In God’s Time

Last week we saw that Jesus is the Light that revealed Himself in Creation and as the Light of the world when He became a man and lived among men. God is eternal according to Psalm 90: 2 and 4 says that God is from everlasting to everlasting and that His time is a thousand years is a mere watch in the night. Psalm 102: 27 says: “But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end.” Time on earth began when God in Genesis 1: 14 ordered the heavens to divide the day from the night for signs and seasons and for days and years. God’s timing is not our time. He picks the time, the place and the people He chooses to perform His plan. God is a God of order and according to Ecclesiastes 1:9 “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.”

As we look back through the history of the Bible, God’s light comes in times of great darkness. As we saw, Genesis 1:2 spoke of a time of great darkness before the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the deep and Jesus the Creator brought light into the world of darkness. Then we have the account of God’s chosen people going into Egypt (darkness) and was there for 400 years. They experienced great favor and plenty until the change of leadership brought tyranny and persecution. It was God who heard the cry of the people and delivered them from the powers of darkness and miraculously saved their whole nation from destruction and allowed them to witness His presence and His power.

Then God’s people again fell into a time of darkness when they departed from God and fell into idolatry and experienced exile and defeat by the enemy. God sent prophets to warn them and sought to draw them back to Him. However, there we again see 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was a time when the prophets were silent. During this period there was a departure from God’s Word and true worship and the law itself was transferred to the tradition of men (Pharisees and Sadducees) and the creation of an elaborate religious ritual. It was a time of struggle and disorder—a time of great persecution under rule of tyranny and divisions within the Jews. In that dark hour—in the fullness of God’s time—He fulfilled the prophecy given to Isaiah 700 years before. Isaiah 9:2 says “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” And then in verse 6 we read: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” It was not in man’s time but in God’s time according to Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” It was as if God waited until all seemed beyond hope that He brought the Light of the world, the One in whom there is “no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

The situation today is like that of ancient Israel 2,000 years ago. The setting is dark. Not very long ago, half of America believed that Jesus was the only way to God. Today 52% believe that Jesus was a great teacher—and nothing more. Unprecedented violence in our cities no longer surprises anyone. Theological liberalism in pulpits has become normal, abandoning God’s Word for man’s traditions—a form of religion but denying the power of it. Since COVID, 30% of those who attended church are gone, and 40% uncommitted. There is an erosion of our freedoms and freedom of speech is under attack. How dark? Very dark. Again we see the paradigm—400 years. It was in 1620 that the Puritans came to American and planted the seeds of the Gospel. America has experienced great plenty as we stood upon the motto “In God We Trust” and were a springboard for the Gospel all over the world. Now, we have taken prayer and Bible reading out of schools, removed the Ten Commandments from public buildings, performed an estimated 62 million abortions since 1973 and condoned same-sex marriage. John Wesley, having arrived in Newcastle, England in 1742 witnessed drunkenness, cursing and swearing and his response was “Surely this place is ripe for revival!” It was also the pattern in the early church, and it holds bright promise for our dark world today. The same God who sent Jesus in the fullness of time is still in control! Never have conditions been worse. Ripe for revival! Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. May we say as David said in Ps. 31: 15-16: “I have trusted in You, LORD; I said: ‘You are my God…My times are in Your hands.” “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy; To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25)