Theme: Time of God
Text: Luke 1:21-31
Greetings: The Lord is good and His love endures forever. I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
Message from the Text: This passage talks about the time of God in the lives of Israel as a Nation, in the lives of Mary, Zacharias, and Elizabeth. Luke says that when the time of Zacharias’ service was completed in the temple, Elizabeth became pregnant, in the sixth month God sent his angel to Nazareth, and the child Jesus will reign over the house of Israel forever. Kindly note the words such as Completed, five months, the sixth month, and forever. These words refer to the sequences of the time frame in the lives of the children of God. God anointed the time for every individual as well as with a group.
Let us think of how God deals with us by reading the times, redeeming the times, and reacting to the times of God.
1. READ THE TIMES
Define time: We normally refer to time as the Duration from point to point of the travel of the two hands in a clock. The small hand represents the hours and the tall hand to represent the minutes. Then we call it as a day, week, month, and year. The hours we conveniently say morning, noon, and evening. We call by the hour, minutes, and seconds. Bible refers to the times with different words namely ‘eth (Daniel 11:24), and Chronos (Acts 18:23). “Eth” is the Hebrew word in Old Testament, and “Chronos” is a Greek word for that. It refers to a particular moment of time (Genesis 21:22 - at that time), (Mathew 2:7 - what time the star appeared).
The Jews use the word Mahar to refer to the Past, and future, which means a set time for seasons. The equivalent word in Greek is “Kairos.” It refers to the time limit to fulfill certain missions of God. The New Testament uses the word Kairos for Eschatological time (1 Peter 1:5 in the last time-Kairos) and Chronos for at the end of the times (1 Peter 1:20, Chronos). Kairos is used to refer to the concept of Time being fulfilled, and time is near (Kairos - Mark 1:15, Revelations 1:3). For the Bible writers, time is the continuum.
Time and God: We live in a physical world with four space dimensions of length, width, height (or depth), and time. But, God dwells in the spirit realm, beyond the perception of our physical. Though God is real but not controlled by times and seasons. He has no age, HE is Eternal. But Physical matter is controlled by the physical laws and dimensions that govern our world. God is not controlled by time but God controls time.
This is beautifully expressed by Moses in his Psalm 90. Moses compares the timeless God with a timeline of men (Psalm 90:1,4). Scripture reveals that God lives outside the bounds of time as we know it. The Lord does not count time as we do. He is above and outside of the sphere of time. God sees all of eternity’s past and eternity’s future. The time that passes on earth is of no consequence from God’s timeless perspective. A second is no different from ages, and a billion years pass like seconds to the eternal God.
However, there is a time plan for the world ‘God has a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.’ (Ephesians 1:10). For Coffman, the fullness of time means "At God's appointed time." All of the grand events of God's plan for the redemption of mankind were scheduled in advance, and from the beginning, even the final judgment itself was a planned and scheduled event. "God has appointed a day” for judgment (Acts 17:31).
But many ask why God delayed 400 years between Malachi and John the Baptist. Barnes the Bible commentator says, ‘this delay of redemption was in entire accordance with the whole system of divine arrangements, and with all the divine interpositions in favor of men.’ (Barnes). Warren Wiersbe says, “The old religions were dying; the old philosophies were empty and powerless to change men’s lives. Strange new mystery religions were invading the empire. Religious bankruptcy and spiritual hunger were everywhere. God was preparing the world for the arrival of His Son.” (Warren Wiersbe).
‘The period was a most remarkable one--such as could only have been brought around by the revolutions and convulsions of many centuries. The Roman power had spread itself over all the nations of the then known world; and thus, all those petty states, whose jostling and opposing interests might have withstood the propagation of Christianity, were swallowed up in one great empire.’ (Austin Precept).
How true it is that the ‘Time is fulfilled’ (Mark 1:15). Ecclesiastes 3:11 ‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.’ Yes, there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11). Habakkuk 2:3, and Galatians 4:4 mention the ‘fullness of the time of God.’ God hastens it in his time (Isaiah 60:22). There is a time of God’s visitation (Luke 19:44). Fulfilment of the promise that God had made to Abraham (Acts 7:17).
2. REDEEM THE TIMES- Ephesians 5:16.
The saints in the Bible have expressed that we need to count the days, redeem the times, and make use of every given opportunity. As Moses expressed, we must pray for the Lord to teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12). Prayer helps to understand the present time.
