WHAT IF JESUS HAD NEVER BEEN BORN?
John 15:22
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. There was a guy who thought that 5 was his special number. He was born on 5-5-1955.
2. He lived on 55th Avenue. He had 5 children and 5 cats.
3. One day he went to the horse races. He put his life savings -- $50,000 – on horse #5, and sure enough … it came in 5th!
B. Movie: “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
1. Jimmy Stewart plays the part of George Bailey, a small town Savings & Loan, loan officer.
2. One disappointment after another occur until it looks like financial and social disaster are certain and George is pushed to the point of suicide.
3. But people are praying and God sends an angel (Clarence) to save him from a river.
4. George tells the angel that he wishes He’d never been born. And the angel makes it occur.
5. George goes back to a town that has been given over to gambling, drinking, and vice. The people he had formerly known as kind and nice were hard vulgar and cruel.
6. George finally begins to comprehend the incredible difference his life of suffering had made on that community and begs the angel to reverse the terrible scene.
7. George is once again glad to be alive, despite his terrible difficulties, because he can now see the impact for good that his life had upon his town, friends, and family.
C. IF JESUS HAD NEVER BEEN BORN?
1. If we were to extend this idea to the Lord Jesus Christ, how would we all be affected? How would the world be different?
2. This is especially significant since we live in an era when the media is hostile to Christianity – perceiving it as out-dated, pre-scientific and mythological.
3. But Christianity is the greatest force for good in human history.
4. So how would things be different if Jesus had never been born?
I. NO CHRISTMAS! NO JOY! NO HOPE!
A. NO CHRISTMAS:
1. No Children’s joy, no singing, no family get-togethers; gone is all the Christmas food/ feasts, gone is the excitement, etc!
2. No Christmas shopping. No sales to satiate the spending urges/ excuses of both men & women.
3. No Black Friday sales. Think how the U.S. economy would crumble/ nosedive/ crater!
4. There’d be no joy, no hope – because Jesus would never have come into the world.
B. “A CHRISTMAS CONTEMPLATION” POEM
1. “Twas evident God’s gracious plan of salvation
Could only succeed with Christ’s participation.
2. “Had He been unwilling to come down to Earth,
It’s not hard to guess what your soul would be worth.
3. “Just for a moment imagine the worst,
The whole Creation hopelessly cursed.
4. “The wrath of God poured out on every nation,
No way could He temper eternal damnation.
5. A world without joy full of darkness and gloom,
The ravage of unrestrained sin seals its doom.
6. “No Christmas, no Easter, no Thanksgiving either,
& don’t look for peace or goodwill (you’ll find neither).
7. Devoid of significance would be the Cross,
No blood atonement to cover sin’s loss.
8. “No gospel to tell us of God’s divine purchase,
No missionaries, no pastors, not even our churches.
9. “Gone would faith, hope, charity too;
For only the wages of sin would accrue.
10. Men’s hearts would be hateful, spiteful, & scornful,
But wait! There’s no reason why you should be mournful!
11. For what I’ve described here can never take place –
The world has received such abundance of Grace!
12. Christ DID come to Earth on that 1st Christmas Day,
So all men could know He’s God’s chosen way!
II. IMPACT ON WESTERN CIVILIZATION
A. BOOK “HISTORY REWRITTEN.”
1. Several years ago a group of historians authored a book
called, “IF – OR HISTORY REWRITTEN.”
2. Some of the “IFS” those scholars considered were:
a. What if Robert E. Lee hadn’t lost the battle of Gettysburg?
b. What if the Moors in Spain had won?
c. What if the Dutch had kept New Amsterdam?
d. What if Booth had missed when he shot Abraham Lincoln?
e. What if Napoleon had escaped to America?
B. HOW HISTORY WOULD BE DIFFERENT:
1. When the Roman Empire fell, no church would hold it together.
2. No Crusades – the Muslim religion would have dominated Europe and eventually come to America.
3. Columbus, who acted under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, would not have discovered the New World.
