What If Jesus Had Not Come? – Part II

As the message of Christ was taught and spread abroad, things began to change.  In the places where Christ’s teachings were taught and obeyed, the deplorable treatment of people would begin to decrease.

Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, accepted and practiced, living conditions are improved.  Where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, people are taught how to treat their fellow human being. 

(John 13:34 NKJV)  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

(John 13:35 NKJV)  "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

1.)   If Christ had not come there would be no sympathy for the poor, sick, blind, bereaved and brokenhearted.

Did you know that Christians introduced what we know as the hospital in the 4th century? Before that, there were private physicians, potions and shrines, but no such thing as people being nursed or cared for in a given facility.  

The Romans, Greeks and other ancients usually did not take care of their loved ones in times of plague. Plato said you shouldn't give medicine to those who would die anyhow.  But Christians did take care of their loved ones and often died themselves as a result.

The International Red Cross was founded in the 19th century by a Swiss evangelical Christian for "the love of Jesus Christ."

 2.)   If Christ had not come there would be fewer forms of government which allow people to govern themselves.

Because Christianity is based on individual choice, political systems with Christian underpinnings tend to be democratic. Democracy allows people to govern themselves. 

The congregational form of church government was extremely important in the Massachusetts Bay colony.  So was the Presbyterian form of government, where elders govern.  Some have said the U.S. government is patterned much like the Presbyterian Church.

While America’s constitutional government is not specifically Christian, it can be argued that its roots are taken from biblical doctrines. 

• At least 50 of the 55 signers of the U.S. Constitution were orthodox Christians.
• Our Constitutional system of checks and balances is a direct result of the biblical doctrine of the sinfulness of mankind.
• America’s foundational idea of “The Rule of Law” rather than the dictatorial authority of man traces back to the Old Testament, beginning with the Ten Commandments.
• The idea that all men are created equal as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence is a biblical doctrine.

3.)   If Christ had not come there we would have no parables to learn lessons of life from.

• The Parable of the Good Samaritan - Luke 10:33-34.
• The Parable of the Prodigal Son – Luke 15:20
• The Parable of the Faithful Servant – Matthew 25:20-21
• The Parable of the Rich Fool – Luke 12:15

4.)   If Christ had not come we would have no biblical roles for marriage

During the time of Christ, the most attractive and most sought after women in the Roman world were notoriously immoral and the most flattered and honored.  The immoral women often aspired to highest culture.

For a woman to appear in public with braided, decorated hair and showy attire, especially if she displayed any gifts of eloquence or culture was to proclaim herself one of the immoral, leisurely, educated, self-indulgent class.

The homes of virtuous, domestic women were dull and wearisome; they were household slaves who saw little of "society."  The drudgeries and slavery of domestic life among the pagan ancients made their women unattractive to the world. Homemaking women were not educated, had no influence beyond home, socially were slaves; given in marriage without consent; restricted in conversation with men; confined to their homes; having few privileges- no books; ruled over by lords and masters, they grew to be noisy, talkative women, quarrelsome drudges.

Pagan women never were equal to men - if they ruled men it was by using their sexuality rather than dignity and character.  When their physical beauty faded, their power left with it.

Paganism offered no consolation to the downtrodden, injured and neglected woman.  No one offered thoughts of an abundant, endless quality of life; there was no encouragement to beauty, peace, serenity.  No thought was given to immortality, God's forgiveness, God's love, or future joy. There could be no contentment among women proclaimed by their Creator as spiritual equals to men, yet treated as animals.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote instructions to both the husband and the wife that cut against the grain of the barbaric practices of that day. Christian wives were to submit to their husband’s leadership, not because they feared his physical strength or beating but because they loved the Lord Jesus.  Christian husbands were to cease from domineering their wives like the pagans of that time.  They were to love their wives as Jesus loved His bride the church.  Christian husbands were to nurture and cherish their wives like they would their own bodies.

5.)   If Christ had not come we would have never found out what God was like

The Bible teaches that God has revealed Himself in creation.  If you are honest, you would look around and conclude there is an intelligent Designer who has framed the worlds.  The earth couldn't have come about by the cataclysmic events such as a "Big Bang."  Order doesn't come out of disorder.  We see the beauty of the earth and have to conclude there is an intelligent Designer. 

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

The book of Romans tells us, "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…”

However, because of the sinful nature of man, man doesn’t give glory to God for His creation.  The Bible teaches that man doesn’t naturally seek to find out more about this God who made the heavens and the earth.  Man naturally worships the creation rather than the Creator. 

Yet, discovering what God is like by observing His creation is not enough.  So God reveals Himself more specifically in Jesus.  This is what Christmas is all about.  Christmas is about God becoming man and dwelling among us so we can see what He is like.

(John 1:14 NKJV)  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

6.)   If Christ had not come God would not have learned what we were like.

(Luke 2:52 NKJV)  And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Luke tells us that Jesus grew (1) intellectually, (2) physically, (3) spiritually, and (4) socially. Thus He grew and matured like any other person.

As Jesus grew from a baby to manhood, he learned (as God) what it meant to be human.  In another place of Scripture it says:

 (Heb 5:7 NKJV)  who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,

Through His intense human experiences, Jesus learned experientially (as a human) many things He wouldn’t have learned if he hadn’t become man.  In fact, the writer of Hebrews goes on to say:

(Heb 5:8 NKJV)  though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

The phrase "learned obedience by the things which He suffered" does not mean that Jesus was ever disobedient but rather that He learned (through experience as a Man and through all His temptation and suffering) what it meant to suffer and triumph in a way He did not experience before the incarnation.

This truth is expressed in these verses:

(Heb 4:15 NKJV)  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

(Heb 4:16 NKJV)  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

7.)   If Christ had not come there would be no salvation.

If Jesus would not have come to earth there would be no salvation.  If Jesus would not have come to earth there would be no deliverance from sin and death.

In Galatians 4 Paul writes that Jesus came to earth to bring us salvation.

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Gal 4:3-5) 

Before Christ came to earth we were under the law—for the Jews, it was the Law of Moses; the Gentiles, it was the law of God written in our hearts.

The Law would accuse us of sin.  The Law would continually crush and grind us under the guilt of sin; and it still does  By the Law is the knowledge of sin; and it still is. When the Law says "Do not steal, covet, bear false witness and murder…" if you are human, you have done most if not all of those things—if not by your hand then in your heart. 

The Apostle Paul pens a graphic description how folk are before the coming of Christ into their lives:

(Titus 3:3 NIV)  At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

Conclusion

Over two thousand years ago God sent His Son to earth to be born in humble means.  He would grow up as a man.  He would teach the Father’s truth.  But wicked man would nail Him to a cross as they would a common criminal.  But this was all part of God the Father’s plan to redeem the human race from sin and death.

While nailed to that cross, Jesus would bare the penalty of sin for us all by dying.  But God the Father, the Judge of the universe would raise His Son from the dead three days later as an acceptance of His sacrifice—paid in full!

Salvation is now offered as a free gift to whosoever will call on the name of the Lord Jesus, turning away from their sin.