What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
12/24/06 - Sunday Morning

What if…

Jesus had never been born?

The premise of this lesson is that Jesus’ birth has made a difference and continues to make a difference in every life and on every day. So let us refresh our appreciation for Jesus’ entrance into this world.

The Old Testament would have very little credibility

It clearly had predicted the birth of the Messiah (Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2), and the Messiah was to arrive within the lifetime of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:36-44), thus if Jesus had never been born one’s choice for a worldview and a faith would have been:

· An unfulfilled and weak Judaism that never saw the arrival of its long awaited Messiah.

· Maybe a Muslim faith without any Christian influence.

· Paganism

· Various Eastern Religions

The New Testament would not exist

The New Testament was the result of Jesus inspiring the apostles to write (John 16:14 “He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you”; 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me”; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Peter 3:2 “that you remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles”. Of course this means that all of the teaching found in the New Testament would not exist as well.

· No book of Acts and its examples of changed lives.

· No Sermon on the Mount and its challenging ethics.

· No Parables and their insightful and practical truths.

· No Epistles and all things that pertain to life and godliness.

A Difference in Human History

· Even though the Bible is clear that Christianity is not to be spread by force (2 Corinthians 10:3-5), the question remains, “What if there had been no force to stop or keep in check the spread of the Muslim faith (which is spread by force) during the time of the Crusades? People at times point to the abuses of Catholicism during the Dark Ages, but they forget that Catholicism is not Christianity, it is a perversion of it. And many more horrible things would have happened if the influence of Christianity had never been in the world.

· Some people seem to erroneously think that the world would have been a better place without religion, especially Christianity, but the world’s problems are not caused by people living Jesus’ teaching, which includes loving one’s neighbor and enemy (Matthew 5:46-48). Rather, the world’s problems are caused by sin, including greed, lust, selfishness, arrogance and so on. Even though Jesus came and died, the world isn’t doing too well resisting temptation even with those facts in its possession. We experienced two world wars in the last century even with the influence of Christianity. Imagine how bad things would have been if there had been no influence.

· The history of the United States would have been far different. Yes, a number of the early settlers came out of pure self-interest (looking for gold, etc), but a number, where not. Many important documents including the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Mayflower Compact, either would not exist or would read far differently if Jesus had never been born and so on.

· The civil rights movement would have never happened because Christianity was a major influence behind this movement.

· Because most Western supporters of Israel profess to be Christians, the nation of Israel would probably not exist

· And what would have been the motivation throughout the centuries to oppose “evil” without seeing first the ultimate struggle against evil in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

· Imagine sitting in a foxhole or being a prisoner of war somewhere if Jesus had never been born. There would be no hope of forgiveness, no clear hope of heaven or eternal life, and no clear knowledge of comfort.

Far less generosity

· Many hospitals across the nation exist because the founders had been influenced by Christian principles of service and compassion.

· Many colleges were founded by people who had been influenced by Christianity.

· The differences in charity between secular and religious people are dramatic. Religious people are 25 percentage points more likely than secularists to donate money (91 percent to 66 percent) and 23 points more likely to volunteer time (67 percent to 44 percent). Consistent with the findings of other writers, the data shows that practicing a religion is more important than the actual religion itself in predicting charitable behavior. Charity differences between religious and secular people persist even when we look at the actual amounts of donations and volunteering. Indeed, measures of the dollars given and occasions volunteered per year produce a yawning gap between the groups. The average annual giving among the religious is $2,210, whereas it is $642 among the secular. Similarly, religious people volunteer an average of 12 times per year, while secular people volunteer an average of 5.8 times. To put this into perspective, religious people are 33 percent of the population but make 52percent of donations and 45 percent of times volunteered. Secular people are 26 percent of the population but contribute 13 percent of the dollars and 17 percent of the times volunteered. These numbers are found in a book entitled, Religious Faith and Charitable Giving, by Arthur C. Brooks.

Differences in Daily Life

· Music/Art/Literature

There would be no songs that mention Jesus or any New Testament teaching, including such songs as Amazing Grace or the Lord is My Shepherd. There would be entire sections missing in our modern libraries, bookstores and art galleries. Not only are their numerous commentaries on the books of the Bible, but there are far more books on various bible topics and countless works of fiction that revolve around biblical truths.

· Economics:

Even though Christmas is not the birth of Christ, the fact remains that Jesus’ presence into this world has brought a tremendous economic boom to businesses and nations.

· Weddings:

I am not sure if marriage would even exist, for the greater supporter of the permanency marriage is Christ (Matthew 19:3-9). Imagine living in a world where the best religious answer for the lasting nature of a marriage relationship is, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” (Matthew 19:3). Verses such as 1 Peter 3:7; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 or Ephesians 5:22-33 would not exist. Where is the religion or even the secular philosophy that even comes close to elevating marriage and love where the New Testament places it? Where is the secular substitute or rival for 1 Corinthians 13:4-8?

· Funerals:

Thoughts about the after-life would be extremely vague, for Jesus is the one who gave us a clear view into eternity (Luke 16:19ff; 1 Peter 1:4; Revelation 21-22). His resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection at the last day. Imagine being scheduled to speak at a funeral and the following chapters do not exist (1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4; John 11).

· Churches:

Not a single church would exist. There would be no real solid answers for questions that pertain to life and death, morality, hope, the life beyond, the meaning of life, or any support from a spiritual family.

· Salvation and Hope:

There would be no John 3:16. Where is the great secular or non-Christian solution to man’s problem with evil? Where is the message that comes even close to rivaling the power of the gospel message? (Romans 1:16) Where is the message that can completely transform and change even the most hardened sinner like Christianity can (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)? More than people simply getting their act together, Jesus’ words help people change ingrained sinful behaviors. Without Jesus’ birth and death what hope would you offer to anyone that they could be forgiven? What proof would you offer that true forgiveness can be a reality? What a blessing that Jesus was born, taught, died for our sins and arose from the dead.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017