What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?

Scripture

Almost twenty-five years ago, Dr. D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe published a book titled, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? It is a wonderful study about the incredible impact of Jesus on world history. This message is based on that book.

Our Scripture text for this message is Galatians 4:4-5:

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

Introduction

One of my favorite movies that I like to watch each Christmas is Frank Capra’s 1946 classic movie titled, It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, gets a chance to see what life would be like if he had never been born. George wanted to see the world and do something important with his life. But, when his father died prematurely and the greedy Mr. Potter wanted to take over the Savings & Loan operation of George’s father, George gave up his dreams in order to help others. Eventually, things go wrong and George decided that he wants to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. This brings the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, to help him. He does so by showing George all the lives he has touched, and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be if he had never been born.

Kennedy and Newcombe write, “[Our] point in this book is that Jesus Christ has had enormous impact—more than anybody else—on history. Had He never come, the hole would be a canyon about the size of a continent. Christ’s influence on the world is immeasurable. The purpose of this book is to glimpse what we can measure, to see those numerous areas of life where Christ’s influence can be concretely traced.”

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he wrote in Galatians 4:4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman.” This is an extremely important text. It emphasizes that Jesus was born at exactly the right time, what Paul calls “the fullness of time.” In God’s plan of redemptive history Jesus arrived “when the fullness of time had come.” Moreover, Paul told us the reason for Jesus’ arrival in redemptive history. He said in verse 5 that Jesus was born “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Jesus was born so that sinners such as ourselves might be reconciled to our Creator.

However, Jesus’ birth impacted more than our salvation.

Lesson

In this lesson, I want to note some of the areas where Jesus has made a difference because he had been born. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has made a difference in the following areas:

1. Jesus’ Impact on the Value of Human Life

2. Jesus’ Impact on Education

3. Jesus’ Impact on Science

4. Jesus’ Impact on Individuals

I. Jesus’ Impact on the Value of Human Life

First, notice Jesus’ impact on the value of human life.

I read an illustration in Kennedy’s book about a French engineer who asked his students a question more than a century ago, “What is the most important thing to come out of a mine?” Having worked in a gold mine in South Africa, I thought to myself that the answer has to be gold. I know some who have worked in coal mines, and I suppose they might say that the most important thing to come out of a mine is coal. Well, the professor’s students suggested various minerals. Eventually, he gave what is clearly the correct answer, “The most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner.”

This view of human life is embraced only where the gospel of Jesus Christ has been widely received.

Prior to the birth of Jesus, human life was exceedingly cheap. Even today, in cultures that do not have the gospel and there is very little of Christianity, life is exceedingly cheap. But, when Jesus came into this world—the one who said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5)—he gave humanity a new perspective on the value of human life.

In the ancient world, women and children had no rights. Babies were often abandoned and left outside for animals to kill and eat. Women were often treated no better than slaves, and were often the objects of sexual abuse. Slavery was rampant in those days. Half of the Roman Empire were slaves, and more than three quarters of Athens were slaves. Some of the slaves were turned into gladiators for the purpose of “sport.”

However, because of the birth of Jesus and the impact of the gospel on the lives of many, human life was treated as valuable. Sherwood Wirt wrote a book titled, The Social Conscience of the Evangelical. Wirt notes the positive influences for human life that the gospel had on people at that time, especially those emperors who were professing Christians: