Chapter 3—Man’s Sin and the “Fullness of the Time”
When Adam and Eve in Eden first heard the promise of the Saviour’s coming, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They welcomed their firstborn son, hoping he might be the Deliverer. But those who first received the promise died without seeing it fulfilled. The promise was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing; yet He came not. The prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all rightly interpreted the message. Century after century passed away. The hand of the oppressor was heavy on Israel, and many were ready to exclaim, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” Ezekiel 12:22.
(HLv 20.1)
But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, God’s purposes know no haste and no delay. In heaven’s council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
(HLv 20.2)
“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son.” Galatians 4:4. The world was ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. The nations were united under one government. One language was widely spoken. From all lands the Jews of the dispersion gathered to Jerusalem to the annual feasts. As these returned to the places of their sojourn, they could spread throughout the world the tidings of the Messiah’s coming.
(HLv 20.3)
The systems of heathenism were losing their hold on the people. Men longed for a religion that could satisfy
(HLv 20.4)
the heart. Souls looking for light were thirsting for a knowledge of the living God, for some assurance of life beyond the grave.
(HLv 21.4)
The Jews’ faith had grown dim, and hope had well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future. To the masses, death was a dread mystery; beyond was uncertainty and gloom. In “the region and shadow of death,” men sat unsolaced. With longing they looked for the coming of the Deliverer, when the mystery of the future should be made plain.
(HLv 21.1)
Outside of the Jewish nation there were men seeking for truth, and to them the Spirit of Inspiration was imparted. Their words of prophecy had kindled hope in the hearts of thousands of the Gentile world.
(HLv 21.2)
For hundreds of years the Scriptures had been translated into the Greek language, then widely spoken throughout the Roman Empire. The Jews were scattered everywhere, and their expectation of the Messiah’s coming was to some extent shared by the Gentiles. Among those whom the Jews styled heathen were men who had a better understanding of the Scripture prophecies concerning the Messiah than had the teachers in Israel.
(HLv 21.3)
Some who hoped for His coming as a deliverer from sin endeavored to study into the mystery of the Hebrew economy. But the Jews, intent on maintaining the separation between themselves and other nations, were unwilling to impart the knowledge they possessed concerning the symbolic service. The true Interpreter, the One whom all these types prefigured, must come and explain their significance. Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. Christ must come to utter words clearly understood and to separate truth from the chaff which had made it of no effect.
(HLv 21.4)
Among the Jews there were yet steadfast souls through whom a knowledge of God had been preserved. These strengthened their faith by dwelling on the assurance given through Moses, “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you.” Acts 3:22. They read how the Lord would anoint One “to preach good tidings unto the meek,”“to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,” and to declare the “acceptable year of the Lord.” Isaiah 61:1, 2. He would “set judgment in the earth” and the isles would “wait for His law.” Isaiah 42:4. Gentiles would come to His light, and kings to the brightness of His rising. See Isaiah 60:3.
(HLv 21.5)
The dying words of Jacob filled them with hope: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.” Genesis 49:10. The waning power of Israel testified that the Messiah’s coming was at hand. There was widespread expectation of a mighty prince who should establish his kingdom in Israel and come as a deliverer to the nations.
(HLv 22.1)
“The fullness of the time” had come. Humanity, degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. He had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction.
(HLv 22.2)
Satan’s strife for supremacy seemed almost wholly successful. It is true that in every generation, even among the heathen, there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from sin. But these men were hated. Many suffered a violent death. The dark shadow Satan cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.
(HLv 22.3)
Satan won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. The heathen had lost a knowledge of God and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion.
(HLv 22.4)
The Jews defrauded the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction. The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth were doing the work Satan desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the character of God and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant. Priests in the temple lost the significance of the service they performed. They were as actors in a play. Ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these channels.
(HLv 23.1)
All the agencies for depraving the souls of men had been put in operation. The Son of God, looking upon the world with compassion, saw how men had become victims of satanic cruelty. Bewildered and deceived, they were moving on in gloomy procession to death in which is no hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning.
(HLv 23.2)
The bodies of human beings had become the habitation of demons. The senses, the nerves, the passions, the organs of men, were worked by supernatural agencies in indulgence of the vilest lust. The stamp of demons was impressed on human faces. What a spectacle for the world’s Redeemer to behold!
(HLv 23.3)
Sin had become a science, and vice a part of religion. Rebellion and hostility were violent against heaven. The unfallen worlds had watched to see God sweep away the inhabitants of earth. And if He should do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God’s government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would have cast blame on God and spread his rebellion to the worlds above.
(HLv 23.4)
But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. A way for its recovery was provided. “When the fullness of the time” had come, the Deity poured upon the world a flood of healing grace never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled. Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker, to expel the demons that had controlled the will, to lift us up from the dust, and to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character.
(HLv 24.1)