In the Fulness of Time … (December 2023 Update)
God’s timing is always amazing. One friend always used to say, “God is seldom early, but He is never late.” God’s timing is not just amazing; it is perfect. When I was a child, Christmas could never come fast enough. In fact, after Thanksgiving, it seemed like the days leading up to Christmas passed slower than any other days in the year. People even had an expression for when things were delayed during the year – they would say, “it’s as slow as Christmas.”
We all knew Christmas would come on December 25th but, it still seemed like forever. But imagine if you never had a specific date to look forward to. That’s the way the Jewish people felt for many generations. Every year at the end of the Passover meal, they would proclaim, “Maybe next year in Jerusalem” as a hope that the Messiah might come the following year. But God’s timing for the arrival of Messiah on that first Christmas morning was perfect – “in the fulness of time….”
Let’s look at this verse in Galatians 4 and what it means for us this Christmas. Galatians 4:4-5 says: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
First, Christmas begins with God. Notice who Christmas begins with: “God sent forth His Son.” Christmas is not something that man created – it is something that God planned ahead of time. In His wisdom, God had predetermined the exact time that He would send His Son into the world. Paul concludes Romans with these words:
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
Notice that God’s plan and God’s timing were established by God before the world began. Christmas is no afterthought. It is no plan “B”. It was God’s plan to send His Son. It was God’s plan for Him to become incarnate through the miracle of the virgin birth. Christmas begins with God. In the fulness of time, He sent forth His son to be born of a virgin. That’s Christmas!
Second, Christmas points to the divinity of Jesus. Notice that Jesus was sent forth. This speaks about the pre-existence of Jesus. It is just one of the many indications that the birth of Jesus was not an ordinary birth. It was the birth of one who already existed. It was the birth of the eternal Son of God. Our birth marks our beginning. His birth was part of God’s eternal plan to send the eternal Son to come and die for us. That’s Christmas!
Third, Christmas is about God becoming man. Paul tells us: “God sent forth His son, born of a woman.” More than anything, Christmas is about Immanuel, God with Us. It is about the mystery of the Incarnation. It is about the miracle of the virgin birth. In the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve had sinned, God gave mankind a promise in Genesis 3:15 when He spoke to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” That’s strange language because it was understood that the woman had the egg, and the man had the seed. Because of this, the Rabbis understood that the birth of the Messiah would be very unique. One Rabbi said that it meant that the Messiah would be born without the action of a man. That’s the virgin birth. Later the prophet Isaiah made this more clear: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Christmas is about the greatest miracle of all – God became flesh. Jesus took on flesh and blood so that he could be one of us and die in our place. Without the incarnation, the cross would be just another man dying a painful death. But, because God became man, the perfect righteousness of Jesus is able to cover all our sins. “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Because Jesus is man, he is able to be our perfect substitute. Because Jesus is God, he is able to be our sufficient sacrifice. That’s what Christmas is all about!
Fourth, Christmas is about redemption. “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” If Jesus is just a cute baby in a manger, then we have no redemption. Jesus was born for one purpose – to be the Savior of all mankind. We celebrate Christmas, not because of the manger, but because of the cross. But Jesus must do more than just be born. He had to live a perfect, sinless life under the law so that he could be the perfect, sinless sacrifice that we all need. Then he had to die on the cross and pay the penalty for all our sins. Finally, he had to rise from the dead as proof that he had paid for all our sins in full. Christmas is not about the manger – it is about the cross and the resurrection. It is about our salvation. It is about redemption.
Finally, Christmas is about God’s perfect timing. “But when the fulness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son….” It is hard to know all that Paul meant when he spoke about the “fulness of time.” But he certainly meant that God sent His son when everything was exactly right for his coming. This is Christmas – God’s timing is perfect. But it is also a reminder for all our days – God’s timing is always best. He is seldom early, but never late. In the fulness of time, God sent forth His son to be born of a woman – for our redemption! That’s the greatest gift of all! That’s Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Teaching Ministry …
The week before Thanksgiving, I taught Church History online for students at Kyiv Theological Seminary. I would teach class in the mornings and then head out to the property to work on the house. It was a very busy and tiring week, but I had a lot to do at the house so we could possibly move in by December. The class went very well. We had good discussions about many of the issues in Church History as well as applying them to specific questions about the church today. Pray for the church in Ukraine as the pastors and leaders live out a very difficult time in their history!
