God does things in his own time. The New Testament phrase, “the fullness of time,” reveals how God waits to act until just the right moment.
When the apostle Paul says, “the fullness of time,” the words are simple. However, simple statements from God carry deep, eternal meaning. “I love you” from a friend or parent means a great deal. However, God saying “I love you” communicates far more. Human language can’t properly contain the eternal Word of God, which allows us an eternal lifetime to explore God’s truth.
We discover the same with “the fullness of time,” Let's dig a bit deeper to begin to grasp how the statement connects to the Gospel.
What Does “The Fullness of Time Had Come” Mean in the Bible?
The phrase “the fullness of time has come” comes from Galatians 4:4, referring to God’s perfect timing in sending Jesus Christ to redeem humanity. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.”
In Galatians 4, the apostle Paul contrasts life under the law with life in the Spirit. He teaches how the Mosaic Law acted as a guardian until Christ came, but now in Christ, believers are no longer slaves to the law but children of God through faith. Before faith came, the law “imprisoned” humanity, but with Christ’s arrival, Christians have been set free from this bondage to live righteously from within. The old law was right for its time, but it relied upon sinful humanity to perform it. Thankfully, in the New Covenant, God places his Spirit within believers and makes them partakers of the divine nature to walk with him in obedience.
When God sent his Son, everything changed. In Galatians 4:4, Paul declares God’s perfect timing “in the fullness of time,” signaling that the Father sent Jesus at the exact right moment in history, when all things had been prepared according to his plan.
Throughout history, God had been preparing the world for the advent of Christ. God promised a Savior immediately after the Fall, in Genesis 3:15, where God declared the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. Numerous prophecies followed, from Jacob’s message about the king coming from Judah, to the Davidic covenant, and several passages in Isaiah 53. Micah 5:2 even prophesies Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
Messianic prophecies became connected to other oracles regarding the new Kingdom Christ would bring. Daniel prophesied about the kingdom in Daniel 9. He predicted from the decree to restore Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed One (Christ), there would be seventy “weeks,” which many scribes understood symbolized years. This timing lined up with the birth of Jesus.
God has a specific plan. Nothing surprises him, and he acts within history to bring his will to pass. God’s timing perfectly relates to world events but also addresses the world’s need for salvation. In sending Jesus, God provided the only complete and sinless person who could redeem those under the law. Jesus came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17), live the life humanity couldn’t, and to die the death all people deserved. His death and resurrection finished the work of redemption and adoption of all who believe (Galatians 4:5-7). The fullness of time reveals God’s omniscience and sovereignty to orchestrate his salvation plan from before time and fulfill it at exactly the right time.
How Does God’s Timing Relate to the Fullness of Time?
The Bible constantly reveals how God operates outside of human timelines and works everything according to his plan. Scripture depicts God’s timing as flawless and intentional, accomplishing everything precisely when it’s meant to happen. Ecclesiastes 3:1 shares the wisdom, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” God has preordained times and seasons for things through his control over history and human events. Jesus’ birth had been set in motion from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5).
God’s sovereignty can be seen through his creation, his order of the universe and galaxies to the microscopic, unseen quantum realm. His wisdom and word brought order to chaos. At the same time, he set in motion a plan to send his Son to save the world he was in the process of creating. We trace his timing through historical and cultural factors.
Jesus was born during the Pax Romana, a period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire. This allowed the Gospel message to spread quickly, as Roman roads and infrastructure made travel easier. The Roman Empire provided a common legal system, and most of Rome spoke a common language, Greek, which helped communicate the Gospel to the Gentiles. The Hellenistic culture spread as a result of Alexander the Great and his conquering of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. This unified much of the known world under Greek language and thought, allowing Christ’s message to be shared through more universal examples, metaphors, and philosophy.
Why is the “Fullness of Time” Important in God’s Redemptive Plan?
The Mosaic Law was never the end goal. It was never meant to work. We can even say that, in a sense, God designed it to fail. From the beginning, even Moses prophesied about another figure to come who would bring another covenant (Deuteronomy 18:15). The Mosaic Law extended from the choice of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, where Adam and Eve chose to bear the moral standard themselves. Choosing that tree led to death, just as the letter of the law leads to death. The law kills, but the Spirit brings life (Romans 7:10). God allowed the law to demonstrate the depth of human corruption. Galatians 3:24 says, “The law was your guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
By giving the law to the Jews, God revealed that no one could achieve righteousness through their own efforts, exposing the desperate need for a Savior and a New Covenant, which the Old Testament also prophesied (Jeremiah 31). Through Christ, at the perfect time, God introduced this New Covenant through which believers are born again by the Spirit, not by adherence to the law but through faith in Christ. The New Covenant fulfills the law’s requirements by transforming the heart, offering forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice, and empowering people to follow the fulfillment of the law: Jesus.
