WHAT IF JESUS HAD NEVER BEEN BORN?
LIFE WITHOUT CHRISTMAS
Galatians 4:4
S: Jesus’ Importance in all of Life
C: The essentiality of the Incarnation
Th: What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?
Pr: LET US REJOICE IN THE TRUTH OF CHRISTMAS!
?: What? What should we rejoice in?
KW: Ways
TS: We will find in our study three ways God prepared this earth for Christmas.
Type: Proposition, Clarification
The ____ way God prepared for Christmas is…
I. HISTORICALLY
II. NATIONALLY
III. SPIRITUALLY
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Realize the difference Jesus has made in history.
• Receive the encouragement to kingdom-living.
• Let Jesus change you.
Version: ESV
RMBC 27 November 05 AM
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?
If you have children, I would like to say outright that it is a must read.
It is a story of four children who are transported into the land of Narnia, where they are confronted with adventures and the ultimate ruler of the world, the lion Aslan.
What is so striking about this story is that it is rooted in our history.
It really happened, for it is the Christmas and Easter story wrapped into one…
This is why we are so excited about the debut of this film that will be coming out in two weeks.
We are hearing that they really have kept to the story.
So this is an excellent occasion, for it will be a great family film with a powerful message that speaks to spiritual truth about Jesus.
Won’t you join us on December 11 for the 4:00 showing?
Afterwards, we will return to the church for pizza and discussion.
I believe this is a good evangelistic opportunity that is “not in your face” but rather engenders thought and consideration.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book of seven of The Chronicles of Narnia series written by C. S. Lewis.
Many of you have heard of him, I am sure.
Let me give you a little of his history…
ILL Brainchild of C. S. Lewis - Hal Seed [modified]
C.S. Lewis was an amazing man. Some would call him one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. He published over forty books while he was alive and twenty more were published after his death.
Lewis was a quiet professor at Oxford University, in England. During World War II, the British Broadcasting Company asked him to do a series of lectures on the radio. People were so enamored with those broadcasts that Lewis became the second most famous person in all of England, second only to Winston Churchill, who later offered Lewis a special medal of recognition following World War II.
The lectures that Lewis gave for the BBC were later published in a book that is titled, “Mere Christianity.” It is a most powerful explanation and apologetic of Christianity.
Lewis was born in Northern Ireland. His mother died when he was seven years old. His father sent him to boarding school in England the next year.
During his formative years, C.S. Lewis learned to read classic literature in five languages. At age 19, when he took the entrance exams for Oxford, his examiner stated that Lewis’ exams were “the best even seen” in the history of Oxford.”
Before he entered Oxford, he served in the British Army during World War I, where he was wounded three times in battle.
Until he was 30 years old, Lewis was an avowed atheist. In a letter written to a friend in October 1916, he said, “I believe in no religion. There is absolutely no proof for any of them, and from a philosophical standpoint Christianity is not even the best. All religions, that is, all mythologies to give them their proper name, are merely man’s own invention.”
Interestingly, Lewis did not believe there was a God, but he said that he resented God for not existing.
But a change began to take place in Lewis while he was a professor at Oxford. Lewis became friends with two other professors, who happened to be real Christians. One was Hugh Dyson, the other was J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings.
As Lewis got to know these two, he became persuaded that their faith was real. And in the summer of 1929, he became convinced that Jesus really was an historic figure who really did die on the cross as a substitute for the sins of the world. So Lewis bowed his head and invited Christ into his life.
In one of his books, Lewis said he came into Christianity “kicking and screaming.” He said “You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England” (C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, p. 228-229).
When Lewis decided to follow Jesus, it was like the snow melted from his heart. He came to Christmas, and Christmas came to him. He began reading the Bible, attending church, and helping the poor. For the rest of his life, he donated two-thirds of all his book royalties to widows whose husbands had died in World War II.
