Bible Studies

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In the fourth chapter of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians there is an interesting word translated by our English word “fullness” or “completion.” It is the Greek word “pleroma” and it is illustrated by an overflowing glass of water. “But when the fullness of time came God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (verse 4) It occurred to me that a great deal of human history could be viewed in this context of overflowing glasses of water. After creation led to the fall of humankind, God was working to bring forth the second Adam who would redeem the wrong choice and disobedience of the first Adam. The second Adam would be born as a human being and live a life of perfect obedience thus qualifying to be offered up as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of all who came before and all who would come after Him. But before God would bring forth the second Adam on earth He had to bring forth the nation from which that second Adam would descend. When this had been achieved and the Hebrew nation had been sufficiently dealt with, it was prime time or “pleroma time” for the birth of the second Adam (also the last Adam, by the way, because he would leave nothing undone) who was to be the promised Messiah.

Though he didn’t do all that his countrymen hoped that he would or do it in the way they thought he should, Messiah did an atoning work in behalf of not only his own people after the flesh, but in behalf of all people, the Gentiles as well. The first glass of history had overflowed at the day of his prophesied birth in Bethlehem.(Micah 5 v.2) As a young man Jesus stood up in the synagogue (Luke 4 v.18) and began to read this Messianic section from the prophet Isaiah chapter 61: “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because Yahweh has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor,” and suddenly in the middle of a verse Jesus stops, right before the verse about God’s vengeance. Why did he stop? Because it was the time for him to proclaim God’s favor, the time of the second glass beginning to fill. It wasn’t yet the time for him to proclaim God’s vengeance. That would come with the third glass.

From that day, and especially after the day of his ascension that followed his resurrection, began to be filled the second glass of history, the glass whose infilling we are experiencing now in this day and hour. This glass is very near its tipping point or time of overflow, as human depravity deepens and darkness falls. While depravity deepens, though, holiness also heightens as our Lord gathers an adoring people more intimately unto Himself. “Let the unrighteousness go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy go on being made filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; and let the holy go on being made holy. Look! I am coming quickly—.” (Revelations 22 v.11&12) When this second glass reaches its “pleroma point” Jesus will come to catch away the ones who “love his appearing.” (2Timothy 4 v.8) “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over these, but they will be priests of God and the Messiah’ now we are about to hear of the third glass “and they will reign with Him for 1000 years.” (Revelations 20 v.6)

Whether that 1000 year reign is a literal 1000 years or not (and many scholars see no reason to believe it isn’t) it will be an appointed finite period of time during which the third glass of history is gradually filling. When I illustrated this in a message in India I used a pitcher of water and a large tray holding the three glasses and began to pour from “the eternal pitcher” as we all watched the three glasses filling and overflowing progressively into the next and the next. When that third and final glass overflows “Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.” This passage in Revelations 20 goes on to describe Satan’s defeat and dismissal into the lake of fire to be tormented with the beast and the false prophet forever and ever. Then begins a whole new eternal era in post-redemptive history in which God enjoys His risen family and lavishes kindness upon them beyond the three glasses and beyond our imaginations!

I believe the pleroma point principle applies in our personal lives as well. In the fullness of times we leave one kind of womb or nest or another and fly into new horizons in our spiritual lives, as we learn not to limit our great and loving God. I like to point out how the butterfly’s brain is ten times the size of the caterpillar’s because it must accommodate flight and not primarily digestion like the caterpillar’s. And the butterfly must squeeze through very tight quarters in order to exit its cocoon and enter a much larger world. The squeeze, though, is developing those needed wing muscles. If we look back we can see personally where a particular “glass” finally overflowed and carried us forth (or thrust us forth) into a new situation, a new challenge or a new opportunity. Some of these transitions are more gentle than others, but as we learn how and where to look, we can discern the tender hand of our beloved God and Father in all of them.

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