Galatians 4:4
4But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Truth to Learn
All of mankind was under the bondage of religious practices and observances until God’s exact timing for the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, to perfectly fulfill the law for us.
Behind the Words
The word translated “fullness” is “plērōma” which means that which is complete in itself, or composed of the entire number or quantity. In this verse it is a reference to time, hence, “the fullness of time,” which here means when the appointed time had arrived.
“sent forth” is translated from a form of “exapostello,” a compound word made up of “ex” meaning out of and “apostello” meaning to send away. Hence, “exapostello” means to send away out of one’s presence.
Meaning Explained
Keep in mind that Paul is using the illustration of a little child who cannot inherit all that his father promised him until the time appointed by his father. Until that time the child is no better than a slave and is under guardians and stewards who watch out for the child’s interests in keeping with the desire of the father. In a similar manner, according to Paul, we were kept under bondage by the elemental trappings of religion.
But when the time appointed by the Father arrived, He sent forth His Son as the Messiah, the Christ. There is a subtle significance in what Paul says here with respect to the deity of Christ. Paul says that the Son of God was “sent forth” meaning that God the Father sent God the Son away from His presence to be born of a woman. This means that the Son existed before he was born of a woman. In other words, Paul is declaring the eternality of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
The time appointed by the Father had already been communicated to the Jews. More than five hundred years earlier, the Prophet Daniel had declared:
Daniel 9:25 25Know therefore and understand, that from 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 command referred to was the decree of the Persian King Artaxerxes around 445 B.C. giving Nehemiah permission to rebuild
Paul also tells us that Christ was born of a woman and born under the law. These are both very significant facts as Paul will demonstrate in the following verse.
Application
God knows the end from the beginning. He has always had a plan for our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus was sent at the exact time determined by our Heavenly Father to free us from the slavery of sin and the religious practices that had us in bondage. Now, through Him we can be free!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to: