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Sermon #5578

A Root From Dry Ground

A Sermon on Galatians 4:4-6

Originally preached Dec. 21, 1958

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Scripture

Galatians 4:4-6 ESV KJV
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. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into …

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Sermon Description

When we think of Christmas, we usually tend to associate it with Scripture passages from the books of Luke or Matthew, but are there other passages in the Bible that shed more light on what happened that day when Jesus Christ became a man born in Bethlehem? Preached just a few days before Christmas, this sermon by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones draws truths from Galatians 4:4-6 that are crucial to our understanding of the celebration of Christmas. First, all three members of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit— are involved in our salvation. Second, the focal point of all of this is the coming of Jesus into the world, the reason behind the celebration of Christmas. Paul says that Jesus was “sent forth”— a phrase that has caused many questions throughout the centuries among New Testament scholars, but Dr. Lloyd-Jones provides answers to help us understand what this means. Third, what does Paul’s statement of “the fullness of time” mean? Is it in an evolutionary sense that the present is better than the past? No! Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphatically demonstrates that it means God is in control of time and that God has predetermined all of the major events having to do with our salvation. How does this apply to us as we think of Christ’s coming? Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds us that ultimately, because of God’s sovereignty, our worst time is his best time, and we can rest in that.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The blessed Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - are concerned with our salvation. This is a staggering truth.
  2. The Son was sent from the Father's side in eternity to take His place among us. He came from the Father's presence to dwell with us.
  3. The Son was sent with a divine commission and authority to accomplish the work the Father gave Him to do.
  4. The Son became truly human, made of a woman and made under the law. He had a real human nature and body.
  5. God controls time. The fullness of time refers to God's time, not man's evolutionary concept of time.
  6. God predetermined the exact time of the great events of our salvation, including Christ's first and second comings. Only God knows the day and hour.
  7. God's wisdom is seen in the precise time of Christ's first coming. He gave man opportunity to try and save himself to show man's inadequacy. He came at a time to show salvation is by God alone.
  8. God's time is unlike our time. It is based on conditions, not calendars. His time is when conditions are right, not measured by years.
  9. Our worst times are God's best times. Christ came in Israel's worst time. God acts when man is hopeless and despairing, not self-satisfied. We should hope in God.

Sermon Q&A

What Is Dr. Lloyd-Jones' Understanding of God's Timing in the Christmas Story?

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones provides a profound interpretation of "the fullness of time" in Galatians 4:4-6, offering insights about God's timing that differ from secular understandings. Here's his theological perspective:

What does "when the fullness of time was come" mean according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones?

According to Lloyd-Jones, this phrase does not refer to an evolutionary process reaching a particular stage of development. He explicitly rejects the idea that Christ was the product of natural evolution or human progress. Instead, he explains that "the fullness of time" means:

  1. God controls time completely - "Time is in the control of God."
  2. God has "predetermined the exact time of all the great events connected with our salvation."
  3. The timing was based on God's wisdom, allowing mankind to fully demonstrate its inability to save itself.
  4. God's timing is based on spiritual conditions rather than mere chronology - "God's view of time is a matter of conditions rather than of calendars."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones contrast divine timing with human timing?

Lloyd-Jones states: "God's time is entirely unlike our time and our notion of time." He identifies these key differences:

  1. "We measure time chronologically. That isn't God's view of time."
  2. "With God a thousand years, but as one day and one day as a thousand years."
  3. "We are slaves to sequences. But God is above and outside time."
  4. "Our worst time is God's best time and God's ideal time."

Why did God wait so long to send Jesus according to the sermon?

Lloyd-Jones provides several theological reasons for the divine timing:

  1. God was giving "mankind a full opportunity of trying every conceivable plan and scheme and idea of deliverance and salvation for itself."
  2. To demonstrate that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight."
  3. To convince the world "of its sinfulness and of its complete helplessness."
  4. God acts "in such a way and in such a manner and at such a time as to make it perfectly plain and clear that it is his action and his action alone."

What comfort does Dr. Lloyd-Jones find in God's timing?

Lloyd-Jones finds profound comfort in the paradox that "Man's utter hopelessness and despair are the very conditions in which God delights to act." He points out that:

  1. Jesus came at Israel's darkest hour - "Never had they felt so hopeless."
  2. It was "their worst time, but it was God's chosen time."
  3. This pattern continues throughout church history.
  4. Current church struggles may actually indicate God is about to act again.

As he concludes: "We are in the hands of God, and everything is in his hands, and time is in his hands, and our worst is his best."

Other Sermons

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.