The Turning Point in His Story
Throughout the New Testament, many varied descriptions of the gospel are given. Depending on the particular context, the imagery shifts in order to emphasize a certain aspect of what God has done for us. Within Galatians itself, we see the gospel described in terms of deliverance (1:4), sacrifice (2:20), and freedom (5:1). And in Galatians 4, a particularly pregnant phrase is used to emphasize that the coming of Jesus marks a monumental shift in the experience of God’s people. The coming of Christ is the turning point of salvation history.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5
The “fullness of time” when “God sent forth his Son” divides salvation history between waiting under the law and the fullness of redemption by the work of Christ. And it is not only salvation history that hinges on the coming of Christ. Our culture’s entire reckoning of human history has the incarnation as its turning point.
In recent years, scholarship has moved away from the explicit references to Christ in BC (Before Christ) and AD (Latin for “Year of our Lord”). Instead, CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) are being used. This is somewhat laughable because, regardless of what you call it, the coming of Jesus is still the reference point that divides history.
Consider how every day of our lives is lived in reference to the work of God. The date this past weekend was Sunday, May 28, 2023.
· 2023 because a year is the amount of time God has set for the Earth to make a full orbit around the sun, and that has happened 2,023 times since our calendar marks the coming of Christ.
· May because each year is divided into months based on the amount of time God has set for the moon to orbit the Earth.
· 28 because each month is divided into days based on the amount of time God has set for the Earth to make a full rotation.
· But why Sunday? While there is no astronomical event that determines that our week should have seven days, it is no less by the work of God that it is so. It is Sunday because we have a 7-day week based on the pattern set by God in creation: “he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done” (Genesis 2:2).
This means that, whether we acknowledge God or not, every single day for every single person on earth is lived in reference to God. Everything we say about “today” is a reference to the ongoing activity of Jesus! And it is “ongoing” because not only were all things created through Jesus but Jesus now “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:2-3). Every moment of our lives we owe to Jesus who is actively upholding it all right now. This means that when we behold a beautiful sunset, it would be most appropriate to express our amazement in these words, “Wow, look at what Jesus is doing!”
This Jesus, the eternal Son of God, is the one whom God sent forth to step into history to bring the fullness of salvation in the fullness of time. From before time began (Ephesians 1:4), God has had a plan to make himself known (Ephesians 1:9) and in the fullness of time (Ephesians 1:10; Galatians 4:4), Jesus came, full of grace and truth (John 1:14), to reveal the fullness of God (Colossians 1:19) so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
The unfolding of time across the universe has been the stage on which God has been telling the story of his grace in redeeming a people for himself. The incarnation is the event in salvation history that changes everything. It is the climactic moment in God’s story. It is the turning point in his story. As even our calendars show: Jesus is the turning point in history.
~ Andy Barker grew up in Boston, Ma. and relocated to Charlotte in 2008. He currently serves as an elder at LIFE Fellowship. He and his wife Melanie have five children and have attended LIFE Fellowship for ten years.