What If Jesus Had Never Been Born

“What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?”

Most of you have seen the poem called “One Solitary Life” which reads

“One Solitary Life”

“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. 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 He was dying, His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, all the kings that have ever reigned, put together, have not have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life.” [Attributed to James Allen Francis]

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

Have you ever stopped to consider how different the world might be if Jesus had never been born? Although some unbelievers consider Christianity and its founder Jesus Christ a menace to society that should be removed as soon as possible, they have never really considered how the birth of Jesus Christ has affected this world in which we live!

“In the eighteenth century, there was great attack on foreign missionaries in the London Times. An experienced traveler wrote a letter to the editor in which he criticized this attitude. The letter’s writer said that such an attitude on the part of a voyager was particularly inexcusable – for should he happen to be cast ashore on some uncharted island, he would devoutly pray that the lesson of the missionary had preceded him! The writer of the letter was no less than Charles Darwin, later an enemy of the Christian faith. Nonetheless he recognized the useful value of the faith.” [D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe. What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994) p. 157]

Perhaps nothing could be more applicable in this season in which we celebrate the birth of Christ into human form, than by stopping to consider just how great an impact He has had on the human race. Immediately we think of his mission to save man from consequences of his own sin, and we will consider that, but I want you to realize that the repercussions of His birth are ever more far reaching. Today I want to spend a few minutes sharing seven areas in which the world has forever been changed by the impact of the birth of Christ.

[Principles drawn from D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe. What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994) p. 157]

First, Because Christ Lived The World Has Attached A New Value To Human Life.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Gen 1:27)

The concept of sanctity of life is a spiritual concept; the word sanctity comes from the Latin word (sanctus) which means ‘holy’ or sacred to God, that which God has declared is of great value. Even in the world today, when you get in areas where Christianity is not the prominent religion human life is cheap. Christianity has changed the value attached to human life; especially to Children, Women, and the Elderly. Prior to the coming of Christ, abortion, the killing of infants and abandonment were common practices. Over time the influence of Christianity has stopped the practice of child-killing until the recent revival by the modern practice of abortion.

Prior to the Christian influence, a woman’s life was very cheap, in fact in most ancient cultures, the wife was the property of her husband. In the nineteenth century, Charles Spurgeon told of a Hindu woman who said to a missionary, ‘Surely your Bible was written by a woman.’ ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘Because it says so many kind things for women. Our experts never refer to us but in some reproach.’ (p. 17)