In his late fifties, he became friends with an American author named Joy Davidman. Joy had two young sons. After Joy was diagnosed with cancer, Lewis married her so that her sons could continue on in English schools. If you’ve seen the movie Shadowlands, you’ve seen the story.
In Hebrews 11:13-14, the Bible gives a list of heroes of the faith who all died before the birth of Christ. It says that all these people were still living by faith when they died. . . And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
After Lewis became a Christian he said, “I realized that all my life I was like that. I was looking for a country of my own.” All of his life, he was looking for Christmas. He just hadn’t admitted it to himself.
You see, C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe out of his personal experience of what it meant to have someone die in his place. His encounter with the Christ of Christmas not only changed his life, it changed his eternity. It opened a better country for him, the country of heaven.
The story of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is so powerful because it is the story of mankind.
It’s the story of Christmas.
It’s your story and my story.
It’s the story of a God who so loved the world, that He came to make Christmas.
TRANSITION:
Have you ever wondered…
1. What would life be like without Christmas?
ILL Narnia – no Christmas
In the book, in describing the White Witch to her siblings, Lucy says:
“She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas.”
The picture that is drawn is that it is a dead and stagnant time, nothing grows, and creatures are left crouching around fires. The outdoors is something endured rather than enjoyed.
Can you imagine if that was true for us?
We know what it is to endure long winters here in Buffalo, but what if it was always winter and never Christmas?
It would be pretty bleak and grim.
The gray skies would never go away, and despondency and futility would set in.
There would be little hope of relief.
So what would it be like for us if it was always winter and never Christmas?
First…
1.1 December 25 would be an ordinary day.
It would be a day like all other days.
It would come and go, just like March 3rd, July 11th and September 24th.
Our kids would be in school, and there would be no need for a winter vacation.
We would also save some money, I am sure.
Second…
1.2 We would be without our traditions.
There would be no family gatherings.
There would be no gifts.
There would be no carols to sing.
There would be no Christmas trees and decorations.
There would be no Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life (you see, we are getting into some pretty serious stuff here!).
Third…
1.3 We would be without the supreme example of gift-giving.
The Christmas story is full of giving.
There is Mary offering herself to be used by God.
There is the Wise Men bringing gifts to the Christ-child.
And of course, there is the Father giving the Son.
Finally…
1.4 There would be no hope.
Because there is no Christmas, it would mean there is no Palm Sunday.
There is no Maundy Thursday.
There is no Good Friday.
And, most importantly, there is no Resurrection Sunday.
So, I hope you understand today, that…
2. Whether we are speaking of Narnia or this earth, we need Christmas.
We need the hope that it offers.
We need the truth it conveys.
We need the With-us God.
So…
3. LET US REJOICE IN THE TRUTH OF CHRISTMAS (Galatians 4:4)!
I find great joy in how the apostle Paul describes the coming of Jesus when he says…
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…
Jesus came at just the right time.
It was no mistake.
Everything was ready for his arrival.
So, today…
4. We will find in our study three ways God prepared this earth for Christmas.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first way God prepared for Christmas is HISTORICALLY.
After the prophet Malachi gave God’s Words to the Jewish people, God provided no more prophets.
There was 400 years of silence.
But the last thing this meant is that God wasn’t working, because He was very much at work.
1. God used the Greeks, for there was a common language.
When Alexander the Great conquered the a vast area of the European, Asian, and African continents, a universal language was set in place.
Greek became the language of writing and commerce.
By the time Jesus was born, everybody knew some Greek.
Then…
2. God used the Romans, for there was peace.
After the Greeks fell from power, it was the Romans that took their place.
By the time Jesus was born, the pax romana was set in place (that is, the Roman peace).
The Temple of Janus, the god of war, was closed, symbolizing a world at peace.
The Romans brought both peace and a safe road system.
The familiar saying “All roads lead to Rome” describes the effectiveness of the transportation system.
So, by the time Jesus was born, there was an effective way to communicate to the known world (the Greek language) and an effective way for the message to be spread (Roman roads).
