“When the fullness of time had come…”

The idea of God being timely is interesting to say the least.  By definition, God lives outside of time.  In fact, God created time back “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1).  We see the supremacy of God over time confirmed in Acts 17:26: “And he has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings…”  The Apostle Paul, when speaking to the philosophers at Athens, clearly indicated that human beings by nature are creatures limited by both time and space.  The fact that God sets our “times and boundaries” demonstrates his sovereignty.  Neither dimension limits him.  This verse also says that God rules over and plans out human affairs, a point Daniel records in his book several times.  Missiologists say that this verse suggests that there are certain times and seasons for reaping among the many great people groups of the world.  It appears that for many Asian people groups, their time is now.  It also seems that after several hundred years of clear Christian testimony and witness in North American, future reaping times for America appears to be fading.

Moving on to Romans 5:6 we find another interesting insight about God and time:  “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”  Let’s focus on that little prepositional phrase, “in due time.”  First, we want to momentarily remove the word “due.”  What we have left is “in time.”  Imagine that!  The God who is outside of time, not limited by time, stepped into time and in a matter of speaking, invaded our space.  Christ submitted himself to the limitations that define our existence as space-time creatures.  That is why at the annunciation of Christ’s incarnation in Luke 1 God sends the angel Gabriel on a most important mission.  He announces something God had never done before: personally enter the space-time continuum as a human being!  And upon the birth of the Savior a whole host of angels illuminate the night sky, driving darkness away while they praised God (Luke 2).  Christ came “in time.”

But it was not only “in time,” but “in due time.”  The Greek word for “time” here is kairos.  It has the idea of a window of opportunity, a measure or quality of time, a rare moment.  That is where the word “due” comes in.  Christ came at the right time, the proper time, coming to die for the ungodly.  As a nation, the Jews had failed in her obligations under the law.  The world was in spiritual darkness, demonstrated by the rampant superstition and demon possession in Israel.  Historically the Roman Empire was at its highest point, with its famous roads and enforced stability.  It is with this in mind that we pick up with Galatians 4:4, our verse at the heading, which says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”  The Greek word for “time” here is not kairos, but chronos, meaning “the duration, length or sequence of time.”  The idea is that as all of time unfolded, God chose that particular moment in the chronology of history to send Christ.  So Christ’s coming for us contained elements of both kairos and chronos.  It was both intentionally and chronologically the perfect time to work out his salvation for all of mankind — for you and me!

Finally, we turn to Hebrews chapter 4.  In verse 14 we read, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God…”  We see here the culmination of Christ’s time in the space-time continuum.  He didn’t stay here.  He didn’t die and his body rot in the tomb.  No, he rose from the dead, showed himself alive on numerous occasions, and then left our world in all of its dimensions and returned to heaven itself.  He literally paved the way for us to be with him in heaven.  Then in verse 16 we read, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Notice that God encourages us to “come” to his throne, characterized by “grace” to find help “in time.”  Here the word is kairos, an opportunity “of need.”  Again, we see that although Christ is no longer limited by time, he still works “in time,” or in a timely way on our behalf.

Our God is timely.  All of the blessings he gives (Romans 8:32) stem from sending Christ “in due time.”  Have you experienced kairos moments with God in prayer and received the blessings of God?