It’s all a matter of timing…

Welcome to A.D. 2008—another year of our Lord!

Maybe you’ve already goofed and written 2007 instead of 2008. (I just did when I titled this document in my computer.) But one thing is constant. Whatever year you write, it’s always understood as "the year of our Lord." A.D. means "anno Domini," or "in the year of our Lord." The Lord is Jesus Christ. Whether you are a Christian believer or an unbelieving atheist, you will write this calendar designation endless times, and each time you unwittingly subscribe to the calendar dominance of Jesus Christ who bisected all of history by His humble appearance in a Bethlehem cow stall. Indeed, "The hinge of history swings on the door of the Bethlehem stable" as someone once said.

Not only does A.D. reckon time since Christ’s birth, but even the term B.C. acknowledges Him. B.C. means "before Christ." This backward reckoning of time is only a few hundred years old showing that with the passing years, Christ enjoys increasing significance. There are other global calendars—fine linear accounting of events from their particular benchmark until now—but none has a midpoint like the global Christian calendar, the chronological anchor of business, education, medicine and science.

Jews track of their time in a linear fashion from the presumed creation of the world, their current year being 5768, but they always include the Christian Calendar dates with the designation of either B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) or C.E. (Common Era). Without using the name of Christ or even inferring Him, they tacitly subscribe to His arrival as the midpoint of all human history.

It is often said that the United States Constitution has no mention of God. While technically correct, the final paragraph dates that document saying, "Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventh day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred eighty seven…"

Each year the United States president issues approximately 100 official proclamations and each closes with the date and the words, "in the year of our Lord." There is no separation of church and state or religion and state in these proclamations. Jesus Christ is so firmly imbedded in our government and daily life through the calendar designation that it makes unbelief absurd.

At the very least, He is the greatest historical figure ever to walk planet Earth. At best, He is our personal Lord of life and death, our Savior from sin and guarantor of heaven. It is little wonder that Thomas, upon seeing the risen Christ, declared, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). Later, John wrote in Revelation 19:16, "And he has on His robe and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

With every passing day, and especially with the annual focus on a new year of our Lord, Scripture clarifies His Lordship. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11).

The musical coronation of the old hymn summarizes it: "Let every kindred, every tribe, On this terrestrial ball, To Him all majesty ascribe, And crown Him Lord of all!"

Dave Virkler