What If Jesus
Had Never Been
Born?
All Scripture references given in the
New International Version (1984) unless
otherwise indicated
In the Christmas
classic, “It’s a
Wonderful Life,”
George Bailey was
given the opportunity
to see what life would
be like had he never
been born.
George Bailey came to
realize that the world
would be a bleaker,
darker place had he
never been a part of
it.
CHRISTMAS UNDER ATTACK!
There are many atheists, secular
humanists and advocates of political
correctness today that are
campaigning to bring an end to the
celebration of the birth of Jesus.
They would like nothing more than
for the faith aspects of Christmas
to quietly fade away. Why? Because
in their minds, the world would be a
much better place if Jesus had
never been born.
CHRISTMAS UNDER ATTACK!
Could they be right?
What would the world look like today
if they got their wish?
How would our lives be different had
Jesus never been born?
Would the world be better off as
they suppose?
Or like George Bailey, would they
discover “It’s a Wonderful Life”
with Jesus in it?
CHRISTMAS UNDER ATTACK!
Clarence Oddbody, in “It’s a
Wonderful Life,” granted George
Bailey’s wish to see what the world
would be like had he never been a
part of it. In the same way, let’s
grant the adversaries of Christmas
their wish for the next 20 minutes.
Let’s speculate what the world
would be like if they had their way
and Jesus had never been born.
If Jesus had never been
born…
it would
be a far more
brut
_____
world.
al
If Jesus had never been
born…
Human life is cheapened in
cultures where there is no
acknowledgement and reverence
of a loving Creator.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Twentieth Century Examples
Mao Ze Dong (China) 50 million killed
Joseph Stalin (Russia) 23 million
killed Adolph Hitler (Germany) 12
million killed
If Jesus had never been
born…
Where there is little regard for
God or Jesus His Son, there is
little regard for the individual
human lives that were created in
His image and likeness. “Sanctity
of Human Life” would be a foreign
concept.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Even in the USA, as we drift
farther and farther away from
our Christian heritage, we see an
erosion of our collective value for
human life in the practice of
abortion and euthanasia.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Adversaries of Christmas often
point to the brutality of the
Crusades and the Inquisition as
the reason for their belief that
the world would be better off had
Jesus never been born.
If Jesus had never been
born…
But what they fail to recognize is
that these brutal acts done in
God’s name were actually a
violation rather than a
demonstration of Jesus
teachings.
If Jesus had never been
born…
it would
be a far more
primitiv
________
world.
e
If Jesus had never been
born…
Christian
The modern lifestyle we enjoy today
would not be possible if it had not been
for _________ scientists who
understood that God had created an
orderly universe and desired to know Him
better by discovering how it works.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Copernicus (astronomy), Bacon (invented
scientific method), Newton
(mathematics), Faraday (physics), Mendel
(genetics), Babbage (computer science)
and so many others were genuine
believers in Jesus and sought to glorify
God through their scientific discoveries.
If Jesus had never been
born…
it would
be a far less
health
_______
world.
y
If Jesus had never been
born…
Those needing treatment for
injury and illness would likely not
have the availability to the
modern medical care we have
today in hospitals.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Christians
That’s because _________ are
credited with the invention of the
modern hospital to care for the
physical needs of the infirmed.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Thus in-patient medical care in the
sense of what we today consider a
hospital, was an invention driven by
Christian mercy and Byzantine
innovation. - James Edward McClellan and Harold Dorn, Science
and Technology in World History: An Introduction (Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2006), p.99,101
If Jesus had never been
born…
Further examples: the International Red
Cross grew out of the Christian faith of
Henri Dunant of Geneva, Switzerland.
Clara Barton, famous for her Christian
compassion to soldiers on both sides of
the Civil War, founded the American Red
Cross.
If Jesus had never been
born…
it would
be a far more
needy
______ world.
If Jesus had never been
born…
Millions of poor and hungry people around the
world would be largely on their own because no
one would have heard Jesus’ command to love
and care for “the least of these” (Matt.
25:40). Needy people everywhere would be
without local Christian churches and Christian
organizations such as World Vision to provide
billions in humanitarian relief.
If Jesus had never been
born…
it would
be a far more
illiterat
________
world.
e
If Jesus had never been
born…
Christian missionaries are
credited with the greatest
contributions to world literacy
because of their efforts to make
the Bible available in all the
languages of the world.
If Jesus had never been
born…
“For Protestants, mass education was crucial
because they wanted people to read the Bible
in their own languages. Thus wherever
Protestant missionaries went they almost
immediately imported printing
technology…they also developed mass literacy
programs to teach ordinary people to read.” “The Social Impact of Missionary Higher Education” by Robert D. Woodberry
None of these speculative
consequences of a world
without Jesus are as
eternally impacting as this
last one…
If Jesus had never been
born…
it would
be an utterly
hopeles
_______
world.
s
If Jesus had never been
born…
Mankind would be without hope of a
restored relationship with God.
“remember that at that time you were
separate from Christ, excluded from
citizenship in Israel and foreigners to
the covenants of the promise, without
hope and without God in the world.”
Ephesians 2:12
If Jesus had never been
born…
Mankind would be without hope for
eternal life with God in Heaven.
“And if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ are lost.” 1 Cor. 15:17-18
If Jesus had never been
born…
the world would indeed be a
much different place!
But not for the better!
“It’s a
Wonderful Life,”
because
Jesus was born!
“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.”
Galatians 4:4-5
(NKJV)
- attributed to James Allen Francis
“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant
woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a
carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He
was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never
held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He
didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never
traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.
He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He
had no credentials but Himself. He was only thirty-three when
the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran
away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to his
enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed
to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His
executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He
had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed
grave through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come
and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.
All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever
sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, all the kings that
“But Christ indeed has been
raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep…
Death has
been swallowed up in victory.”
I Cor. 15:20, 15:54b
“It’s a Wonderful Life,”
because Jesus was born, lived,
died on the Cross, and rose
again!
Have you made room for