The Time Was Come

By PAUL J. SCHARF, M.Div.

Editor in Chief

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Gal. 4:4-5, KJV)

“Are you ready for Christmas?”

If you have not been asked that question already, you surely will be in the coming days and weeks.

Perhaps the questioner was inquiring if you have done your shopping, or baking, or decorating. Perhaps they wonder if you are ready to face the end of the calendar year—or if you are still attempting to catch your breath and wondering where 2016 has gone.

We could ponder this question on a much more profound level by considering whether or not we are spiritually ready to celebrate Christmas. Under this heading, we could include activities such as:

• Making a deliberate choice to focus on Christ in this season, rather than on material, commercial and sensational things.
• Committing to devote ourselves to celebrating the birth of Christ with other believers during this month—rather than running at a frenetic pace in an attempt to keep up with our neighbors.
• Spending extra time in the study of the Word of God and, in particular, the prophecies and the meaning of the incarnation, as opposed to feeding on entertainment and pop culture.

There is nothing wrong with shopping, giving or receiving gifts, or even baking a few cookies. Yet this is a month to focus seriously on the Person and work of Christ. And what an opportunity we have to tell others about Him—when seemingly the entire world is talking about His birth!

On our blog this month, Dispensational Publishing House will strive to provide you with Biblically sound and thought-provoking material that will help you to do those very things. We will be running new material as well as Revived Classics articles chosen especially for this season. We will also take a look back at our first full year of operation, as well as preparing ourselves for a New Year and the prophetic future. Lord willing, we will also make some news of our own along the way. We hope that you will check back often to find edifying and informative articles and, possibly, an announcement or two.

Now, let us go back once more to the question at the top of this article:

“Are you ready for Christmas?”

The question introduces the issue of timing, does it not? And timing is a big part of Christmas.

We undertake our portion of the eternal enterprise of sharing the truth regarding the birth of Christ secure in the knowledge that our sovereign God was completely prepared for the coming of His Son into the world the first time—and will be so the second time, as well.

As Micah the prophet emphasized, His first coming marked the fulfillment of an eternal plan:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting. (Mic. 5:2)

Christ’s second coming, likewise, will unfold in accord with carefully detailed prophecies and at the precise moment in history that God (“who works all things according to the counsel of His will”