If He Had Not Come
Luke 2:8 - 20
Introduction:
First of all, I would like to take the opportunity to greet everyone here a very Merry Christmas! I hope that your celebration of the season would be a meaningful one.
We all have certain traditions or observances during the Christmas holidays that are peculiar to our families such as going on a family vacation every Christmas time or opening one's gift only on December 25. One particular tradition or observance that I've heard of is the watching of certain movies with a Christmas theme. There are actually many movies or shows that play on the theme of Christmas but not all are necessarily worthy of our time and attention; however, there is one movie that I have watched before which is worth viewing during the Christmas season and it is an old, black and white movie entitled, “It's A Wonderful Life”.
“It's A Wonderful Life” is all about a man named George Bailey who thought that he was a failure in life. George Bailey never went to college, having to assume responsibility in running the family housing and loan business at a young age. Everything he wanted to do in life, he was unable to (such as traveling to Europe on his honeymoon and going to college), because of the needs of the housing and loan company. One day, his uncle who helped in the business, inadvertently loses US$ 8,000 of the company's money and George Bailey was accused of embezzling the money by the banker, Mr. Potter, who is out to buy the housing and loan business in order to eliminate his competitor. This drove George Bailey to deep despair. It was Christmas eve when this problem happened and he could take it no more that he decided he wanted to end his life by jumping into the freezing river. Thankfully, angels were watching the entire scene and they send a junior angel named Clarence to save him. Although George Bailey eventually didn't commit suicide through Clarence's intervention, he did however made the wish that he had never been born. Clarence grants George Bailey his wish at that moment and everything changes. In the movie, there are five significant events that George Bailey played an instrumental role; (a) during his childhood days, he was able to save his younger brother from drowning, (b) he prevented a pharmacist from inadvertently prescribing a poisonous substance to a sick child, (c) he keeps the town from falling into the hands of the greedy banker, Mr. Potter, (d) he marries a fine woman named Mary and they have four wonderful children, and (e) he establishes a place called Bailey Park where the poor could build their own homes.
Because George Bailey wished that he was never born, everything good that he did in his life never happened: (a) his brother drowned, (b) the pharmacist kills a sick child by accidentally giving cyanide to him, (c) the town is not known as Bedford Falls but as Pottersville, named after the greedy banker, and the townspeople are living in poverty, (d) Mary ends up being an old maid, and (e) there is no Bailey Park but instead, the place becomes a cemetery. Thankfully, he recants his wish and everything goes back to normal. He realized that he has a wonderful life after all, even if he still had to deal with the US$ 8,000 shortage as well as all the other problems in his life. In the end, everything turns out ok as the very people whom he had helped in the past all came to bail him out financially, his younger brother comes home that day and then gave a toast to George, calling him “the richest man in town”. George Bailey made a difference in his community and in the lives of the people he comes in contact with everyday; without him, things would have turned out differently.
While the movie is definitely fictional, what was thought-provoking was the issue of one person's effect on an entire community. As I watched excerpts of the movie recently, it got me thinking, what if the same happened to our Lord Jesus Christ? What if he had never been born into this world, what would happen to it? What would happen to us? What would life be like without him?
This morning, I would like to explore this particular theme: “What would it be like if Jesus had not been born?” and what would have been the consequences of his “absence” if things really went that way. While I believe there are numerous consequences of Jesus not coming into the world, I can think of three that are most important.
A. If Jesus Had Not come . . .We Would All Still Be Lost Sinners
If the Lord Jesus had not come, all of us would still be lost sinners. As sinners without Christ, we would all remain under the penalty of sin. The Bible makes it clear that the wages or the penalty for our sin is no less than death (Romans 6:23). Without Christ, there is no hope of escaping sin's penalty, no escaping the guilty verdict, no one who is qualified and willing to pay for the consequences of our sins. We must all face the prospect of physical death and, ultimately, spiritual death or permanent separation from God. That permanent separation will come in the form of our being thrown in hell, where the agonizing fire does not go out.
Not only would we be under the penalty of sin, but while we are still alive, we will remain in bondage to sin. Sin is unconquerable if we are going to rely on our own strength; there is no way in which we can just stop sinning or to even sin less on our effort, that is just utterly impossible. No matter how hard we try, no matter how good we want to become, we will still not be able to keep ourselves from sinning.
If Christ had not been born, then up to now, you and I are still sinners who remain lost and, unfortunately, we will not have any means to be rescued from our sad plight both now and in the future. We will have to pay for our sins by getting ourselves thrown into the fires of hell as well as living a life now under sin's bondage.
Thankfully, Jesus was born 2000 years ago and we know that 33 years after his birth, Jesus was crucified to a cross in order to die for our sins. Through his death on the cross, the penalty of sin was paid for, that all who believe in him would find that they are no longer guilty and they have been pardoned for their sins. Not only that, through his death on the cross, the power of sin has been rendered impotent and we can live victorious (though not totally sinless) lives. Without his birth, there would be no cross and there would be no victory over sin as well as forgiveness of sin. Thank God, Jesus did come to defeat the powers of sin and death!
B. If Jesus Had Not Come . . . We Would Live Hopeless Lives
If the Lord Jesus had not come, not only would we be still under the bondage of sin, but we would right now also be living hopeless lives; by hopeless, I mean that we will be living as if there is nothing to look forward to. It is as if we merely exist but there is no meaning to our existence. We wake up, go to school or to the office, study or work and then come home, sleep and do everything over and over again without knowing why we are doing these things. For those who have retired from working and you don't have Jesus in your life, then it gets even worse as you don't know what you want to do in life right now since you've equated life with the work you do at the office. Life without Jesus is an endless cycle of meaninglessness. We don't know why we exist. We can try all we want to give our life meaning but it will always be unsatisfying.
