As a retired geographer, I marvel at the ancient Greco-Roman world to include this demographic fact: of the 105 billion people who have ever lived on earth, only 2% were born prior to the advent of Christ. Thus, says Erik Kreps of the University of Michigan, God’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect. ¹ His Christ appeared in an advanced, transnational monoculture just prior to a world population explosion. Moreover, God’s Son was born at a time that fulfilled the words of the prophets. 

Let’s look closer at this fullness of time declaration in Galatians 4:

  ^“ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons,” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Per the Merriam-Webster dictionary, timing is the ability to select the precise moment for doing something for optimum effect. “In the fullness of time” underscores how God is in control of history. 

Jesus Himself said that He came in God’s timing:

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). 

At the proper time, the God of history caused Caesar Augustus to issue a decree for the whole world to be taxed. Thus, as foretold by the prophet in Micah 5:2, Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Indeed, the reign of Augustus was hallmarked not only by a global readiness for the Gospel, but also for its rapid diffusion throughout the whole Roman world.

The spread of Hellenism had greatly impacted Mediterranean culture giving rise to history, philosophy, art, literature, and drama. Yet a lingua franca and abstract thought for religious debates remained the greatest contributions of the Greeks to herald the coming Christ.

For the first time, a common language emerged that could be easily learned via a 24-letter alphabet. Most significantly, the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into the Greek Septuagint in the 2 ^nd century BC made synagogue worship by the Jewish diaspora possible and an attractive alternative to Greco-Roman paganism. By the 1st century AD, there were ‘God-fearers’ in essentially every town in the Mediterranean basin eager to study and debate Epicurean and Stoic philosophies as well as one sovereign Creator-Savior God. Paul, as a result of his encounter with Christ, made it his mission to preach to these Gentiles predisposed to monotheism and, by abstract thinking, to the concepts of sin and redemption. 

And to reach these God-fearers, Paul benefited from all that was good about the Roman Empire. The Pax Romana made travel safe from pirates and bandits. The Empire fashioned the most advanced transportation system the world had ever seen. In the marketplace of every city there stood a milestone giving the road distance to Rome. Because all roads did indeed lead to Rome, a postal service could function. Sea traffic was especially important as early Christian missionary work was, in great measure, a labor in harbor cities. By some estimates, Paul journeyed by land and water more than 15,000 miles. ² Without these transnational lines of communication, the rapid advance of the Gospel would have been inconceivable. Lastly, Roman law was just; Paul often leveraged his Roman citizenship for legal protection during his travels. 

The German saying Reisen ist Bildung, or traveling is an education, rang true this year as my wife and I, joined by five friends, followed in the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul in Greece. ³ A curious stop on our tour was the Oracle at Delphi. For centuries, pagan kings and emperors had trekked to the ancient Oracle to have their gods speak to them and their fortunes told. But Caesar Augustus, his very cognomen meaning a blessed one sent by the gods, ⁴ was in for the shock of his life when he inquired of the Oracle about his successor.

Augustus asked: "Why is the Oracle silent?" and was told: "A Hebrew boy, a god who rules among the blessed (hmm, sounds like the Christ child to me), bids me leave this house . . . so [you] go in silence from my altars," ⁵ (parenthetical note added). Sixth century Syrian scholar John Malalas related the oracular reply with additional information about its sinister origin, “a Hebrew boy, a god who rules among the blessed, bids me leave this house and go back to Hades ,” ⁶ (emphasis added). 

Our tour concluded at Mars Hill in Athens, where, as recorded in Acts 17, Paul addressed Greek philosophers: “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands . God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us,” (Acts 17:26-27, emphasis added).

In the fullness of time the “august” Christ Jesus was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus. With equally perfect timing, each of us was born at a time and place most opportune to know the one sovereign Creator-Savior God. Gloria in Excelsis Deo best expresses our response to God’s grace — and that in Augustus’ native tongue.