What if?

What if Jesus had never been born?  What if the first Christmas never happened?  No virgin birth.  No baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.  No shepherds receiving angelic news of the Christ child, and therefore no trip to the stable in Bethlehem.  What if none of that had ever happened?  Let’s see:

1)  I wouldn’t be writing this.

2)  There would be more world poverty because organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army wouldn’t exist.

3)  There would be greater moral decay because there would be no hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

4)  Many American colleges like Yale and Princeton and even Drake University wouldn’t exist because they were all started by Christians.

But here’s the biggest thing:

5)  If Jesus had never been born, you and I wouldn’t know what God is like.

Jesus cleared up faulty images that people have about God.  In Jesus’ day a lot of people had messed up views of God.  They didn’t even believe there was one Creator God, they believed in multiple gods and goddesses (Zeus, Aphrodite) who they believed were simply more powerful version of themselves.  It’s a pretty sad situation if the god or goddess you worship is morally just as bad as you are.

Today there are some pretty messed up claims about God too.  There are people who believe that they are god, that I am god, you are god, we are all god.  They would say, “If you want to see God, look at each other.”  Again, it’s pretty discouraging to think that we are God, and if it were true we would definitely be in trouble.  People who are into Star Wars think God is some kind of force or energy.  Again, pretty disappointing.

Everyone has an idea of what God is like.  For some, God is like a judgmental Father waiting for you to mess up so He can punish you.  For others, God is like Santa Claus Who wants to grant your every wish, just pray and God will do everything you want, as long as you’ve been a good boy or girl.  For some, God is like a gentle old grandfather who loves everybody and doesn’t really care what we do.  And for still others, God is some remote being out there somewhere on the edge of the universe somewhere, Who really doesn’t care about us very much.  Like Bette Midler sings, “God is watching us from a distance.”  There are lot of images people have about what God is like.

But what the Christmas story reminds us is that we don’t have to wonder what God is like because the Bible says Jesus is God come in the flesh.  Jesus’ birth tells us that:

1)  God is near.

Because of Jesus’ birth we know that God is not some distant deity living on the edge of the universe looking at us through a super Hubble telescope, but a God who is near us.  One of Jesus’ titles is Immanuel, which means “God is with us.”  Through Jesus we know that God is with us as we worship.  God listens to us as we pray.  God is with us when we sleep, at work, in the marketplace, at play, wherever we are,  whether we are aware of God’s presence or not, whether we feel God’s presence, God is near.  His birth also tells us that:

2)  God is Love

Some people think God is out to get them, or to punish them for their wrongdoing, but Jesus shows us otherwise.  Through Jesus we see God’s incredible love for us.  The Son of God was willing to give up His throne in heaven to take on a human body, to be born a helpless infant in a barn in the Middle East, to grow up and endure temptation, to face the evil and injustices of this world.  Why? Because of God’s incredible unfailing love.  God did not have to come to us, but He chose to come of His own free will because He knew there was no other way to make our world right.

John 3:16 is clear:  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16, NIV)

Jesus’ birth shows us one more thing:

3)  God wants to have a relationship with us.

God wants us to know about Him.  That’s why there was such angelic fanfare at Jesus’ birth.  But He wants so much more than for us to know about Him.  God’s desire is for us to know Him personally.

John 1:12 says:  But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God.  (John 1:12, NCV)

God came to earth as a child so you could become a child of God.  God became one of us so we could become like him.  People often say, “We’re all God’s children.”  No we’re not.  We’re all God’s creation, but we only become His child when we become part of His family.  But keep in mind that us becoming part of His family has been His plan all along.

The Bible reminds us, though, that we don’t automatically become a part of God’s family.  It’s a choice we have to make.  We have to choose to accept God’s gift of love and grace and forgiveness through Jesus.  Only those who receive this gift will become part of God’s family.

Many of us will be giving and receiving gifts over the course of the next few days as we gather together with family and friends to celebrate Christmas, but we all know that a gift is useless unless we open it and receive it.

My question to you today is simple:  Will you unwrap God’s gift of love and receive it?