4. Slavery would still continue. The leaders of the “abolition” movement were all Christians. Muslims still have slaves today!
5. Women worldwide would be 2nd class citizens, not able to drive a car or vote. They are considered as barter material, mostly without rights.
6. There would probably be little freedom in the world, politically. The Muslim religion controls politics and most aspects of private life.
C. CHRISTIANITY IMPACTS EVERYTHING
1. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches” Mt. 13:31-32.
2. Like yeast works through a lump of dough, Christianity has influence our view of life, death, work, play, morals, etc.
D. SCIENCE: REFLECTION OF GOD (Earth = our Domain)
1. In history, many/ most scientists were Christians. Often times they claimed their inventions were the product of an inspiration from God. Ex., Samuel Morse claimed that the idea of the telegraph was given him by God (Knight’s
New, p. 370).
2. Book, “Men of Science; Men of God.”
3. Only Christianity was conducive to the reality of matter, free thought, exploration, etc. – necessary for scientific inquiry.
4. The atheism that’s now controlling biology & anthropology, etc., is demanding that no other opinions be tolerated. They told Christians we were close-minded, but we see who’s really close-minded!
5. Honesty, work ethic, forgiveness – are all Christian ideas which have made western civilization better and more successful that other worldviews.
E. QUOTE: “ONE SOLITARY LIFE”
1. He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. He never wrote a book, He never held an office, He never went to college, He never visited a big city, He never travelled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things usually associated with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.
2. He was only thirty three. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
3. Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today Jesus is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress.
4. All the armies that have ever marched, All the navies that have ever sailed, All the parliaments that have ever sat, All the kings that ever reigned put together -- have not affected the life of mankind on earth as powerfully as that
one solitary life.
III. GREAT CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS
A. MUSIC, ART, ARCHETECTURE
B. HOSPITALS, BENEVOLENT ORGS. TO POOR, THE OLD, ETC.
C. SCHOOLS, EDUCATION
1. Education is still not valued in the Muslim countries. There are few to none higher education schools – universities, etc. Women usually aren’t allowed to get an education.
D. IMAGINE HUNTSVILLE….
1. With no schools for education;
2. No churches;
3. No hospital;
4. Few scientific advancements;
5. Women still chattel; slavery still widespread and slaves doing the work.
IV. NO CERTAINTY OF LIFE AFTER DEATH
A. JOB’S QUESTION
Job said, “If a man die, shall he live again?” Uncertainty!
B. JESUS’ ANSWER
1. Jesus said unto her, “I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he/she that believes in Me, though they were dead, yet shall they live: And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” John 11:25-26.
2. “Now is Christ risen and become the firstfruits of them that sleep.” 1 Cor. 15:20.
3. How would you be effected? Greatly!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A boy and his father read a devotional just before bedtime. It was a scripture where Jesus said, “If I had not come…” John 15:22.
2. When he awoke (he thought) Christmas morning, there were no stocking on the fireplace of Christmas tree.
3. He went for a walk and found the factory down the street bustling with activity; no one was off work.
4. He went by the orphanage, but found it only a vacant lot. He went to his church and found a for sale sign reading, “If I had not come…”
5. The hospital was not on the hill dominating the city. Only a billboard reading, “If I had not come…”
6. Panic-stricken, he ran home and picked up his Bible, but all the last part (N.T.) of it, the pages were blank!
7. He woke up in a sweat and to his relief, it was just a dream! Are you surprised he slipped down to his knees and said, “Dear Jesus, I’m so grateful you DID come! Help me to tell others about you! [Missionary Monthly]
B. THE CALL
1. It’s great that Jesus did come and was born in Bethlehem, but His birth does you no good unless He’s also born in your heart!
2. If He has been, there should be a great change in your life! Is there room in your heart for Jesus or is He crowded out this Christmas season?
3. Prayer & dedication.
