Christ Came at the Right Time | Galatians 4:4 | Christmas Eve | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, my prayer for this time and this message is that it will bring warmth to our hearts. It will strengthen our faith, and it will bring illumination to our minds. My sincere desire is that it will enrich your relationship, my relationship with the living Christ. And we're your relationship, my relationship with the living Christ. And we're gonna do that prayerfully by seeking to answer a simple question.

Why did Jesus come when he did? Why did Jesus arrive in his first advent in that period that we know to be two thousand years ago? Why not five hundred years before? Why not delay it until 2025? Why did Christ come when he did?

And we have to be humble in answering this question because we may never receive a complete answer on this side of eternity. That being said, the scriptures does provide a remarkable comment regarding this very reality. And I wanna invite you to turn with me in your bibles in Galatians, the book of Galatians, and see what Paul says to these believers in chapter four verse four. Galatians four verse four. The great apostle by the spirit writes, 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.

That phrase, the fullness of time, essentially means at the perfect time, when everything is ripe, at the best possible moment, God sent his son. And this concise statement is enough to let us know that not only was the means of our salvation prepared and planned from eternity past, but the timing of it was also carefully calculated. And though, again, we may not know all the reasons why, I believe that there are indications in the scriptures that allow us to catch glimpses of God's wisdom pertaining to the first advent of the Messiah. And I believe there are at least three perspectives, three dimensions to this. There's a spiritual one, there's a political, and there's a cultural.

And regarding the first, we actually have the answers in this very same book, in the book of Galatians. And so, I want us to just meditate on these things together, and again, I I pray that it would do something in your view of God's wisdom and glory and majesty. So let's consider these things separately. What was going on spiritually for God to send his son when he sent him? Well, we have to step back and ask ourselves this question.

What is the main purpose of the book of Galatians? It's very plain. Paul is writing to these Christians in that region of Galatia because they were being seduced by Jewish false teachers who were trying to persuade them that there needed to be an adherence to the law in order to attain salvation, namely circumcision. And so, yes, these Christians believe that Christ died on the cross, but you you have to understand, there's much more history than that. There are other components that you must comply with and must observe in order for you to really secure with your relationship with God.

And so Paul writes to this group of believers, and this treaties really is is him educating these Christians that the law serves no redemptive purpose. That the law instead serves a different role, and he explains it. Essentially, it boils down to this, that that the law is meant to convince you. Not that you need to observe these things in order for you to be made righteous, but to convict you about your lack of righteousness. And that no matter your efforts, no matter your attempts, you will never be able to win your own redemption.

And so the law, Paul says, is meant to persuade you and prepare you to be ready to accept Christ. From the understanding, as you stand at before the mirror of God's righteousness and holiness, I I cannot win my holiness. It must be outside of me. It must be in alien righteousness. Paul says that in many ways, look back at Galatians chapter three verse 23.

He says, now before faith came, we were held captive under the law. In other words, the law didn't liberate you. It arrested you. It apprehended you. And he goes on to say in prison until the coming faith would be revealed.

So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. It's so straightforward, isn't it? But how does this tie into the idea of Christ being sent at the fullness of time? How do those things relate? Well, in the mind of God, it was at that moment where the law served its full purpose, and Christ was ready to enter into our world.

In other words, the old testament stands as an overwhelming historical record of humanity, namely Israel's inability to keep the law completely and consistently. And that wasn't a matter of twenty, thirty, or a hundred years. It was centuries upon centuries of documented unfaithfulness. So whether there are many or few in the nation, it didn't matter. With or without judges, kings, or prophets, it made no difference.

You see, the Lord allowed the law to remain in effect for a certain period of time in order to build a case against Adam's race. So that when it would be studied and when it would be examined, unless one is completely delusional or filled with pride, they would see and understand we can't do this. The law has condemned us over and over and over again. No matter what chapter of Israel's existence you look at, they fail. They fall short.

And in God's perfect knowledge, he allowed this to unfold throughout the centuries in order to establish again a case that would be irrefutable. Get Israel's history was not merely meant to humble them. Nope. The same Paul who wrote this actually tells us that this this old testament, these Hebrew scriptures was meant to stand against all of mankind as a testimony. You know these verses very well.

Let me remind you of them in Romans three nineteen. Paul says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law. So that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. So wait, hold on for a moment.

How is the whole world held accountable to God if the law primarily speaks to those who are under the law? Who are those who are primarily under the law? The Jewish people. Well, here's one way this works. If Israel, who enjoyed privileges and revelation and first hand encounters with God, could not meet the demands that God placed on them, the the moral requirements, what chance do the neighboring nations have who are outside of that covenant?

