"in the fulness of time"

Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."

God decided before the earth was created, before mankind rebelled against the authority of God, to send Jesus into the world to pay by His death the penalty for our sin nature.

Before the foundation of the earth was in place this plan had already been set in motion. God determined the exact time that Jesus would be born and the exact time that He would die and the exact time that He would rise victorious from the grave.

The time that Jesus spent on this earth was not random.....it was carefully planned and executed by our loving God.

"When the fulness of time came"........... The word "fulness " in this context means "the completion of a period of time that was beforehand ordained and appointed."

"God sent forth his son"........... The God who created and sustains the earth and who made us was kind enough to send His Son to save us from eternal damnation.

"born of a woman" Jesus was born into this world by His mother, the same as us. The difference being that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and since the Holy Spirit is also God, Jesus is God's Son.

Matthew 1:18 "Now the birth of Jesus was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit."

"born under the law" the law(ten commandments, etc.) exists to show us our sinfulness before our holy God. There is no way that we as sinners can keep God's law. We can try very hard but we will always fail at some point.

Jesus as fully man was "born under the law," but because he was also fully God. He (Jesus) kept the law perfectly. It was not hard for Jesus to keep the whole law of God because He was without sin. God accepts what Jesus did on our behalf and counts it to us as righteousness. (just as if we had keep the whole law ourselves.)

There is only one stipulation from God in all of His grace to us; we must come to God His way, through Jesus:

John 14 :6 Jesus said to him, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me."

God brought our Savior, little baby Jesus, into the whole about 2000 years ago. He is God's gift to us.

Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!

(I'll do vs. 5 later on tonight.)