Article 2017-06 -The Fullness of Time
Chapter 33: The Fullness of Time
Introduction
The dramatic opening of the gospel tells us that God has one Son, and made Him a missionary! He became the most excellent missionary of all times. But before this new era in God’s Kingdom could dawn, He again opened a barren womb in the life of an elderly couple, thus showing that He does not forget prayers, not even when people forget them, or no longer believe in an answer. When Jesus is born, He is truly God and truly man simultaneously. In order to come to earth, He had to cross the most formidable barriers ever. Before He started His ministry He knew the Scriptures intimately, received water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism, as an example for us. He also conquered the devil in private before He did so publicly.
Scripture reference
… his mother Mary … was found to be with child … She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means ‘God with us’” (Matt. 1:18,21-23)
The story
When the fullness of time came, a new phase of God’s plan started. He sent the angel Gabriel to Judea for the first announcement. Gabriel went to Zechariah the priest and met him while he performed his temple duties, to tell him that he would have a son. So God repeated the miracle He did for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose wives were barren, just like Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth. In the books of Genesis, Judges and Samuel we saw that this was a sign, indicating the start of a new era.
Six months later Gabriel went on another mission, now to a young virgin called Mary, to tell her that God had chosen her to become the mother of His Son. Gabriel explained to her that this miracle would take place because the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and not because of sexual intercourse. So Jesus was God’s Son by begetting and Mary’s Son by birth. His nature would be Godly through His Father and human through His mother.
Zechariah’s son would be called John and he would prepare the way for Jesus and His ministry. John would be the greatest of God’s servants that served Him until that time, but the smallest of those who would serve Jesus. The Son’s name had to be Jesus, because He would save people of their sins. He would also be called Christ or Messiah, because He would be anointed by God with power, strength and wisdom. He would be worshiped and despised, adored and rejected, loved and hated. He would succeed in God’s task for Him and through pain and suffering see millions of people saved, who believe in His name. Every day God told Jesus what to do, what to say and how to say it. At the end of His earthly ministry He would be crucified and die. He would pay the ultimate price for people’s sins. After three days God would raise Him from the dead and let Him walk away from the grave. He would be able to give eternal life to whoever believes in Him, train disciples and send them to all the families of the earth, to tell the good news of salvation.
Many throughout the ages would believe and after the task has been completed He will establish God’s Kingdom on Earth, visible for everybody. The wicked He will condemn and the righteous will be with God for ever and ever, sharing His glory on the throne, forever His people.
Scripture reference
Christ Jesus, Who, being in very nature God … made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-8)
The story, continued
When God’s Son left His heavenly abode, He traded His place of glory for a sojourn in the shadow lands, called ‘Earth’. He, the Sinless One, dwelled among sinners. He crossed the most humongous barriers a missionary would ever cross, submitting Himself to the gravest possible limitations: the Life-giver who eventually was to die.
He grew up in anonymity and worked in Joseph’s carpenter shop before He started His public ministry. One day, His cousin John, nick-named ‘the Baptist’, started his ministry of preaching repentance, in the desert. Jesus asked him for baptism, after which the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove. Then the Spirit led Jesus to the desert to be tempted by the devil for forty days, during a period of prayer and fasting. He won all battles, lost no argument and was never short of words, based on the Scriptures. He defeated the devil in every area.
Scripture reference
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power … he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with Him (Acts 10:38)
The story, continued
The time had come to start His ministry of preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom, accompanied by miracles, like casting out demons, healing sicknesses, dealing with weather conditions and raising the dead. He did that, for the time being, only among the Jews, although later He had evangelistic encounters with several Gentiles too. In the mean time He trained His disciples, the future missionaries to the world, who would continue His ministry after His departure.
Comment
Jesus was sent by the Father, which made Him a missionary and an example for any missionary who came after Him. Jesus’ whole life was one uninterrupted mission. Ours can be too. God’s missions do not come from the barren wombs of our imaginations or desires, but from His power and initiative. Although He uses our prayers in the process, even when we have forgotten about them or not even believe in them any longer.
Jesus Christ is totally unique. He is the only God-Man Who ever lived on earth, the only Person Who was ever born from a virgin, without male interference. Before that, He existed already eternally with His Father in Heaven. Because He was man, He could be tempted to sin but He never sinned once. He was totally sinless; otherwise He could not have saved others from their sins.
When His mission on Earth was completed, He gave the task to spread the good news to His disciples, who, under the Holy Spirit’s guidance continued to preach the gospel of the Kingdom as far as the ends of the earth. Once that mission has been completed He returns to establish His Kingdom on Earth.
Scripture reference
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14)
Comment, continued
Jesus, God’s Son, came in human flesh; He ‘incarnated’. He was born like all other humans and His life was so much like that of His countrymen, that He was considered as one of them and not as a stranger. This happened before He initiated His ministry by submitting to John’s baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit and conquering the devil during 40 days of prayer and fasting. He did not address the devil for the first time when He met him in public, but defeated him in the quiet seclusion of the desert. Knowing that He would speak on God’s behalf, He made sure that He knew God’s Book to perfection. Only after the foundation for His ministry had been laid thoroughly, did He start to preach, teach and perform miracles.
This tells us how God trains His people, especially cross-cultural missionaries like Jesus, Who came from His heavenly culture. The best missionaries are those that have become so at home in the culture of the peoples they try to reach, that no one considers them as foreigners. They have learned to speak, dress, eat, drink and behave like them and gained credibility among them before they start to preach the gospel. Why? Because as long as one is considered as a foreigner, his message will be considered as foreign also. Neither God nor His message should be considered as foreign. It should be heard in people’s own language, not in a foreign one. God wants to be a Father to all, not a foreigner.
Discussion & dialogue
- Discuss whether the Lord will return before or after the gospel of the Kingdom has been preached to the ends of the earth
- Discuss the results of cross-cultural missions, if missionaries have not been properly trained in the language, culture and religion of the people they seek to reach
- Which 6 of the 10 themes feature in this chapter? How? (Answer: see Teacher’s Guide)
