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The fullness of the times refers to the Messianic kingdom, which the Lord Jesus Christ will set up when He returns to the earth - the Lord will really exercise all authority in heaven and earth given to him. Once Christ starts to rule from his glorious Davidic throne all things in heaven and on earth will brought into subjection to Him. Eventually, every knee will bow before Christ - the last enemy, death, will be destroyed. In the fullness of the times, Christ will deliver the kingdom back to the Father, having gathered all things in heaven and on earth under Him. In the fullness of time, Christ provided redemption, not only for Jews, but also so that the fullness of the Gentiles can come in.
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The
Bible contains many references to ‘the fullness of’.
What
can the word for ‘fullness’ mean?
Is ‘the fullness of time’ (Galatians
4:4) the same as the ‘dispensation of the
fullness of the times’ (Ephesians 1:10)?
Is the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ (Romans
11:25) the same as the ‘Times of the Gentiles’
(cf. Luke 21:24)?
The Meaning of ‘Fullness’
‘Fullness’
can refer to time, content, number, or to a sense of totality or entirety.
One
must obviously review the context to see what ‘fullness’ means.
When
time is in view, ‘fullness’ either refers to time that has reached its
end, being completed, or it refers to a specific, opportune time.
Fullness
can also refer to fullness of content, like fullness of the leftover bread that
filled the baskets (cf. Mk 6:43; 8:20).
Fullness
can also refer to a full number of people (cf. Roman 11:25).
Moreover,
‘fullness’ can also refer to a sense of totality or entirety, like
Jesus’ fullness of grace (cf. John 1:16), the fullness of
the blessing of the gospel of Christ (Romans 15:29),
or the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
We
focus on three examples.
The Fullness of the Time
Galatians 4:4 states that ‘when the fullness of the time had
come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law’ (NKJV).
This
text clearly speaks of the divine Son of God who took on human nature.
Moreover,
even though He is God, during his First Advent, Jesus was born ‘under the
law’, indicating that he voluntarily obeyed the Mosaic Covenant.
The
Messiah came to redeem not only those who ‘were under the law’, that is
the Jews who lived under the Law of Moses (cf. Galatians
4:5a), but He also came to redeem non-Jews, so that
all believers ‘might receive the adoption of sons’ (Galatians
4:5).
Still,
why the reference to the ‘fullness of the times’?
Three
reasons may be proffered.
First, God had
prophesied the timing of the First Advent in Daniel 9:25: ‘[F]rom the going
forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince,
there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks’.
The
Messiah came in the fullness of the time that the Father had decreed.
Second,
God’s timing is perfect. The global scenario was perfectly set up for the
distribution of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.
At
the time of the First Advent, the world had not only sunk to lower moral lows,
but in this moral and spiritual void many people were ready to receive the
gospel of Christ.
This
gospel was preached far and wide, as evangelists used the Roman Empire’s vast
road system as well as the lingua franca of the day, Greek.
Third,
from a dispensational perspective, Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant (cf.
Matthew 27:51), thus ending the Dispensation of the Law, and
heralded the beginning of a new one, the Dispensation of Grace.
The Fullness of the Gentiles
Paul writes that ‘I do not desire,
brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise
in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in’ (Romans
11:25).
In
this context, the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ refers to a specific number of Gentiles that will be saved during the
time that Israel experiences a partial and temporary blindness.
When
did this partial and temporary blindness of Israel start?
It
started when ‘this generation’ of Jews during Christ’s first advent
blasphemed the Holy Spirit by rejecting the Messiah (Matthew
12:23-32; cf. 13:11-17).
This
alone distinguishes the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ from the ‘Times of
the Gentiles’, for the Times of the Gentiles started at the time of the
Babylonian captivity.
When
will this partial and temporary blindness of Israel end?
When
the fullness of the Gentiles come in. When will that be, at the end of the
Tribulation Period or at the time of the rapture of the Church?
God
will commence working with and through Israel during the Tribulation Period.
Elijah
the prophet will be sent prior to the great and dreadful Day of the LORD (Malachi
4:5).
The
Lord will send 144 000 Jewish evangelists to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom
during the Tribulation Period (Revelation 7; 14:1-5).
It,
therefore, seems likely that the fullness of the Gentiles refers to a specific
number of Gentiles that will come to faith in Jesus Christ and, when that
number is full (‘comes in’), then the rapture of the Church may occur.
The Fullness of the Times
In Ephesians 1:10, the apostle Paul writes
that ‘in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth in Him’.
Did
Christ gather all things in heaven and on earth in Him at his First Advent?
At
the First Advent, Christ destroyed the works of the devil (1
John 3:8).
Even
so, the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (1
John 5:19b; cf. also Ephesians 2:2; 6:11-13), Satan is still
sowing tares in the field (Matthew 13:25, 37-38)
as he is still the ‘god of this world’ (2 Corinthians
4:4).
But
as part of the Second Advent of Christ, Satan will be sent to prison for a
thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).
In
short, the fullness of Ephesians 1:10 does not refer the fullness of time
mentioned in Galatians 4:4.
The
fullness of the times of Ephesians 1:10 refers to the Messianic kingdom, which
the Lord Jesus Christ will set up when He returns to the earth.
It
is during this time that the Lord will really exercise all
authority in heaven and earth given to him (cf. Matthew
11:25-27; 28:18-20).
When
Satan and then Adam and Eve sinned, chaos and rebellion were introduced into
God’s created order.
However,
once Christ starts to rule from his glorious Davidic throne (cf.
Matthew 19:28; 25:31), all things in heaven and on earth will
brought into subjection to Him.
Eventually,
every knee will bow before Christ.
Eventually,
the last enemy, death, will be destroyed.
In
the fullness of the times, Christ will deliver the kingdom back to the Father,
having gathered all things in heaven and on earth under Him.
Concluding Remark
In
the fullness of time, Christ provided redemption, not only for Jews, but also
so that the fullness of the Gentiles can come in.
When
He returns, the Lord Jesus Christ will set up the Messianic kingdom and in the
fullness of the times gather all things in heaven and on earth in Him.
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