Christmas Delivery

Galatians 4:4-5
One man sent his parents a microwave oven one Christmas. Here’s how he recalls the experience: "They were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the instant generation. When Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frown! Even after reading the directions, they couldn’t make it work. "Two days
later, my mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get hat microwave oven even to boil water. ’To get this silly thing to work,’ she exclaimed, ’I really don’t need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!’"
When God gave the gift of salvation, he didn’t send a booklet of complicated instructions for us to figure out; he sent his Son.

I call your attention to Galatians 4:4-5. These 2 short verses contain a lot of depth for not only do we find God maneuvering human history to create the perfect circumstances for Christ’s birth, but we also find an explanation of the Incarnation and a revelation of Christ’s purpose, the true Reason for the Season. The full weight of this passage reveals that Christmas is the celebration of God’s love for us and His power working on our behalf.

I. MANAGEMENT of TIME-
Time management seems an elusive skill, particularly at Christmas time
One of our church members was showing me their new cell phone; it will keep calendars, email, internet, texting, and calls.
My phone will do some of that, but when I put my appointments in, it seems to lose them
Yet, we still find ourselves hectic and caught up in the frenzy of Christmas activities
When it comes to management of time, we have absolutely nothing on God.
He shows up precisely on time. He is the Master of time
Have you ever noticed Jesus saying His time has come or His time had not yet come?
God is watching the clock closely and has determined what is the right time
In the Greek language there were three words for time
The Holy Spirit directed Paul here to use the word "kronos" that speaks of an orderly progression of events, when everything follows proper sequence, and is exactly right.
The word fullness speaks of completion
It is used of bridging a gap or repairing a breach (patching clothing) (Jesus came to mend us)
It also speaks of fulfilling or keeping a promise (God had a preordained appointment with man)
God didn’t make the decision to send Jesus on the spur of the moment
He carefully orchestrated the events and nations to prepare for the incarnation of Christ
When the time was just right, He sent His only begotten Son into the world.
Consider how God coordinated the events to prepare for Jesus’ birth
The Babylonian captivity prepared the Jewish people by eradicating idolatry among them
During this time, Ezra compiled the canon of the Old Testament Scripture into a single volume
When the Greek empire arose to power, they brought common culture, philosophy and language
The Greek language became the language of the common man
The Old Testament would later be translated into Greek to give wider access to people
Greek culture broke down some of the barriers of nationalism.
People from other cultures were more readily accepted and their beliefs more readily entertained
Then came the Roman Empire, and with it a cessation of war
This was a time of infrastructure development such