107: Why Did God Wait So Long to Send Jesus to Earth?

Many people have asked, “Why didn’t God send Jesus to Earth sooner?” It seems that God waited too long. Why did God choose to send Him at that particular time in human history? In this episode, Kenny highlights Galatians 4:4, which tells us that Jesus came when the “fullness of time” had come. Kenny makes the case that, in essence, God waited for the perfect moment in human history; the specific time period that would make the most sense for the rapid expansion of the Gospel message. Then, Kenny expounds upon the things that made it more likely for the Gospel to spill over into Gentile nations. 1- The nation of Israel needed to be prepared to receive the Messiah in the way God wanted them to receive Him. God was waiting for there to be a culture of “expectancy” amongst the Jewish people. 2- God wanted people of Jewish decent to be living around the world because they would be the initial conduits for the Gospel to spread. 3- God waited for the development of Roman civil affairs and physical infrastructure that would allow for the rapid expansion of the Gospel message and the circulation of Apostolic writing. The primary elements that contributed to this were: the Pax Romana (time of peace), the Roman trade roads, and the establishment of a common trade language.