Now we come to…
II. The second way God prepared for Christmas is NATIONALLY.
The Jewish people were certainly ready for a change.
For…
1. There was a hunger for national purity.
They were tired of their oppressors.
They had moved from Babylonian to Persian to Greek to Roman domination.
They had enough.
Their sacred places and items of worship had been desecrated.
Their faith had been insulted.
Leaders had been subject to murder, poisonings, and beheading.
Then to add insult to injury, Herod pleaded with Caesar to become king, and succeeded.
For Herod to claim royalty was a further insult to the people and brought consternation to the leadership because of his unpredictability.
The Jewish people needed a break.
When was their true king going to come?
2. Expectations for the Messiah had never been greater.
They were so ready for their great prince.
He would usher in a kingdom of matchless splendor.
He would be their hero and lead them to victory.
The expectation was never higher.
They were right.
They needed the Messiah and God was preparing the way.
Now, we come to…
III. The third way God prepared for Christmas is SPIRITUALLY.
Please know this…
Our Lord is the Lord of strategy, time and eternity.
He makes no mistakes.
And He knows the very needs of humanity, which He made plain to His people.
For…
1. Unless we receive help, we are without hope (Isaiah 53:6a).
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…
We are all lost.
There is no one that is righteous on their own.
We need help.
And here is the great truth of Christmas we should not miss…
2. Help came (John 3:16-17; I Peter 3:18).
God intervened in history, to reach a nation, and to reach the world…
"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 did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…
This great story of Christmas tells us that God is not interested in our condemnation.
He is interested in our rescue.
He is interested that we know life and not death.
He is after our salvation.
He wants us to be in right relationship with Him.
Unfortunately, so many missed Him!
They were looking for their prince to come.
But He came on His terms, not theirs.
He came to do what He knew had to be done.
He came to establish a kingdom that was essentially heavenly in nature, and not earthly.
This is not what was looked for, but it was what was needed.
APPLICATION:
ILL Narnia – Father Christmas
In Narnia, the evil power of the White Witch is breaking apart because Aslan is on the move. This is proven when Father Christmas (our Santa Claus) shows up.
Father Christmas says, “I’ve come at last. She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.”
In Narnia, the fullness of time had come. Winter was breaking. There was hope of new life. The woods were alive. The flowers were blooming. The springs and brooks were moving. The birds were singing.
In the same way, Christmas signals hope for mankind.
1. Jesus has made the difference in history.
Over the next weeks, we are going to learn more about the difference Jesus has made over the last 2000 years.
The differences are many, varied and profound.
And they have happened because Jesus came.
They happened because there is a true Christmas to enjoy and celebrate.
The difference Jesus has made in history happened because when He came…
2. Jesus brought kingdom truth to be lived.
He turned the world upside down with His values.
He said it was not enough to love your neighbor, we are to love our enemies as well.
We are to treat each other in the way we want to be treated.
He brought dignity to those that were regarded to have no value.
So…
3. Jesus ought to make the difference in you.
Jesus is on the move once again this Christmastime.
You do not need to live as if it is always winter and never Christmas.
He is pursuing you, lovingly, even if you are reluctant, so that you may enjoy the truth of Christmas like you never have before.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Enjoy the Christ of Christmas…for without Him, the season makes no sense, and neither does life; receive Him and know the blessing of His heaven, both now and forever.
Now to him who is able to establish you by the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
RESOURCES:
Books:
C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
D. James Kennedy, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?
SermonCentral:
Narnia: What If There Were No Christmas? Hal Seed
Narnia: Christ – The Overcoming Lion, Clark Tanner
What If There No Christmas? Ray Scott
The World That Christ Entered, George Johnston
The Fullness of Time Has Come, Joel Pankow
When the Time Had Fully Come, Ewen Huffman
Websites:
www.sparknotes.com/lit/lion/themes.html, 11/22/2005
www.sparknotes.com/lit/lion/section7.rhtml, 11/22/2005