Also, this week, our whole family shared about our ministry in Ukraine with a WMU group at Sonora Baptist Church in NWA. Again, Katya prepared everything and did a tremendous job speaking. Also, the girls shared about their experiences like they were real professionals. Nadia even asked if anyone had any questions after her part of the presentation! Pray that our presentation will help them to see the importance of praying for and giving to missions, especially as they prepare for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering.
House Progress …
We needed to be in our house by December 1st or we would need to pay rent for at least another 6 months. In November, we faced all sorts of obstacles. The plumber only wanted to install specific parts – they would take 2-3 months to order. The septic guy was backed up (no pun intended) until Christmas. We needed to find flooring to match what we had already purchased last year. It all looked pretty impossible.
But, with lots of prayer, everything came together. First the septic guy called and said he could come the first week of November if the rain held out. It did. But when he came, he said we would need to install a much more expensive pump system because of some elevation issues. He is a believer and I told him we would have to do whatever we needed to do. He said he would see if there were any other options. He spent about 2 hours with his laser shooting every possible arrangement while I worked on wiring and prayed. When he came in, he asked, “Having you been praying?” When I asked why, he said, “Because I found one way to make it fit, but if it would have needed just a couple more inches, you would have had to use the pump. But we made it fit!”
Then the plumber called the following week and said the parts came in early and he would be finishing the plumbing that week. Then we were able to find a floor installer and the wood we needed to finish. They came and installed everything just before Thanksgiving. The week after Thanksgiving, we moved in – by November 30th!
But we had almost no furniture to put into the house. I found a moving sale with the exact table we had been hoping for. I went to get it and found out they were believers too. Now we needed two beds. On the way back from getting groceries, I saw a sign for a moving sale. It was late in the day, so I asked what he had left. He said, “Sorry, just a couple of beds but the mattresses are new.” He included frames, headboards, box-springs and mattresses for just $200! Of course, I took them right away. That same week, the cabinet guy called and said the kitchen cabinets were ready and they would be coming to install them. What a transformation in just one week! We cooked on the grill for a little over a week while we waited for the stove and oven but now everything seems like home. We even were able to put up our Christmas tree and decorations and we have been heating with our woodstove! We have no baseboard, no trim, no windowsills and lots of finish work to do. But we have a home that we can live in – all in God’s perfect time!
Family …
Thanksgiving was hectic to say the least. But we took time off each afternoon and evening to spend time with all my kids and grandkids for the week of Thanksgiving. We ate together, played games together, visited War Eagle Caverns and the Amazium. We topped off the week with a trip on Friday night to see the lights in Fayetteville Square. It was wonderful having everyone together!
Even with all the time spent moving, homeschooling continues as normal. It was a real joy to be able to have our first lessons in our new home. The girls recently finished Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and they have been studying about Mozart and Louis Armstrong too. Most of all they still love to read, especially sitting near a warm fire!
Praying for Ukraine …
Please remember to pray for Ukraine and especially for those who minister there. We have a number of friends and collegues who are working in Ukraine. As you consider your year-end giving, consider helping some of these ministries as they minister under very difficult circumstances.
Also, continue to pray for the gospel to go forth in Ukraine. We have many former students and friends who are actively sharing the gospel in Ukraine right now. Pray for their safety and for their ministry. And thank you for allowing us to serve in Ukraine for so many years. We are also grateful that we are able to keep serving God’s servants in Ukraine by being able to teach classes online and it looks like we will be doing this for most of next year. May you have a very blessed Christmas as you remember and celebrate the coming of our Savior – at just the right time – in the fulness of time!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
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