The Fullness of Time! Part 1

As I set out to write this brief article, I am reminded of “The Men of Issachar Who Understood the Times and Knew What Israel Had to do.” (I Chronicles 12:32) With that in mind, please consider what follows below.

Those who wrote the New Testament (NT) understood the meaning of the word “Time” in two forms.

The NT was written in Greek because it was the language of the “TIME.” There are two Greek words that are interpreted in English as the word TIME for the NT. Those two Greek words are Chronos and Kairos. Chronos is the word from which we get the word Chronology. Chronology means the passage of time, or time as linear, or a chain of events, or “what time is it?” etc. So, the Greek word Chronos is pretty much understood.

But the Greek word Kairos—used—86 times in the NT—is a little tricky. Kairos can be interpreted in several ways: “An opportune time.” “A season,” “Conditions are right for planned actions to take place,” and so forth.

In Galatians 4:4 we read: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law … (ESV), or But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law… (NIV), or But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law…(Amplified Bible-Classic Version)

So with these three versions alone, we have “the fullness of time,” “the set time,” and “the proper time”

First, let’s consider my statement above which says that when the NT was being written, Greek was the language of the “TIME.” Now I wrote this sentence. And I don’t speak Greek. But clearly, my usage of the word “TIME” in this sentence obviously stems from the Greek Kairos meaning of the word, “TIME.”

We can all agree that Galatians 4:4 speaks of a moment in time when it was perfect for Christ to enter our world, the right time, the proper time, the set time.

Scholars have addressed their understanding of the word “fullness of time” by pointing to the dominance of the Roman Empire, their governmentally established peaceful order, their roads for traveling over many parts of that region of the earth, enabling the disciples to reach many cities and towns with the gospel message.

But, while Rome had brought military order to the region, the Greeks had previously conquered that same region, culturally. And the Greek language was used just about everywhere under the Roman Rule.

At the same time, Rome did bring oppression upon the nation of Israel, and many Jews were looking for, hoping for, and praying for their promised Messiah to come and overthrow the Roman Regime.

Yes, our Lord is sovereign. He has His plans. He has His ways. God had planned the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ, and His work that would follow. The right time had arrived for the Son of God to make His appearance in the flesh and accomplish what was promised in Genesis chapter three.

So yes, the time was filled with an abundance of reasons for this supernatural shift in the history of the world. For centuries, Chronos time was separated by BC and AD, marking God’s earthly arrival and the work He completed with His crucifixion, His resurrection, and His commissioning of His Church to go out and make disciples of the nations. The Fullness of Time had come, and the Kairos moment’s 33 years (Christ’s lifetime on planet earth) set the world’s future in a new direction.

Part II to follow.

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