I
am so thankful that God does his work in perfect timing. I am grateful that God’s
word does not simply say Jesus came at just the right time, but that it says he
came in “the fullness of time.”[1]
I
love the poetic flow of God’s thoughts. They are like listening to a symphony
orchestra made up of so many instruments playing at one time that there is no
way to concentrate on them all at the same moment, and yet the senses are
delighted with the comprehensive sound that fills the soul.
When
God wants us to think of his Son coming into the world, and that he was “born of woman, born under the law, to
redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons,”[2] he
pictures time itself as a woman in labor. She suddenly reaches the fullness of
her pregnancy, and immediately gives birth to the long-awaited child of promise.
While
we watch the world continue to go from bad to worse, and all manner of
terrorism plaguing the nations, and people bearing the name “Christian” suffering terrible
atrocities at the hands of demonic religions, there is this constant hope that
God does all things in the fullness of time. Every promise of God will be
fulfilled, not only at just the right time, but in the fullness of time.
It
is as though time itself is working with God to bring into reality the things
God has long promised. Time was created by God, and for God, and serves his
purposes in perfect harmony to the divine will. No matter what events are
taking place in time, they are the birth pangs leading up to the fulfillment of
God’s promises.
There
are so many times in our journey through the book of Revelation when I feel
this unusual peace that God is going to do things in such a way that completely
fulfills what he says will happen. Whatever symbol, number, or vision John
describes has a perfect fulfillment. I do not need to know anything of what
that will look like ahead of time for me to know that it will be exactly the
way God said.
I
know that the terrible things happening in our world often stir up feelings
that this must mean we are imminently close to the return of Jesus. However,
there are times when I look at these things and simply feel confidence in God
my Savior that this all fits what he has said. I don’t need to know if this is
some great tribulation that ends all things, as though I would recognize the
distinction between one tribulation and another. I only need to know that
everything God says will take place in perfect fulfillment of God’s promises
and warnings, and in the fullness of time for that event or experience.
I
feel so thankful that God gave us a picture book of all the kinds of things people
will see taking place during the last hour. When we see such atrocities as fill
the Internet with pictures and stories of extreme evil, we can rest in faith
that this is what God said would happen.[3] We
do not need to throw off our faith or confidence in the promises of God just
because the world is so evil. Rather, the evil in our world is evidence that
what God says in his word is true.
Therefore,
as certainly as the world is filled with wars, earthquakes, and violence of all
kinds, just as God’s word says would happen, Jesus will return in the fullness
of time, at the stroke of midnight, and will gather his elect to be with him
forever. We may not see it coming on the day it suddenly appears, but we can
wait in eager expectation for that day, and keep proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom of heaven until Jesus’ return.
After
all, Jesus said, “And this gospel of the
kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come.”[4]
Proclaiming this gospel to our world is one thing we know must be done to bring
history to its grand finale with the return of Jesus Christ in the fullness of
time.
We
might not see how sharing Christ with that one person at work, or that lost
family member, or the stranger we chat with in some surprising expression of a
divine appointment. However, this sign of the end times is one that we can all
participate in, no matter what appears to be happening in the world around us.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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