Jesus Entered Hearts in the Fullness of Time

What Did Jesus Do?

“But when the fullness of time had come...God has sent the Spirit of
his Son into our hearts”
Galatians 4.4, 6

As discussed in an earlier WDJD (See “Jesus Arrived on Schedule” 12/13/10), the Father's will determined the birthplace of the Son, along with the precise date of his arrival. Timing is important to God, and all time is subject to God's sovereign authority. In God's will nothing happens too soon or too late, but at the perfect Kairos moment, which is to say, “in the fullness of time.”

The Father planned the timing of the Son's coming into the world according to his sovereign will for the world's salvation. But salvation isn't really something that happens globally. Jesus came into the world, yes, but he came into the world that he might enter the hearts of men and women and children. And the timing of Christ's entering into our heart is established just as precisely by the Father as the day of Jesus's birth. The Father has ordained a moment, in the fullness of time, when each and every member of his elect will be ready to personally receive the Son into their heart. For some it is during childhood, for others it happens during adolescence. Time might not be “full” for us until we are adults, or even quite aged. But whatever the timing, it is completely according to the Father's plan for us. We become heirs in the very moment the Father has appointed, and God's “appointment” book was completed before he even laid down the foundations of the earth.

God appoints the time, and then he prepares the heart. The preparation may be relatively simple and easy, or it may be long and hard. Some of us welcome Jesus when we are quite young, others of us avoid and resist for years. Too many of us “put on” Christ, making a pretense of being Christian, without actually receiving the Spirit of Christ in our heart. No matter, in the fullness of time God uncovers our masquerade, and lays bare our heart, that we might see how barren our heart is without Jesus.

I believe that perhaps the greatest thing about celebrating Christmas every year is that it reminds us of how the Father works in the fullness of time. And it gives us the opportunity to tell others, regardless of their past, or of their present circumstances, that today, tomorrow, sometime next year, or in years to come, there's a fullness of time moment waiting for them, when the Father will send the Spirit of the Son into their heart. And, who's to say, why can't this Christmas, why can't today, be the day to become an heir to the Father's kingdom through the Son?

While “Joy to the World” only makes the play list of many churches at Christmas time, it really is an everyday hymn because it is all about fullness of time moments coming for hearts every day. We proclaim and repeat the Good News over and over because every second of every minute of every day can be the “fullness of time” for someone the Father saves through the Son. Christmas may come but once a year, but Christ comes day by day and enters the hearts of those who are being saved, in the fullness of time. That's what Jesus did, and he's still doing it!

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4