I can't believe Christmas is less than one week away! As you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, I want to give you some more things to think about from Jerry Newcombe and Dr. James Kennedy's book: What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?
Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which is tiny in and of itself; but, when fully grown, it provides shade and a resting place for many birds. This parable certainly applies to an individual who embraces Christ; it also applies to Christianity and the world.
This blog will continue to focus on Christ’s impact on the world using excerpts from the book.
1. Christianity: The Growth of a Mustard Seed
Christianity’s roots were small and humble—an itinerant rabbi preached and did miracles for three and a half years around the countryside of subjugated Israel. And today there are more than 2.1 billion professing believers in Him found in most of the nations on earth! There are tens of millions today who make it their life’s aim to serve Him alone.
Emperors and governors were the men with power in Christ’s day. But now their bodies rot in their sepulchers, and their souls await the Final Judgment. They have no followers today. No one worships them. No one serves them or awaits their bidding.
Not so with Jesus! Napoleon, who was well accustomed to political power, said that it would be amazing if a Roman emperor could rule from the grave, and yet that is what Jesus has been doing. (We would disagree with him, though, in that Jesus is not dead; He’s alive.) Napoleon said; “I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel…nations pass away, thrones crumble, but the Church remains.”
2. Jesus Christ is the only One who can save souls.
The salvation of souls is the primary goal of the spread of Christianity. All the other benefits we have talked about in this series are basically just by-products of what Christianity has often brought when applied to daily living. We must never forget that all of these benefits to mankind have their origins in the Christian faith.
When Jesus Christ took upon Himself the form of man, He imbued mankind with a dignity and inherent value that had never been dreamed of before. Whatever Jesus touched or whatever He did transformed that aspect of human life. Many people will read about the innumerable small incidents in the life of Christ while never dreaming that those casually mentioned “little” things were to transform the history of humankind.
3. Even under intense scrutiny, Christianity has always shined as a bright light to the nations.
Both Friederich Nietzsche and Adolf Hitler wished that Christ had never been born. Others share this sentiment. For example, Charles Lam Markmann, who wrote a favorable book on the history of the ACLU, entitled The Noblest Cry, said: “If the otherwise admirably civilized pagans of Greece and their Roman successors had had the wit to laugh Judaism into desuetude, the world would have been spared the 2000-year sickness of Christendom.” Interestingly, people living under Nazi oppression, under Stalin’s terror, under Mao’s cultural revolution, and the reign of the Khmer Rouge were all spared “the 2000-year sickness of Christendom”! Horrific incidents were the result!
Stalin and Mao both tried to destroy Christianity in their respective domains. In the process, they slaughtered tens of millions of professing Christians, but they utterly failed in their ultimate objective. Nietzsche, Freud, Hitler, Robert Ingersoll, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Madalyn Murray O’Hare, Phil Donahue, the ACLU, and other leading anti-Christians have tried in vain to do away with Christianity. From transforming the value of human life to transforming individual lives, the positive impact of Jesus Christ is felt around the globe. The overwhelming impact of Christ’s life on planet earth has been positive, not negative.
Thank you God for sending your Son Jesus Christ to planet earth!
Merry Christmas!
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