Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Christmas: At Just the right time!

Romans 5v6 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

In comedy, timing is everything. In fact, in many things, timing is vital. God says through Paul that Christ came and died “at just the right time.” God planned every detail. In 538BC God revealed to Daniel when Christ’s death on the cross would be (Daniel 9): it would be 483 years from when the edict was given to rebuild Jerusalem. The edict was given in 445BC. Do the maths: God knew precisely when! As things got close, the angel Gabriel appeared to each of Zechariah and Mary to pronounce 9 months in advance the birth of their unexpected children.

We might wonder why God didn’t send Jesus earlier. Couldn’t more people have been saved if he had? I don’t know. But this I do know, the presence of the Greek language as a “lingua franca”, the existence of Roman roads and military to enable peaceable travel, and the diaspora of practising Jews across the Greek world all enabled the rapid spread of the gospel in the first century. The timing under Roman rule also provided for the cruelties of crucifixion and the dynamics of the trial of Jesus.

Early in his ministry, Jesus said, “My time has not yet come” (John 2v4), and then later said, “Father, the time has come.” (John 17v1). Mary and Martha complained to Jesus that he had not come earlier to heal Lazarus (John 11): this seemed a very justified complaint since Jesus had deliberately delayed coming for a couple of days. But, Jesus knew his time.

We might not understand it, but God’s timing is perfect. Paul calls us to also “Keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5v25). The Psalmist writes, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139v16). Solomon writes, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3v1).

God is working his perfect timing in your life now: He loves you as his child and He is in control.

With love and blessing,

Roland