Just as God fulfilled his redemptive promise with the first coming of Jesus, he will do the same when Christ returns. Acts 1:11 declares: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” This will also happen in God’s timing, when the world has been prepared, as we read clearly in Revelation. Christ will return at the exact right moment, finishing and completing God’s redemptive story and bringing heaven to earth, making all things right.
How Can Christians Trust in God’s Timing Today?
The Bible contains several examples to teach us the importance of trusting in God’s timing. One of the clearest examples comes from Abraham and Sarah. God promised Abraham would be the father of many nations, but they needed a son first. They were past child-bearing age when God made the promise, and several years passed before Sarah gave birth to Isaac (Genesis 21:1-7). During the waiting, Abraham had moments of doubt, but ultimately, God fulfilled his promise in his time.
God doesn’t simply make us wait for waiting's sake. He uses the journey and the delay to actively build our faith and character. James 1:2-4 encourages us to “count it all joy” when we face trials because these develop perseverance. Patience is more than the ability to wait; it teaches us to trust God’s timing and process. God’s timing often moves slower than our own, but we can trust his love and goodness. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) When we have faith in God’s timing, we surrender our need for control and let him guide us. He sees the bigger picture and orchestrates for the greatest good.
We can draw encouragement from knowing that God, who perfectly timed Jesus’ coming, also works in our own lives. Romans 8:28 promises how “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Waiting can be challenging, and no one likes to wait. However, he always works all things (not some or most but all) for his glory and our good.
Trusting in God’s plan requires us to remember his ways are far higher and different than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Sometimes God’s timing doesn’t make sense to us, and it’s in those moments we need faith. God works a plan we don’t always perceive, but he remains faithful to his promises.
Ultimately, while we may not know the length of time and every step along the way, he has revealed to us the end, his return. Jesus will come again and end all corruption and establish a new heaven and earth, restoring and redeeming all creation where there will be no sin. We find hope in this reality, knowing he has been faithful before and will be again.
What Does the Fullness of Time Teach Us about the Gospel?
The Gospel is the scope of God’s eternal plan, expressed through history and revealed in the Bible.
The Gospel begins in Genesis through a promise to Adam and Eve, where God promises the offspring of the woman would crush the lying serpent’s head, foreshadowing Christ’s victory over sin and death. The story continues with a covenant to Abraham to bless all nations through his descendants, actually one seed: Christ. The Old Testament records God’s covenant with Israel, the giving of the law and the prophets. All point to the coming Messiah. The law reveals our sinfulness and need for a savior, while the sacrificial system symbolizes the ultimate Lamb of God, Jesus. At the right moment, the “fullness of time,” Jesus entered history, fulfilling these promises and establishing the New Covenant.
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible tells a single, epic story of God’s plan to redeem all creation through the Son. In Revelation, the plan culminates when Jesus declares, “Behold, I am making all things new.” The Gospel is the entire story of God’s faithfulness to redeem people, from the beginning to the final restoration of all things. The “fullness of time” assures God’s story will unfold as he tells it.
As Christians, God calls us to spread the Gospel by telling this epic story of redemption, declaring how God has worked throughout history to save his people. But sharing the Gospel is also personal. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, telling our own story, and not loving our own lives even in the face of death (Revelation 12:11). 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Our testimonies of transformation from death to life powerfully share the Gospel, showing others how our individual lives entered the epic transformative arc and found life and redemption. Telling our stories shows how God’s redemptive work continues today. We proclaim the Gospel by sharing the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, as well as through how he has personally transformed us, bringing us from death to life.
In both Scripture’s grand narrative and sharing our individual testimonies, we boldly declare the truth of the Gospel—in the fullness of time, God has redeemed us through Jesus Christ and will one day bring his plan to amazing completion.
Peace.
Further Reading
Why Was Jesus Born When “the Fullness of Time Had Come”?
Fullness of Time Meaning – Bible Definition and References
Photo credit: Unsplash/Thomas Bormans