In other words, if any gentile were to read the the Hebrew scriptures and see, look look at the the awesome glory that was granted to this one people and yet, they continually turn their back on this God. What opportunity do we have? What chance do we have? The answer is, they don't. God's wisdom shows here that Israel's long history of failures, despite their unique advantages, advantages stands out as an irrefutable argument against humanity as a whole.

And this is why it was the perfect time. Because when Christ came, the Lord essentially declared, the law has served its goal. My case has been made. Anyone who looks back at humanity's history will see clearly that mankind cannot save itself and needs a redeemer. This is the spiritual component.

But we have to all understand that there is a political element to this as well. Because the one who is sovereign over time is also sovereign over kingdoms and empires. That should cause us then to realize that Christ being born when the Roman emperor and the Roman empire was at its peak of dominance was not an afterthought in God's redemptive plan. It was just as much a part of the whole plan than anything else. And what you find so fascinatingly is that the policies and the achievements and the authority of this ancient government significantly influenced gospel events that we may have overlooked.

And we find it in the bible. Let me give you one example. In Luke chapter two verse one, it reads, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Cyrenius was governor over Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house of the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. So So here's Caesar Augustus, who did much for the Roman Empire. But in this case, he calls for a worldwide decree, and that became the means to orchestrate and position Mary and Joseph to be where Christ needed to be born. Now, one might ask, well, did it require all of that? Couldn't Joseph and Mary just make their way towards Bethlehem on their own?

That they need all of this? Not necessarily. But there is wisdom even in how this event transpired. Think about it. If Mary and Joseph would have just made their way back to Bethlehem, some could have criticized them of maybe manipulating events, maneuvering things in order to force prophecy to happen.

Instead, when we see how this took place through the extensive rule of Caesar Augustus, the Holy Spirit shows us how God God was the one who moved the world in order to bring his son where he needed to be born. Now Caesar Augustus is historically known for much more than what we find here in issuing the census. He's credited with what is known as the Pax Romana, which simply means, in Latin, Roman peace. It was a period of two hundred years of general peace and stability in the Roman empire following decades of war, and it all began with Caesar Augustus. He he expanded Rome's dominance with an iron fist, and because of this, there was a unique period of relative tranquility.

There was calm, and now efforts were focused on things like trade and sophisticated infrastructure like building roads. And that created ripple effects of prosperity and societal flourishing. And things like this not only made travel easier, it made the world a little bit safer. Communication now was much more accessible and convenient. And when you consider what it did to the world at the time, you have to understand how it accelerated and even protected the spread of the gospel.

How apostles would communicate with these different churches. How these missionaries would be able to go from place to place with greater ease and access. I'm afraid there's a misconception among some Christians who think that Rome was the church's fiercest enemy from the beginning. The bible suggests otherwise. If you actually read carefully in the new testament, you'll you'll realize that there are there are other enemies at the forefront before the church.

Think about Pilate. Was he the one who was hunting down Jesus? No. He was pressured by the Jewish religious leaders. And in the book of acts, who kept trying to stumble and attack and bribe against and slander the church?

Was it Rome? No. It was the Jews, again. In fact, Rome paid little attention to the church. They were very neutral.

They were being presented cases, again, by the Jews who wanted to try to stop the momentum of this Christian movement. Instead, what you actually find, the widespread persecution from the Romans would come decades later. God used them without their knowledge in his sovereignty to actually protect and preserve the church in many ways. That sounds shocking, but it's true. The Lord used this massive empire to actually play a role in incubating and safeguarding and not allowing those who had a vehement hatred for Christ and his people to gain victory.

And you see that especially in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Paul was arrested on many occasions, but one of his most significant arrests was near the end of the account of the book of Acts. He was in Jerusalem. He was in the temple, and the Jews who saw him there says, this is our chance. This is the blasphemer.

This is the one who has been winning so many to this to this Christ. Let's get him. And so there was a mob attack, and they nearly killed him. But who intervened? The Roman tribune.

They stopped the scuffle. They rescued Paul. They brought him to the side, and they put him in the barracks for a short amount of time. And while he was tucked away, we learn in the book of Acts that Paul's nephew learned about a plot to assassinate Paul, that they even vowed, they even fasted until this was accomplished. So what does he do?

Well, he goes to the tribune, and he tells them and informs them of the scheme. Listen, they're gonna ask you to bring Paul out at a council meeting so that they can interrogate him, but in reality, there's gonna be an ambush. Don't let it happen. And I want you to see what the Roman officials did for Paul. Listen to these words in Acts 23 verse 23.

Then he, in Acts twenty three twenty three, that is the tribune. Then he called two of the centurions and said, get ready 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night. Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor. Wow. That is one impressive convoy for a preacher, wouldn't you say?