Paul said, ‘the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.’ (Romans 3:11). Further he said, ‘For God says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Therefore, this is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation (ref: 2 Corinthians 6:2, Isaiah 49:8).
Esther 4:14 challenges us not to remain silent at this time. Mordecai told Esther “if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Colossians 4:5-6 ‘Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.’
God has appointed a time for soul winning, doing evangelism, and preaching the word. Jesus had made use of every opportunity to preach, heal, discourses and encounters. His audience were everywhere and everyone. He has reached out the children, youth, men and women, elders. He reached Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers, priests, poor, needy and rich. He reached all classes and all nations. Paul also did the same. We have departmental ministries. However, God can use you to reach anyone and everyone.
God intrudes into your “fullness of time” and with His answer for your prayers. Yes, God gave his Son at the momentous time, the propitious time, and precisely. After the elapse of a certain succession of time, God sent His Son. God had a precise time for Christ to be born. Christ came at a climactic moment in prophecy, when the period of the Mosaic law would elapse. “The most auspicious time of history was when the eternally pre-existent Son of God stepped foot into a human body.” (Bible exposition commentary). The auspicious time of your life is the time you accept Jesus Christ, the time you allow him to work in you. Therefore, a man who obeys the command of God becomes wise, discerns, and he knows the time and the way of life (Ecclesiastes 8:5). Therefore, read to your timeline.
3. REACT TO YOUR TIMELINE
David sings, Oh Lord my times are in Your hands (Psalm 31:15). Bible says that our destiny was well planned “before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 2:9, Titus 1:2) and “before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:3).
Please refer to the text again to note the words which I have referred in that there was time of service for the priest Zechariah, there was time for Elizabeth to bear a son, there was time for angel to visit Mary in her apartment. There was a time for Mary to visit her cousin Elizabeth. There was a plan of God to meet the prayer needs of the old couple. There was a plan of God to answer the prayers of the children of Abraham. There was a time of God’s visitation, and there was a time of God for the fulfilment of the promises he made concerning the world. God has remembered the promises he made from the beginning.
Prophet Hosea says, “it’s time to seek the Lord.”(Hosea 10:12). When God visited Abraham, he made a statement that he will visit him after a time of life (Genesis 18:10,14). There is God’s timeline to create a life. The suffering Job says that God has fixed the time of the first beat of the heart, and he has determined the time of the last beat of the heart (Job 14:5). It is attested by the psalmist David in his psalm 139 that God has created him beautifully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14-16). Herod researched the time of the appearance of the star (Matthew 2:7).
Solomon further attested that there is a time for birth and a time of death (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). Therefore Solomon warns not to run before your time (Ecclesiastes 7:17).
“God's time can never be early, never be late, God always on time. Our timing isn't God's timing. For us, God's timing often feels like a long, desperate delay. God's perfect timing does two things: It grows our faith as we are forced to wait and trust in God and it makes certain that He, and He alone, gets the glory and praise for pulling us through.” (Rev Bill Thomas, Carroll County times).
The Lord provides the steps to men, and he establishes the steps of men (Proverbs 16:9). So, if we confide in him, if we trust in the Lord, and if we let Him take us where we need to be in his time, then there isn’t any room for any hurt feelings of any person, or any situation or any circumstances. Always be happy that every step has been ordered by God for our good and blessings.
As we read in Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’ Because he does as we read from Psalm 1:1-3, ‘Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.’(Psalm 1:1-3).
No one knows the Time of Disaster as the fish caught in the net while enjoying life while playing in the waters, and ignorant of the dangers of the net, likewise men get into trouble (Ecclesiastes 9:12). Therefore, a man who reads the word of God on daily basis and the one who speaks often to God, could understand the Time of visit of the Lord for blessings and punishment (Jeremiah 6:15, 46:21, 49:8).
God’s visit is a blessing for a few and punishing period for a few. The best example is God’s visit to Abraham in Genesis 17 and his visit to Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. One became a blessed and the other has met with devastating situations.
Conclusion:
Dearly beloved in Christ, you’re very much in God’s time. Nothing happened without his permission and nothing will happen to you without his plan. He has set a time for you. Are you still feel that it has not come. Be sure it’s on the way. He is working. It’s on the making. God bless you, Amen.
