I have recently been struck with the opening words of Jesus’ ministry, as recorded in Mark 1:15. “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.”
Mark 1:14 tells us that Jesus came to Galilee. Jesus is always “coming.” He has come, He will come, and He is coming now. Every time Jesus “comes” it is evidence that the time is fulfilled.
“The time is fulfilled” has a spiritual and natural connotation. On the spiritual side, Jesus is referring to over 100 Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. On the natural side we have two critical considerations. One of them is Alexander the Great the the Grecian empire. Alexander was able to establish the Greek language as the major language of the then-known-world. After the Greeks, we see the Roman empire, with its system of good roads, and the Pax Romana (peace throughout the empire). The one common language, along with peace, and good roads ….. all of these things made it more convenient for the early church to spread the gospel of the kingdom from city to city, and region to region.
We have much the same going on in our culture today. This is the fullness of time. On the spiritual side we have multiple prophetic words that have been foretelling a mighty move of God in our major cities. On the natural side we have the English language that is common throughout the earth. Most young people around the world are being taught English in their school systems. Spanish is another major language spoken in many parts of the world. We could get on a jet today and be on the other side of the world tomorrow. Amazing! We also have all of the social media outlets that can be utilized to release the gospel of the kingdom. We really need to be taking advantage of all the social media opportunities ….. amazing opportunities to reach the entire world!
The fullness of time is the culmination of all that has been taking place in the spiritual and natural realms. It is like a symphony that is building with intensity until the music reaches a climax. Everyone in the concert hall realizes that the music is building to a climactic point. That is exactly what is taking place right now. Everything that has been spoken, plus everything that has been happening ….. all of it has been building up to this moment. Jesus “comes” in power. The move of God is here. This is the fullness of time!