And my favorite part isn't even the hundreds of soldiers surrounding this one man. It's how they didn't even let him walk. They put him on a horse. Why did they go so far for this man? Why this level of security?

Was it because he was a Christian? Was it because he was educated? Was it because he was famous? I don't think so. I believe we actually get the answer in the same account.

I believe, actually, what we're about to see is a turning point in Paul's experience of this life and death situation. Listen to these words. This is earlier in acts 22. In acts twenty two twenty four, the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks saying that he should be examined by flogging. Do you know what flogging entails?

Very similar to what Jesus experienced before he was crucified. This would have been brutal. This would have destroyed Paul. So they were ready to flog him, to get some answers out of him. Notice what it says.

To find out why they were shouting against him like this. But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned? When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, what are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen. So the tribune came and said to him, tell me, are you a Roman citizen?

And he said, yes. The tribune answered, I bought this citizenship for a large sum. Paul said, but I am a citizen by birth. So those who are about to examine him withdrew from him immediately and the tribune also was afraid for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him. What do you find repeated in this passage?

Two words, Roman citizen. Now undoubtedly, the main source for Paul's protection is God's preserving grace, sometimes manifested miraculously. But that same power that hovered over Paul, sometimes, yes, came supernaturally, but also more commonly was a providential reality. And one of the providential means for Paul to be protected was his citizenship. Can you imagine that?

Roman citizenship was the very reason the apostle of the gentiles was not killed by the Jews, at least at this point, and it happened more than once, where he had to appeal to his civil rights. And he could thank God for the protection that it afforded him. And it makes me wonder if that thought crossed his mind at all when he penned those words to the Galatians, for at the fullness of time God sent his son. That at the best time for the gospel, that in a moment when it was most profitable for the good news, God manifested the truth of who he is to the world. Paul experienced that first hand.

Yes, because of his savior ultimately, but how God in his great power moved through things like this that we don't often think about. Which makes me wanna say one more thing before we come to our final thought. Paul didn't just know the scriptures. Paul understood his rights as a citizen who lived under an ungodly empire. For what purpose?

To the advantage of the proclamation of the gospel. You know, some here might criticize Paul. Some who are in Paul's position might have just taken the flogging. Paul didn't do that. He was much more wise and strategic than that.

He understood that this would not help the cause of the gospel. It would hinder it, and so he opened his mouth and he spoke up, and he utilized the freedoms that he understood and enjoyed for the sake of the gospel. May we do the same in the land that we live in this day. May we not be foolish Christians. May we understand that even in this, we can see God's grace extended to the church and the world.

But we come to a cultural component to all of this. Again, we're trying to answer the question, what was it about the timing of Christ's first advent that was full, that was just right? Well, long before Rome became an empire, Greek culture and language had spread across the East and Mediterranean due to the conquest of Alexander the Great. And because of that young man's ability and power and authority, the Greek language was the common language. And it was so deeply rooted in society that when Rome took over, they adopted it.

They didn't seek to erase it. They integrated with it. And as a result, it became the lingua franca, the shared language across most of the Eastern region. And so if you want to think about what kind of influence that had in Jesus' time, just think about the influence of modern English today. That is the the most used and common way of communication among people.

And in the same way, Greek played such a significant role in that ancient world, the time of the apostles. And that's why the apostles wrote the New Testament in Greek, Because they wanted to have the furthest reach possible with the message. They didn't want to limit themselves with Hebrew or Aramaic. And that's what we see here. That even in this small detail, God understood that when one language dominated and spread across the world, I'm gonna send my son.

I'm gonna send forth the Messiah because God is not only sovereign over time. He's not only sovereign over kingdoms and empires, but even over cultural developments and the course of systems of communication over time. Let me give you one final example before we close together. Again, we can miss this if we fail to meditate on the implications of some of the details that were granted in the Bible. We're we're we're recognizing the birth of the Messiah.

Let me take you to his death for a moment. And listen to these words in John 19 verse 19. This is our final scripture. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.

Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews, but rather this man said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written. It was customary for anyone who was crucified by the Romans to have a plaque above their heads on the cross stating their crime.

When Pilate had Christ crucified, you remember, he could find no wrongdoing in the man. So there was no there was no wrongdoing to inscribe. So what does he do? He boldly writes what we just read. Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.

But interestingly, John tells us that Pilate did so in three different languages. Why? Well, it's not because he believed it. It's because he wanted to irritate the Jews who pressured him to kill this man. And he could have just limited it to their native tongue, but no, no, no, no, no.

