Christ: Is The Fullness Of Times

The various contributions that aided in bringing in the fullness of times.

"Environment
Political Contributions of Romans
1.Developed a sense of the unity of mankind under a universal law.
2.The extension of Roman imperial power during the period of empire building a period of peaceful development occurred in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean.
3.Developed an excellent system of roads radiating out from the golden milestone in the Roman forum to all parts of the empire.
4.The role of the Roman army in the development of the ideal of a universal organization and in the spread of the gospel
5.Roman conquests led to a loss of belief by many peoples in their gods because the gods had not been able to keep them from defeat by the Romans.
The conclusion that the Roman Empire provided a political environment favorable to the spread of Christianity in the days of its infancy.

Intellectual contributions of Greeks
1.The universal gospel was in need of a universal language if it was to make maximum impact on the world.
2.Greek philosophy prepared for the coming of Christianity by destroying the older religions.
3.The Greek people also contributed in a religious way to making the world ready to accept the new Christian religion when it appeared.
Both the Greek and Roman systems of philosophy and religion thus made a contribution to the coming of Christianity by destroying the old polytheistic religions and by showing the inability of human reason to reach God. The mystery religions, to which many turned, accustomed the people to think in terms of sin and redemption. This when Christianity appeared, people within the Roman Empire were more receptive to a religion that seemed to offer a spiritual approach to life.

Religious contributions of the Jews
Religious contributions to the "fullness of the time" include those of the Greek and Roman as well as those of the Jew. But however great may have been the contributions of Athens and Rome to Christianity by way of environment, the contributions of the Jew stand forth as the heredity of Christianity. Christianity may have developed in the political milieu of Rome and may have had to face the intellectual environmental created by the Greek mind, but its relationship to Judaism was much more intimate. Judaism may be thought of as the stalk on which the rose of Christianity was to bloom.
The Jewish people, in contrast to the Greeks, did not seek to discover God by processes of human reason. They assumed His existence and readily granted to Him the worship that they felt was His due. They were influenced toward this course by the fact that God sought them and revealed Himself to them in history by His appearances to Abraham and the other great leaders of the race. Jerusalem became the symbol of a positive religious preparation for the coming of Christianity.
Salvation was to by, indeed, "of the Jews," as Christ told the Woman at the well (John 4:22). From this tiny captive nation, situated on the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, a Savior was to come. Judaism provided the heredity of Christianity and, for a time, even gave the infant religion shelter.

A.Monotheism=Judaism existed in striking contrast to the generality of pagan religions by its emphasis on a sound spiritual monotheism.
B.Messianic Hope=The Jews offered to the world the hope of a coming Messiah who would bring righteousness to the earth.
C.Ethical System=In the moral part of the Jewish law, Judaism also offered to the world the purest ethical system in existence.
D.Old Testament Scriptures=The Jewish people still further prepared the way for the coming of Christianity by providing the infant church with its message, the Old Testament.
E.Philosophy of History=The Jews made possible a philosophy of history by insisting that history had meaning.
F.The Synagogue=The Jews also provided an institution that was most useful in the rise and development of early Christianity.

The matters that have been discussed show how favored Christianity was, both as to time and region, in the period of its emergence. At no other time in the world's history before the coming of Christ was such a large region under one law and government. The Mediterranean world also had one culture, centering in Rome.
One universal language made it possible to give the gospel to mast of the people of the empire in a tongue common to them and to the new religion, had a strategic location in this world. Paul was right in emphasizing that Christianity was not something "done in a corner"(Acts 26:26), because Palestine was an important crossroads linking the continents of Asia and Africa with Europe by a land route. Many of the most important battles of ancient history were fought for possession of this strategic area. In the period of Christianity's birth and during the first three centuries of its existence, conditions were more favorable for its spread throughout the Mediterranean world than at any other time in the ancient or medieval eras--Such is also the opinion of the worlds leading scholar of missions.
Throughout the contribution of the Greek and Roman environment and through the heritage of Judaism, the world was prepared for "the fullness of the time" when God sent forth His Son to bring redemption to a war-torn and sin-weary humanity. It is significant that of all the religions practiced in the Roman Empire at the time of Christ's birth, only Judaism and Christianity have been successful in surviving the changing course of human history." (Christianity Through the Centuries, A History of the Christian Church, Earle E. Cairns, Zondervan Publishing House, Chapter One, pp.35-43)

The Fullness of Times has been here for a very long time, even prior to the claim of Joseph Smith, Jr, who by his own thoughts, conceived the notion of a restoration during his time. The long quote above shows how Christ, our Savior IS "The Fullness of Times."

Christ became 'the fullness of the time" and is still, and always will be, "the fullness of times." For He is the beginning and the end, alpha and omega, Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13.