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 going to do that prayfully 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 2000 years ago? Why not 500 years before?

Why not delayed 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 want to 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 4, verse 4, Galatians 4

Galatians 4:4

verse 4, 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 was 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, 3 dimensions to this.

There is a spiritual one, there's a political, and there

is 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 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? But 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 it before the mirror of God's

righteousness and holiness. I I cannot win my holiness.

It must be outside of me. It must be an alien

righteousness. And Paul says in many ways, look

back at Galatians chapter 3, verse 23.

Galatians 3:23

He says now before faith came, we were held captive under the

law. In other words, the law didn't

liberate you had arrested you, had 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 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 2030

or 100 years. It was centuries upon centuries

of documented unfaithfulness. So with the 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, and this 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, that

Israel's history was not merely meant to humble them.

No, the Saint 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 319. 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 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 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 2, verse one, it reads, in those days a decree

Luke 2 · chapter mention

went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be

registered. This was the first registration

when Crenius 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 at the House of the lineage of David to

be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who is with child.

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 1 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 and 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, Cesar Augustus is

historically known for much more than what we find here in

issuing the census. He is credible with what is

known as the Pax Romana, which simply means in Latin, Roman

peace. It was a period of 200 years of

general peace and stability in the Roman Empire following

decades of war, and all began with Cesar Augustus.

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 and 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 wrong? 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 and instead we 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 that 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 him and informs him of the scheme.

Listen, they're going to ask you to bring Paul out at a council

meeting so that they can interrogate him.

But in reality, there's going to 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

Acts 23:23

23, verse 23. Then he in Acts 2323, that is

the tribune. Then he called two of the

centurions and said get ready. 200 soldiers with 70 horsemen

and 200 spear men 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'd 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 2224, the Tribune

ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he

should be examined by flogging. Do you want flogging in tales

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 them 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 as 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 and 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? 2 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 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 move through things

like this that we don't often think about.

Which makes me want to 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 eastern Mediterranean due to the

conquest of Alexander the Great. And because of that Young's

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 going to send my son.

I'm going to 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.

John 19:19

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, 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 in Aramaic.

Some translators 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 his people,

tradesmen and travellers and pilgrims would cross this site,

they would read the sign and they could it 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 Pilot to do their

bidding, and he refused. What I have written, I have

written. I don't see Pilot'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. Because 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 Pilot 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, race from the grave, ascend and then

commissioned his church to preach the full gospel, perhaps

to some who 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 30 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

14 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. 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 to 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.