GOD'S PREPARATION FOR HIS SON

Galatians 4:4-5

December 4, 2005

Pastor William Underwood

God never does anything in a hurry. He knows the end from the beginning. He plans every detail and brings it to pass in His time. Our text says that, "God sent His son" when everything was ready for His coming. It was not an accident that Jesus came into the world at that particular time. It was God's plan and He brought it all together and then sent His Son as a baby to Bethlehem. I want you to think with me about how God put everything together at just the right time in history.

I - Three major CULTURES dominated the world.
A- Hebrew or Jewish culture
1-Judaism was the strong religion at that time.
a-Religion brought revelation of God to man.
b-Jewish religion was dominated by the Law of God.
c-The Law demanded redemption of sinners by blood.
d-Prophecy was a powerful part of Jewish religion.
2-Jewish religion produced the Scriptures - God's Word
a-Without the written Word, this religion would have died like all the others heathen religions.
b-God speaks to man today through His written Word.
B- Greek culture
1-Their religion was pagan and involved a host of deities.
2-The Greeks brought culture and refinement to the world.
3-They also had a worldwide language.
a-Greek language made the Gospel universal.
4-Philosophy made people think
a-Greeks produced schools for study and research.
C- Roman culture
1-Roman religion was also pagan with many deities.
a-Pagans viewed their deities as human in nature.
2-The Romans brought strong LAW into the world.
a-Their strong military enforced government everywhere they conquered.
3-Romans built good roads to reach the world they had conquered so they could control the government.
a-Those roads made it possible to carry the Gospel to the "ends of the earth".
4-Politics was the strength of Rome.

II - These three cultures completed God's time for Christ's Birth.
A- Christ's birth was a timed event in God's calendar.
1-"When the time had fully come, God sent His Son."
2-God announced the death of His Son to the whole world.
a-The title on His Cross was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
B- Christ's Return will occur when God's time has "fully come."
1-Religion, education, and government are not ready for His Return.

At the Lord's Table today we celebrate His Birth and His Death. And we do it all "in remembrance of Him". The purpose of His Birth was to become a human so He could die for all humans. Today we celebrate His success. As His children we anxiously wait and watch for His Return. The times in which we live seem to indicate that His Return is not far away. It could even be today!