Advent : When the fullness of time had come…
We are entering into the advent season today and it is appropriate that we look into the topic of advent . Let us look at how Paul describes the advent as
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. Galatians 4:4-5 (NKJV)
What does “when the fullness of time had come” mean?
I hope you like history at least a little bit. I decided to do some research into the historical events in first century BC, just before the birth of Jesus Christ. This is what I found.
1. Political: The death of democracy and rise of powerful individual rulers
2. Spiritual: Spiritual upheaval, divisions, dilution of faith, occult practices, cults
3. Military: Wars
4. Philosophy: Rise of Philosophical and Atheistic thinking
5. Humanity: Anticipation and Waiting for the messiah.
Let us look at each of them briefly.
1. Political: Two of the earliest forms of democracy were in Athens and Rome. The republican forms of government was in existence primarily in these two civilisations. The roman republic existed for nearly five centuries. It was in the first century before Jesus’s birth that the Roman republic died out and the powerful Julius Caeser became the emperor, making Rome once again an empire dependent on one ruler. Nearby in Egypt, Cleopatra became the ruler and her relationships with Julius Caeser and Mark Antony caused serious problems for both kingdoms. Closer home, in China Emperor Wu became the powerful ruler. This is the time in India where the Powerful Kings like Ashoka, Kanishka etc ruled. Herod the Great was appointed ruler of Judea, even though he was not of Jewish origin. Overall, what history records is that this is the time of powerful individuals rising to political leadership, at the cost of democracy and smaller countries.
2. Spiritual: The first century marked significant upheavals in the spiritual side of the world. This is the time when the concept of state religion was introduced. The roman ruler insisted that there must a religion called roman religion, which basically was a worship of a pantheon of gods and goddesses. At the same time, in the rest of the world, the Hellenistic religious practices got intermingled with several local religious beliefs as a result of the invasion by Alexander the Great in the previous centuries. Judaism was also not spared of this influence. Various sects emerged in Judaism, like the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes and the Zealots, each with a different interpretation of the Torah. Around the world, several mystery religions and cults started emerging each promising its own version of salvation and initiation into hidden knowledge. In India Buddhism emerged during this period.
3. Wars : There were plenty of wars that characterised the first century BC, just before the birth of Christ. Interestingly wars were there internally , civil wars, and also between empires. There were a number of civil wars within the roman republic itself. The major one know as the Caeser’s civil war ultimately resulted in the dissolution of the republic and establishment of Julius Caeser as the sole ruler. Externally, Julius Ceasar fought war with the Gauls (modern day France) for a long time. By the way, for comic book lovers, we can see this in action in the Astrix comics. Rome and Egypt fought several wars. Closer home, India was going through its own wars during that period. Kings and emperors fought among themselves. Ashoka fought the Kalinga’s. The Sunga dynasty fought the Maurya’s. Several foreign invasions happened in the Indian subcontinent during this period. Some of them are the Indo-greek invasion, Yavana invasion, Indo-Scythian invasion etc.
4. Philosophy : The first Century BC marked a significant rise in the philosophical thinking among people, especially the intellectuals and the learned. The thoughts of Socrates were popularised by his student Plato and later by Aristotle who was a student of Plato. Rationality, acceptance of the concept of fate, Logical thinking, predominance of knowledge, integration of various ides rather than strict adherence to one school of thought etc, marked this period. All this resulted in the dilution of faith as such, and the attitude of “all roads lead to Rome” became a common practice in faith too. In India, this is the time, when the Nyaya and Vaisheshika schools of Hindu philosophy emerged with focus on knowledge, logical thinking, the nature of matter (paramanu) . This is also the when epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata were written. Sanskrit became the language of culture and literature during this period. Ultimately all these philosophical movements resulted into complete atheism or the depiction of gods as just superhuman beings.
5. Humanity: While all this was happening, humanity, especially the Jewish people were waiting in anticipation of a messiah who will come and save the world. And that is the importance of advent. This anticipation was not from thin air, it was based on the prophesies in the Old testament. We know of the very many prophesies that point us to the arrival of the messiah.