In the Old Testament, King Solomon, the wisest man on earth, wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, that life is meaningless apart from God. Without a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then there can be no real fulfilling of purpose or meaning for the life we live now. There will also be no future to look forward to. This explains why some people live life as if there is no tomorrow – they party hard and they do a lot of bad stuff to their bodies because there is nothing to live for in the present as well as in the future. This explains why some will take their own lives – it is because they don't see any meaning to their current existence; committing suicide is viewed as the means of escaping the agony of a hopeless, meaningless life. As I was preparing for this message, I decided to check on the suicide rate and I found out that in 2005, around 33,000 committed suicide in America or that is about 89 suicides a day; however, the highest number of suicides is actually in China where about 287,000 people committed suicide in 2007 or a staggering 786 people per day. The main reason people are committing suicide in huge numbers is because people feel that life is no longer worth living, that there is nothing to look forward to in this life and even in the next.
If Jesus did not come, then all of us would be living a life devoid of meaning and hope. We would be living aimless, directionless, purposeless lives and we would probably want to end our lives now rather than keep on living. Thankfully, he did come, and he did promise that he came in order to give us abundant life (John 10:10), a life that is purposeful or meaningful. He came in order to give us abundant life so that we live no longer for our own selfish pleasures and desires which, in reality, is very frustrating and is an empty, vain pursuit; he gives us new direction and meaning in life where we pursue the things of God, the things that really satisfy. But that is not the only thing that he gives us; through Jesus we are also promised eternal life where we would be with the Lord Jesus forever in heaven. The coming of Jesus gave us hope to live in the present as well as a hope that we can all look forward to. If Jesus did not come, we would all be hopeless people, merely existing without really living, but thank God, Jesus did come, and he gave meaning and hope to all who believe in Him!
C. If Jesus Had Not Come . . . There Will Never Be Real Peace
Finally, if Jesus had not come, there will never be real peace. Peace, as we all know, is very elusive. There is the absence of peace between individuals as well as between groups of people and between nations. What is worse is the absence of peace between humanity and God. Because we have sinned against God, we have practically declared war against a Holy God.
If Jesus had not come, we would all still be at war with each other; we would all still be God's enemies. Thankfully, Jesus did come. In fact, around 800 years prior to his coming, the prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah and one of his title is “The Prince of Peace”. When Jesus was born on that first Christmas day, the angels declared that because of his birth, there would be “peace on earth.”
Of all the relationships that need to be mended, it is our relationship with God that must take priority. We have offended God with our sins; we have become his enemies; we must pay for our sins with death. Jesus became the bridge by which the broken relationship between sinful humanity and a holy God is restored. Through Jesus Christ, we are no longer viewed by God as his enemies but we have become his children, his prized possession. This peace with God also gives us peace with ourselves, that we no longer need to struggle to be accepted by God because he has already accepted us through his Son, Jesus. We only need to put our faith in Him as our Lord and Savior.
The Kingdom of God is an inclusive kingdom – it does not discriminate as to a person's race or color; it does not discriminate as to a person's political persuasion. And so, when people come to faith in Jesus Christ, not only are they at peace with God, but even the potential of peace with others who belong to Christ will come to being. Among the disciples of Jesus Christ, we find two who stand in stark contrast to each other – Matthew and Simon. Matthew was a tax-collector and his occupation meant he was under the employment of the Roman Empire; Simon, on the other hand, was a Zealot or a rebel who was fighting against the Roman Empire. Imagine the tension and uneasiness the two probably felt around each other, but Jesus made the difference in their lives. From enemies, they became brothers in the faith as well as partners in spreading the gospel and making disciples. If Jesus could do that for Matthew and Simon, he can do that also for us today. Jesus is our peace who has destroyed the barriers of discrimination and hatred among people (Ephesians 2:14) by making people of different races, colors and persuasions united through faith and fellowship in him.
The peace that Jesus brought to this world will be fully manifested on the day that he returns again to judge this world. Sin and death will be judged and thrown into the lake of fire, and these will be forever absent from the Kingdom of God. There will be no more wars and strife among peoples. At this moment, there is much war and strife in this world but these will be temporary, for lasting peace will be fully ours in Christ. Thank God Jesus came in order to give us real peace!
Conclusion:
As we go about celebrating the Christmas season, I hope we will not celebrate simply because everyone is doing so. Instead, let our celebration be grounded on the fact that Jesus came, and because he came, we who believe in him can experience forgiveness and grace as well as have the promise of eternal life and peace that is beyond compare. Without Jesus, our celebration of the Christmas season would be pointless; it would be nothing more than senseless partying and gift-giving, everything done with purpose or meaning. More importantly, if you do not yet believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I would like for you to consider what Jesus did for us when he came and to make a decision to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Why not ask your friends and loved ones who are Christians to tell you more about the Lord Jesus during this time as we celebrate his birth?
In closing, I would like for you to watch a very short video that I got from a Charlie Brown cartoon, a classic entitled “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. In the film, it is Christmas time but Charlie Brown is sad because he doesn't understand what the holiday is all about. He tries to get into the spirit of the season by directing a Christmas play and even buying a Christmas tree. Everything goes wrong and he still doesn't know what Christmas is all about. Finally, Linus gave him the answer that he needed. Watch as Linus gives the answer to Charlie Brown's and to everyone's question and let it speak to us throughout the Christmas holidays.
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