I I I'm going to translate this to the most used and understood languages of my time. You have to remember that Jesus was crucified during what feast, the Passover. What did that mean? Thousands from across the world were in Jerusalem, from different parts of the world. And so, in the ESV, we learned that he wrote it in Aramaic.

Some translations might say Hebrew. The language that the Jews knew. But he also had it written in Latin. Why? Because that was the official language of of Rome, especially among the elite.

And finally, he writes it in Greek because as we just heard, it was a common language of the culture. Now, as we just saw, the Jewish leaders were absolutely frustrated and angered by this. And so they demand, no, no, no, no, don't write the king of the Jews, but that he claimed to be the king of the Jews. Why? Because they understood something.

That as these people, tradesmen, and travelers, and pilgrims would cross this site, they would read the sign, and they could they could create curiosity to the masses. King of the Jews. Crucified. More than that, there could have been fear on the part of these leaders that this could instigate something. And that higher Roman officials would look into this as there's a claim to kingship apart from Caesar.

And so they tried to, again, pressure Pilate to do their bidding, and he refused. What I have written, I have written. I don't see Pilate's authority in this story. I see God's sovereignty. Why?

Though this man was mocking Christ, and tried to spite these Jewish leaders, unknowingly, he was declaring one of the most powerful truths to the entire world. Cause you have to understand, people would take what they saw and bring it back home, share it with their friends, discuss it with their families, and who knows what that would open in their minds and in their hearts. And so here you have Pilate giving a gospel truth in seed form. And what would that do? Who knows?

But I think it played somewhat of a role as Christ is ready to die, raise from the grave, ascend, and then commission his church to preach the full gospel, perhaps to some who a few days, weeks ago, read the sign, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews crucified. The fullness of time, God sent his Son. And you and I just got a sample on this Christmas Eve just how profound our God is, just how brilliant He is. But let me end by telling you just how gracious He is. Because the same one who oversaw and superintendent over all these details tells us in his word, now is the favorable time.

Today is the day of salvation. And it could be that you're in this place tonight, as pastor Mark mentioned, out of tradition, maybe this is very nostalgic to you, but Christ is not real to you. And you have never personally and consciously and intentionally turned your attention towards him and confessed your sin and received his saving grace. And what you just heard in this last thirty minutes is a very brief explanation of all that God went through in order to win your heart, in order to redeem your soul, In order to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and to deem you as holy in the sight of God. And what he asks of you in this moment is to acknowledge that you are indeed a sinner.

That if you compare yourself to God's righteousness, you have absolutely no chance of winning any case pertaining to your redemption. And yet, you would not live in a moment of despair, but recognize that provision has been made in the person of Jesus Christ. Let me just speak as plain as possible in closing. You need your sins to be forgiven. You and I stand condemned before a holy God.

But Christ is the payment for our sin. And if you would just humble yourself and recognize who he is and what he has done, not only would your life today be transformed, but you will have the hope of everlasting life. All is required of you is an admission of the sin that placed Christ on the cross and a recognition that only he can forgive you completely. And the only thing I'll leave you with is this, if you're hesitant to accept it, ask yourself why. Why?

Why would you deny a free gift like this? Why would you turn your back on a love so great and so powerful? Ask yourself. And I pray that that introspection would lead you to not just asking why, but asking Christ to save you. He is ready to do it.

You know, this time is very meaningful to me personally, not because I get to be with family and be with my church family, because it was around this time, fourteen years ago, as a 20 year old man, that I came to Christ. That's why these services are very meaningful to me because you you don't know who might trickle in. For me, my brother, and a dear friend, it was around this time leading up to New Year's where we were so unsatisfied with the world, separate from one another, yet Christ dealing with us in the same way. And all it took was an invitation, at least for my brother and my dear friend, to a service like this around this time to hear a brief message about the gospel and their lives would be transformed forever. And in my case, it was very similar.

Except I didn't go to church. They couldn't even get me to go to church. But I was bothered enough by my sin to at least read my bible as a New Year's resolution. And God spoke to me through that, and I've never recovered. And I'm here telling you that you can know that same joy and treasure in Christ if you just seek him just the way you are.

He waits for you. Let's pray together. Lord, your word is indeed your voice, and we've heard it loud and clear. And again, we ask that it would do only what it can do, and that is convict hearts, comfort hearts, renew hearts. Lord, we yield to you, and we just come now to sing to you in our thanksgiving for what you have done.

For those who are saved, remembering their redemption. For those who are not, perhaps, tonight would be the night that they can taste and see that the Lord is good. We've done our part, Lord. We've sang the songs, we've given the message, but only you can transform. And we give you all the glory for that.

In Jesus' name, amen. Why don't we stand? Let's worship the living Christ together.