to Him the throne of His father David,” and that “His kingdom” would have “no end.”

Mary also learned that the baby would have no human father, but that He would be “the Son of God.” Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, greeted Mary as “the mother of my Lord.” Mary, at that very instant, rejoiced in the One she also called “the Lord” and “God my Savior.”

Does the Bible really teach the Trinity or did the church make that up?

One way to settle your soul on the fact that the church did not make up the truths that are necessary to believe the doctrine of the Trinity is to meditate on two key episodes regarding baptism from the Bible itself: the baptism of Jesus, and His parting command to His disciples regarding baptism. We read in Matthew 3:16-17 regarding the baptism of Jesus by John, “When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold a voice from heaven said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'”

At the end of Matthew's gospel, the resurrected Lord instructed His disciples to baptize future followers of Jesus in the One Name with the three persons listed separately. Jesus says in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?

Hebrews 7:16 sets Jesus apart from every religious ruler among the Jews because He had “the power of an indestructible life.” He could credibly make the promise to “lay down” His life and also to “take it up again” (John 10:17), a promise that he kept. Only God could safely have supreme authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). The entire mission of the church over the last 2000 years is based on Jesus having complete divine authority. When we see Him, we see the Father, because He is the visible representation of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). The One whose Name means “Jehovah is salvation” is indeed Jehovah in the flesh.

Why did God send forth His Son? What was the mission of the Father and the Son?

Whatever the mission of the Father was in sending His Son, it was an objective that involved a complete agreement—an “eternal covenant” (Hebrews 13:20)—between the Father and the Son. When Jesus prayed to the Father in the hearing of His disciples immediately prior to the events of the cross and the resurrection, He said in John 17:5, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” He knew the mission.

What was this mission? Jesus says in John 18:37, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” If you are here today to hear the Word of God, Jesus came to bear truthful witness to you. What is that truth? It is a rich and full message that will captivate your life for all eternity—a message about the glory of God and His love. That message has its center in the cross of Christ, a great work of redemption—a death for Him and a life for us with Him forever. As Paul says in Galatians 4:5, Jesus was sent forth from God “to redeem” His people, “so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Or as the angel announced to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, Mary “will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

This work of the cross was successful, and its power goes beyond a place of disgrace outside the city gates of Jerusalem to the resurrection, and far beyond. In the words of the last two verses of “Joy to the World,” we sing, “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.”

Why was it necessary for our Savior to be God Himself in person?

The Messiah who would accomplish this great mission needed to be God Himself and not a good limited being or a committee of experts. In heaven, people will never be god. Jesus is the Son of God forever, and just as entirely divine as the Father, an absolute necessity for our salvation.

There is only one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. “God sent forth His Son” to be the Savior of a new world. Consider 1. The power of His death: Only God could have suffered an eternal punishment for us in space and time and declare in John 19:30, “It is finished.” (See Hebrews 10:11-14) And 2. The power of His resurrection life: only a Savior who is fully divine could do what Jesus does now and for all eternity. (See Matthew 28:18-20)

Application: Marvel. Human beings were made to be impressed by the amazing. Cynicism does not fit us well. We were born to worship. We do this better as children, but we need to cultivate the grace of amazement again as adults. Seeing Jesus as Jehovah in the flesh is deeply right, and good for our souls. Think of what the Son of God did before He was sent forth. “All things were made through Him.” (John 1:3) He is the Word of God who not only spoke forth creation, but upholds all things in perfect divine providence. In the words of Hebrews 1:3, Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” We worship Him and say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)

God's Perfect Timing

But when the fullness of time had come...

Christmas Question 1: Why was Jesus born so long ago?

(Galatians 4:4 – Part 1, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 3, 2017)

Two ways of looking at our question: Dismissing what is old, Doubting that Jesus reigns now

Why was Jesus born so long ago? This question might be asked by different people who have slightly different concerns. For instance, one person might assume that newer events are always more important than older events. How could anything that happened 2000 years ago be all that relevant to life today? Another person might not been thinking of history at all, but might feel the distress of the present moment so deeply that he or she would like Jesus to be born today so that help would be with us now. Both of these people might miss what Paul was referring to when he wrote to the churches in Galatia placing the birth of Jesus at “the fullness of time.”

