I just finished watching "It's a Wonderful Life."
It's one of my favorite movies. At one point, the protagonist, George Bailey wishes he'd never been born and an "angel", Clarence, grants him that wish. George gets the opportunity to see how much good he'd done in his life, how many people he'd touched, and how different his town would be had he never existed.

What if Christ had never been born?

If Christ had never been born, the light of the world would never have come - we'd all still be walking in darkness, without God and without hope in the world. There would be no gospel, no good news. Jesus would not have died on the cross. There would be no forgiveness of sins, no justification by grace. There would be no Mediator between God and man. There would be no Great High Priest interceding for us. We'd still be enslaved to our passions and lusts, hating and being hated. We'd still be dead in our sins. And millions who are now in heaven would be in hell.

There would be no Christianity. There would be no Church. No books by Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards or C.S. Lewis. No Puritans to encourage us. No Billy Graham, Hudson Taylor or Amy Carmichael. No teachings from John Piper, R.C. Sproul, or C.J. Mahaney. No pastors to care for our souls. No brothers and sisters to encourage us.

There would have been no William Wilberforce to fight against slavery in England. No Randy Alcorn to speak out against abortion.

There would be no hymns or worship songs to sing. No songs by Isaac Watts or John Newton. No "Amazing Grace," no "Mighty Fortress", no "Crown Him with Many Crowns." No Christmas songs - no "Joy to the World" or "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." There would be no worship songs by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Paul Baloche or Tim Hughes. Nothing by Starfield, Indelible Grace, or Phil Wickham.

There would be no Covenant Mercies, Compassion or Samaritan's Purse. Hundreds of Christian charitable organizations wouldn't exist. Thousands of orphanages would never have been built. There would be no Salvation Army. No Open Doors or Voice of the Martyrs.

And how different would your life be had Christ never been born? Oh, I am so thankful Jesus came to earth. I'm so thankful he lived and died and rescued me from my sins. Why not take a moment right now to praise our Heavenly Father for sending his One and only Son into the world.

Merry Christmas!