12/13/20

"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." (Galatians 4:4)
"CHRISTMAS WAS RIGHT ON TIME"
The marking of time has always been important to mankind. You find evidence of it in cave drawings, and in prison cells. When you look into the family Bible there are important dates and events recorded.
The calendar is an amazing thing. Two of the most constant parts of the entire creation are the movements of the moon about the earth, and the earth about the sun. The variation in time from year to year is so minute that it is insignificant. Only God could do that!
Our modern calendar is numbered from the birth of Christ. "Anno Domini" is Latin for "the year of our Lord". It is abbreviated "A.D". Some mistaken it as meaning 'after death'. "B. C." means "Before Christ". So there is no '0' year. The calendar goes from "1 B.C." unto "A. D. 1".
The calendar has been updated with the advent of more sophisticated calculations of the passing of time. This is why we are now told that Christ was actually born between 6 and 4 B.C. That is no big deal, to me. It does not change the fact that Christ was born! Nor does the error reflect upon God, because it was man's calendar that was in error.
God was right on time! "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,..." (Galatians 4:4)
Jesus arrived right on time! But He came in God's timing. A very important thing for the believer to accept about God is this, God moves in His time, not ours. God's timing is vastly different from our timing! "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (II Peter 3:8)
Our calendars may be a little off, but God's calendar is exactly right!
One other change you may have noted to our dating system in the last few years is this. You now see "C. E." instead of "A. D." This is "2020 C. E." instead of "A. D. 2020".
"C. E." stands for "Common Era", and "B. C. E." stands for "Before Common Era". It was an offensive thing for some to be reminded of Jesus Christ as they looked at the calendar, and were also reminded that time is running out! So "Anno Domini" and "Before Christ" are no longer being used.
No matter! The calendar still reminds us that Christ has come, and that Christmas was right on time!
From my heart to your heart.