Concerning Time And The Fulfillment Of Prophecy

The prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah and God's plan for mankind is intended to be fulfilled throughout multiple sequences at different periods in terms of mankind’s measurement of time, which is because we are finite beings in this life where all things are measured in terms of past, present and future. God is infinite and lives in the present which is eternal. The following scriptures are references to time in the bible as we understand it and how it is applicable to our understanding of god’s plan for us.

(Galatians 4: 3 - 5) So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully 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.

(Ephesians 1: 9 - 11) For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

(1Timothy 6: 14 - 15) I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

(1 Peter 1: 19 - 21) but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

(Revelation 1: 2 - 4)Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near.

(Revelation 11: 17 - 19) “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, that you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

(Revelation 22: 10 - 11) And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” 

Today we are painfully aware that scoffers abound everywhere, unbelief is rampant and those who are falling away are many. 

(2 Peter 3: 3 - 4) First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.”

(Matthew 24: 36 - 38) “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark.

God’s plan for mankind is presented in seven phases starting with the Fall of man which brought sin and death into the world. 

The second phase was giving of the law whereby God provided the yardstick by which man could measure his failure. 

The third phase was the creation of the Levitical priesthood and blood sacrifices, introducing God’s required means of expiation for sin. 

The fourth phase and the first half of the prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah to fulfill God’s requirement as the final sacrifice for sin, (Isaiah 11: 1 - 3) There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; (John 1 -29) “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Then a fifth phase comprising two thousand year hyphen as a show of God’s forbearance so that many would receive Christ and thus be saved. 
(John 3: 16 -17) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” 

Then the sixth phase, the second half of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah, this time to judge the living and the dead and bring in righteousness to the world and change the nature of all things. Those who died in Christ will be with Him during a thousand year reign of peace.
(Isaiah 11: 4 - 9) “and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”
The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The seventh and final phase will bring with it the final judgment of those who died outside of Christ and refused to acknowledge Him in the entirety of their lives, they will be judged by merit of their own works rather than by the accomplishment of Christ on Calvary.
(Revelation 21: 1 -8) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”