God’s plans stretch back before there was time (Eph. 3:3-11; Rev. 13:8). He easily spans thousands of years in bringing them to fruition (2 Pet. 3:8). Then comes a day of fulfillment. “Today” or “this day” are often God’s terms for fulfillment. Consider a few examples in the book of Luke.
At Jesus’ advent, the angel said to the shepherds in the countryside near Bethlehem, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Lk. 2:11). While many in the world celebrate today as the day of Christ’s birth, there is no record in the NT of the early church doing such. In AD 350, Pope Julius I declared December 25th as the day the birth of Jesus would be celebrated. It is very unlikely that Jesus was born during this time of year and we are wise to beware of the commandments and traditions of men that arise after God has given His word (Mt. 15:9); nevertheless, there was a day when the fullness of time came and God’s son was born of a virgin (Gal. 4:4). It should not escape our thoughts that God became man and felt all of the trials and temptations we feel, even death (Heb. 2:9; 4:15).
In Jesus’ inaugural sermon at the synagogue of Nazareth, He read Isaiah 61 and began His great sermon with, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Lk. 4:21). What had been a promise and long-awaited hope of those who studied the Old Testament, Jesus said was fulfilled “this day.” Indeed all of Jesus’ earthly life, for a third of a century, was made of days of fulfillment, as He said after His resurrection, “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Lk. 24:44).
Some of Jesus’ last words before He died were to the penitent thief who hung beside him, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). While Jesus was alive on earth, He forgave sins (Mt. 9:6). Before the sun set on the hills of Jerusalem that day, Jesus and the thief would both be dead and their souls would be in paradise: Jesus’ because He knew no sin (Jn. 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21), and the thief’s because his were forgiven by the Lord (Jn. 8:34-36).
From His conception to His birth to His death to His resurrection, Jesus fulfilled God’s word. What are you doing today? Will God’s word be enacted in your life? Hebrews 3:7 tells us today we should hear His voice. We can’t talk to Him here on earth as the thief did, but we can follow His last will and testament, the New Testament, to receive forgiveness (Heb. 9:14-17). You can be a recipient of God’s grace today; now is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). You can choose to be like Pharaoh who was plagued by God’s judgment but in his hardness of heart put off relief until tomorrow (Ex. 8:10). But we do not know if there will be a tomorrow, or if there is what it may bring forth (Prov. 27:1). Jesus tells us to focus on today (Mt. 6:34). You can squander today by trying to fulfill earthly lusts before you die, saying, “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die” (cf. Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32). Or you can do what God’s word tells you today. When we love God and love others we are fulfilling God’s law (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14). If today is a day of fulfillment, then the eternal day will be a day of fulfillment (Rev. 22:5, 14).
-Mark Day
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