This is the “when the fullness of time had come”. God sent his son to this earth during the first Christmas. He came, to fulfil the promises of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Incidentally these four are the themes of advent season in traditional churches. Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.
When the fullness of time had come, Jesus came to fulfil the prophesy of Peace. Isaiah prophesied about this in Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Angels confirmed this when Jesus was born. “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14, NKJV). Jesus himself confirmed it later on “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 (NKJV)”. Let us celebrate this advent because it is the fulfilment of Gods promise of Peace for all of us through the birth of Jesus Christ.
When the fullness of time had come, Jesus came to fulfil the prophesy of Joy. Isaiah prophesied about Jesus bringing Joy to the world. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”( Isaiah 61:1-3, NKJV). This was confirmed by the angel to the shepherds when Jesus was Born. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. (Luke 2:10, NKJV). Jesus himself confirmed that Isaiah’s prophesy is fulfilled in Him at the synagogue in Nazareth. He repeated the complete prophesy of Isaiah and then closed the book by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 2:41, NKJV). He reaffirmed it further when he was speaking with his followers “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11, NKJV). Yes , let us celebrate this advent because when the fulness of time had come God fulfilled His promise of bringing Joy o the World through Jesus Christ.
When the fullness of time had come Jesus came to fulfil God’s promises of His love for us. Our Lord clarified about the everlasting nature of His love to us. “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. (Jeremiah 31:3, NKJV). The Lord affirmed the depth and intensity of His love for us That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.(Isaiah 43:4, The Message). Jesus confirmed that He is the ultimate fulfilment of God’s love for us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, NKJV). Let us celebrate this advent because when the fulness of time had come God did the ultimate to demonstrate His love for us.
And finally we come to Hope. When the fullness of time had come, Jesus came to fulfil the prophesies and promises about hope. Isaiah prophesied about this hope. The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2, NKJV). The Lord reiterates this further through the prophet Jeremiah. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV). The Lord confirms that Jesus is indeed the one who brings this hope. He confirms this to Joseph in his dream. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”(Matthew 1:20-23). And indeed Jesus brought hope to us. Not only he brought hope, He became our hope. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5, NKJV). Paul actually takes our hope to a very different level. He challenges us to look at hope in the perspective of eternity. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 1 Corinthians 15:19, NKJV). Yes, When the fulness of time had come, God sent Jesus to give us hope. So let us celebrate advent.
So we have several reasons to celebrate advent. We celebrate it as the fulfilment of prophesies and promises of God. Something that happened two thousand years ago, when the fullness of time had come.
And yet, we look around and see that situations as-they-are are not as-it-should-be. I highlighted five areas that jumped out at me when I was researching for “when the fullness of time had come”. Let us fast forward two thousand years and examine the same five parameters in the current context.
1. Political: What we see today is a reflection of the first century BC. Democracies are giving way to powerful rulers. Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, North Korea, China are great examples of that happening right in front of our eyes.
2. Spiritual: State religions are a norm today. Many countries are re-establishing themselves as Religious Republics. Faith is diluted in many places. Europe has completely turned either anti-Christian or atheist. Faith based institutions and structures are constantly under scrutiny even in places like US. And finally let us not forget the divisions we have in Christ’s church itself. It is one of the most divided house today.
3. Wars: I don’t need to elaborate on this much. You think of Ukraine, you think of Hamas, and you get the picture. But wars are not limited to these international wars. There are constant internal conflicts in many parts of Africa. Nigeria, Sudan Myanmar etc for example. And there is the constant cold war going on between China and many other countries.
4. Philosophy: We might not have a distinct philosophical thought process running across the globe. But the thought that “religion” is the cause of misery is being propagated by many intellectuals, especially in Europe. Anti-religious stands are becoming more fashionable.
So my closing question is this. In the first century BC, we found these issues and saw the intervention of God , “when the fullness of time had come”. When I look at the situations around us, I am hoping and praying that the “fullness of time” is again coming soon. And that is my hope. The hope for a second advent. The hope for Jesus’ second coming.
So let us celebrate the first advent and let us prepare the way for the next advent, His second coming. We can participate in preparing the world for His second coming through prayer, through sharing the gospel, by being righteous, by staying hopeful. Let us recommit ourselves to doing that during this advent season.
