What If?

“When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman.” 

I recently read about a doctoral student in religious studies at a major public university in California who was asked what he would do if he had a time machine. He answered that he would “assassinate Jesus of Nazareth.” Somehow, he thinks that the world would be better off without Jesus' birth!

Have you ever thought, what if Jesus had never been born?

There has been an incalculable number of powerful things done in this world because of the love of Jesus and His gospel spreading around the world.

First, the Christian church created the miracle of the hospital and has erected hospitals all over the world. To this day hospitals all around us bear names reflective of their Christian origin. Hospitals like Holy Cross Hospital, St. Luke’s Presbyterian, Baptist Hospital, etc. Caring for the sick has been a huge part of the Christian impact all over this world.

Second, Christianity has inspired some of the world’s greatest art and music. That includes beautiful Christmas music, like Handel’s Messiah.

Third, Christianity has expanded education globally. Originally, only the rich had access to education. But now the masses can be included thanks to churches establishing schools worldwide. Christianity even created the university system around the year 1200.

Fourth, prior to the birth of Jesus Christ, human life on this planet was exceedingly cheap. Child sacrifice, slave labor, and even slave trading was brought down because of great men like William Wilberforce and John Newton. Virtually everywhere the gospel of Christ has penetrated over the last 2000 years, human value and dignity has been elevated.

Fifth, Christianity and the Bible played an important role in creating America as a free nation, beginning with the Mayflower Compact written by the Pilgrims in 1620, where they said they came here, “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.”

They established the essence of the American experiment: self-rule under God. This continued through other founding documents, concluding in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787.

Other documents include John Winthrop’s “A Model of Christian Charity” sermon in 1630, when he told his thousands of fellow Puritans who founded Boston, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.” Did you know that the Puritans would go on to found Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth, for the spread of the gospel of Christ?

The Puritans who founded Connecticut produced the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639, declaring their colony existed for “the liberty and the purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.” There is a direct line that can be traced from Connecticut’s constitution to America’s Constitution.

George Washington, the father of our nation, said that America can never hope to be a blessed nation unless it imitate, “the Divine Author of our blessed Religion”. 

Just a side note, historians tell us that whenever Washington used a capital "R" in religion, it was his way of honoring his faith in Christianity.

In short, no Jesus, no America!

Because of the birth of Christ we live, move, and breath as a direct result of the birth of Christ and His unconditional love for us! Consider the apostle Paul’s words, “You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are His child, God has made you also an heir.” It’s truly amazing the powerful impact the birth of Jesus Christ has had on humanity.

Happy New Year!