Controversy among the churches of Galatia at the turning point of the history of the world

In the first century, Galatia was a sizable region in modern-day Turkey that was largely a non-Jewish part of the Roman empire. When Paul and his companions had brought the message of Jesus to these Gentiles, many had come to believe that He was the Redeemer for the world. They had received Him as their Savior and Lord, and the churches that began among them were vibrant places of spiritual life. Then some Jewish Christians came to visit them and urged them that they needed to follow the Old Testament patterns of life in order to be accepted as true followers of Jesus. Paul wrote the book of Galatians in order to counteract this error. The “fullness of time” came when God's purposes in the Old Testament world were coming to a conclusion in the gift of a Messiah. The time of preparation for the eternal King of the Jews was over. The Savior of the Jews would be the Savior of the world. People like the Galatian tribes would find hope in Jesus. For the rest of human history, the Lord would use His church as ambassadors of Christ, bringing the message of hope to all the people groups of the earth.

If Jesus had come earlier or later – understanding God's sense of timing from 4000 years ago

Only God could know the right historical moment in history for the coming of Jesus. The ancient Greek language of the New Testament gives us two different words for time. One, chronos, from which we get the word chronological, is used to describe the movement of time through the months and years of history. The second word, kairos, means an opportune moment for decision or action. This second word is used by Paul in Romans 5:6 when he says, “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” In Galatians 4:4 Paul is talking about chronological time, but by combining “chronos” with the word translated “fullness,” the two kinds of time come together in the hands of God who is in charge of everything. Only the Lord of time would know when the succession of chronos had come to the exact kairos for the coming of Jesus. That moment of change would be “the fullness of time.” If Jesus had come before that moment, it would have been too early. If he had been born centuries in the future it would have been too late. The reason is that God is in charge of time with His own sense of divine purpose. He knows what He intends to accomplish, and therefore He knew what needed to happen through the Old Testament centuries of preparation and then immediately following the coming of Christ in the New Testament centuries of mission.

Let me illustrate God's perfect sense of timing using another Biblical event, the giving of the Promised Land of Canaan to the Jews. 4000 years ago (2000 BC) God revealed to Abraham (Abram) in a vision what would take place centuries later in the days of Moses. He said in Genesis 15:13–16, “[13] … Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. [14] But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. [15] As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” God had a reason for the delay, and He had a purpose for Abraham's life. He also had a plan for all the Amorites that lived in the land of Canaan in the centuries between Abraham and Moses. Giving that land to Abraham in his day would not have been the right timing. Other events in God's plan for Jews and Gentiles needed to take place.

The logical fallacy of chronological snobbery and the necessity of the last 2000 years

Back to the issue of the timing of the first Christmas. Why so long ago? Can everything from ancient days be so old as to be irrelevant? Only if we consider modern man the measure of everything. This prideful view of history has been called “chronological snobbery” and it is a logical fallacy. It falls apart completely when we remember that time is in God's hands and He is working out His purposes. These last 2000 have not been a waste of time. The Lord determined that He would bring the true meaning of the coming of Jesus to all the people groups of the earth by using weak and broken people as His ambassadors. They would go to far-off lands and do what some of the missionaries of our church are working on today as they live among various tribes, learning their languages and cultures, and speaking the life-giving message of a Jewish Messiah to people who need to know how they can have peace with God. This all has taken time, and it has involved lives like yours, as people were raised up by the Almighty to believe, worship, pray, give, obey, and rejoice as God's purposes have been progressively accomplished.

God as Creator of time and Ruler over perfect timing in every life and in the history of the world

But what about those who are desperate for Christmas to take place right now. We can understand their urgency. In an age when so many things seem dangerous or just plain wrong, or when people are struggling with the present and the future, we surely understand that it might seem better to have the skies filled with angels right now announcing this miraculous birth. We understand that people want an experience of hope here and now, and not 2000 years ago in a village called Bethlehem. Is there an error in this desire?

God is not more distant today because we cannot hold Him as a baby. That baby had a life. He demonstrated who He was and He did what He came to do. His death only needed to happen once and His resurrection and ascension were real. This Jesus has all power and authority as He reigns from highest heaven. He may seem far away, but He is very near you. Paul says in Romans 10:9-9, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The Spirit of the Lord is at work in your heart, and in your worship. He is not distant in today's societal and personal trials. He is as near, and He is at work. One day we will see with our eyes what we are called now to believe in our hearts and sing with our mouths.

God's salvation comes at just the right time—both in your life and in the turning of the ages from the era of preparation (OT), to the season of mission (NT), and on to the eventual moment of the second coming. God's Christmas timing is perfect. Three ideas for this moment of kairos today: 1. Prepare for Christmas by reading a gospel account and seeing the turning point of history in the coming of Jesus at just the right time. 2. Prepare for Christmas by praying to God, thanking Him for the way that He has governed your life as a chosen part of the history of the world and a life that really matters. 3. Prepare for Christmas by daily using your gifts in worship and in life.