Thursday, 24th December 2009 @ 08:03

The Gift of Christmas

What if there had been no baby Jesus in Bethlehem?  What difference would it make?  What would it change?

·        Well, there would be no Christmas- no celebration of His birth.

·        There would be no September 11 - In fact, there would probably be no America - because Columbus got his information that the earth was round from reading the Bible, a Bible, mind you, he would not have been reading if there was no New Testament Christianity.

·        So there would have been no democracy.

·        Our calendars would have been much different. We would not have measured time as before and after the birth ofChrist.  The prevalent methods of measuring time were to measure the duration of a monarch’s ruling period.  (Which could be real confusing if you startover with each ruler.)

·        There would have been no Crusades back in the 11th - 14th Centuries, which meant that the whole world would probably be dominated by Muslims today.

·        But then again, there would be no Muslims seeing Mohammed’s views on monotheism come from Christianity.

·        There would have been no Reformation in the 16th Century, which means that we would all be under ancient pagan practices and beliefs.

·        There would be no public schools, no insurance companies, no orphanages, no freedom or rights for women,no abolition of slavery - which were all causes championed by Christians.

·        There would be no Bibles, no Christian books or music.

·        In fact, much of the great Classical music and many of the great Literary classics would not exist -Handel’s Messiah, The Hallelujah Chorus, Pilgrim’s Progress, Paradise Lost, and many others would be gone.

·        there would be no choirs singing - there would be nothing to sing!

·        There would be no churches, no missionaries.

·        There would be no exploration of deepest, darkest Africa, because Livingston would have had no reason to go there.

·        There would be no Joan of Arc,no Martin Luther, no Finney, or Moody, or Billy Graham.

·        There would be more widespread poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance in this world - no modernization of backward cultures, all of whom were reached by missionaries.

·        There would be more crime, more drug and alcohol abuse, more vice.

·        There would be no AA, no 12 steps, no General Booth, and so, no Salvation Army to help the poor.

·        There be no Santa Claus (or St.Nick), and no St. Patrick’s Day, because there would be no saints.  There wouldn’t even be any Jingle Bells.

·        There would be no gospel.

·        There would be no mercy in religion - no compassion.

·        There would be no hope for the lost - no assurance of anything better.

·        Peter would have died just another fisherman; Paul, another religious bigot; Luke, just a doctor; Livingston, just an explorer; Finney, a NY attorney; Luther, a frustrated monk.

·        There would be no resurrection.

·        There would be no words of comfort for those on their death beds.

·        There would be no hopeful counsel for the destitute - no cause for encouragement, no reason for going on.

·        There would be no peace withGod - no assurance of salvation, no guarantee He would hear and answer our prayers, no sure relationship with God.

·        There would be no perception of God as a loving Father.

·        There would no hope in religion- just rules and a slim chance of winning God’s approval.

What if there had been no baby in Bethlehem?  No manger?  No star? No shepherds?  No wisemen?  No Christ?

How would it change your life?  Where would you be today?  What would you be today?

I would probably be dead or in prison today.

What has Jesus done for you?  How has He changed your life?

Thank God for Christmas!