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In the Fullness of Time

What is the first name mentioned in Luke's rendition of the Christmas story?  Mary, Joseph, Jesus?  Actually the first name Luke mentions is Caesar Augustus.  For years historians denied that there ever was a census that made Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem.  However, in the last fifty years we have discovered how God's sovereign hand was even on a pagan emperor of Rome.

Augustus was pagan but moral.  He hated the fact that the empire was declining due to loose morals.  Men were not marrying and raising a family.  One day he went into the coliseum in Rome and made all the men stand up to determine who was married and who was not.  As a result laws encouraging marriage and family were enacted.  Families with more than three children were given special benefits.

How did he know if his policies were working? He held a regular census of the empire. Recently a document has been discovered containing a list of the 35 Acts of Augustus.  These were the 35 things about which Augustus was most proud during his reign.  Number 8 on his top 35 were his censuses.

God did this!  He orchestrated the events of history so at just the right time Jesus would enter this world and become the Gospel.
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