Advent Daily Devotional - Day 21
Galatians 4:4-5
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
God’s timing is perfect! Jesus was the promised Messiah or Saviour that the Jews had been awaiting for centuries. There was great expectation and mystery. The birth of Jesus was the fulfilment of a promise made nearly 2,000 years before to Abraham (Gen 17: 1-8) where all nations would be blessed through Him. Jesus was born at the exact right moment in human history. God’s plan was perfect, and His timing was perfect to bless every nation through the gift of Jesus who was Abraham’s descendant. Abraham was not perfect and made some serious mistakes, but God was working through imperfect people throughout human history and weaving events to this exact moment. I find it astonishing and reassuring that God is also weaving His perfect plan in my life and that His timing is perfect.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea under the Roman empire at a time when there was relative stability and prosperity. Rome had built the infrastructure of much of the ancient world, and it had a great network of roads that made travel through the empire quicker and easier. This would make spreading of the good news of Jesus easier for the early church as well as the almost universal language of Greek so that all could receive this good news.
Jesus was fully human and fully God and He was the perfect sacrifice to fulfil God’s law on our behalf and His death brought freedom to us and enabled us to be adopted into God’s family. We are all under the law as God’s law is written on our hearts (Rom 2:15) and we have all fallen short (i.e. we are all sinners). As adopted children, we share with Jesus all the rights to God’s resources and our full identity as His children.
Are you ready to receive the gift of Jesus this Christmas? He will transform your life in ways you could never imagine possible. God’s amazing love is lavished on us at Christmas. He is God’s best gift to us.
As Christians, we still await the fullness of time when Christ will return, and we will see the full picture of our adoption into His family, and we will be raised to glory with Him which will outweigh any suffering we experience now. In the meantime, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and Jesus lives in us through the Spirit.
God never gives a gift too soon or too late. We may often question God’s timing in our lives and if we are in a season of waiting that may be frustrating and painful, for example, the healing of a family member, the provision of a job or a place to live, waiting for a spouse or a child and so many more. Jesus meets us in our pain and frustration and gives us hope that does not disappoint and gives us strength to carry on. His promises will be fulfilled, and He is redeeming us and making us more like Him in the process.
Questions…
In the dark, Abraham trusted God and he was honest about his fears, his doubts and his despair. What are you experiencing right now that you may be honest to God about? God will meet with you wherever you are at.
Do you doubt God’s timing in your life and the fulfilment of His promises to you? How can the Christmas story inspire you to trust in God’s perfect plan for your life?
Today's devotional was written by Ida Astley