In the Fullness of Time

Below is the daily Bible reading I am doing for the West Side Church. Please feel free to follow along.

If you have been following this Bible reading since the beginning of Acts you have heard me mention several times the idea of the fullness of time. In Galatians 4:4-5 Paul writes … “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might received the full rights of sons.” One of the things we can take from that verse is this understanding … when the world was ready, both spiritually and physically, Christ came into the world. One thing I think this refers to is the world control by the Roman Government.

The Roman Governments rule is very evident in the last couple days of reading. We see how they are moving and working in the case of Paul. Because of their way of doing things, and because they do not easily put to death, esp. Roman citizens, Paul’s life is spared. The same holds true for Today’s reading (Acts 25). When Paul sees that things might get a little testy, and possibly a little dangerous, he pulls out the ultimate trump card … he appeals to Caesar.

The idea of the fullness of time gives us a little more insight into the hedge of protections God has placed around his servants. We are beneficiaries of that hedge of protection as well. Paul, and all the other disciples, utilized the Roman world to spread the message of the Cross. Now because the message and the salvation was from God it was going to prevail no matter what happened, but it also shows us how God uses mans things for his purposes. (On a side note ... how is He using the things in your life for his purposes?) The protection the disciples experienced helped them to spread the message and root it so deep into the history of the world that we can easily know the creator of the world today.