A Birth Party: A Life Enriched

One of my favorite Christmas movies is It’s a Wonderful Life.  In the movie, George Bailey receives the gift of knowing what life would be like had he never been born.  What would be different if you had never been born?  For George it meant he was not present to save his little brother from drowning when playing on the river with some other friends.  That meant that his brother was not alive to save an aircraft carrier from being bombed and so many sailors died.  George also ran the family business, a small Savings and Loan.  If George had never been born, there would have been no one to take over the Savings & Loan, therefore the old miser Mr. Potter took over the town.

What are some of the implications to your life?  Who has been affected by your having been born?  A birthday is a big thing – because every birth has changed the course of history and our very lives!

The birth of Jesus has affected the whole world; even though many would refuse to acknowledge His significance.  Consider some of the ways history would be different without the birth of Jesus:

• Our Calendar -- the year is 2012 because nearly 2012 years ago Christ was born.
•  There would be no NT -- The NT is the testimony of the disciples and followers of Jesus.  Without Him they would have no testimony.  Saul would have never seen Christ on the road to Damascus and never would have been converted.  He would never have become Paul, the writer of over 1/3 of the NT.
• No Church – We are the bride of Christ.  If Jesus hadn’t been born the church would have never formed.
• No Church of God – Had the NT church never formed, the Catholic church would not have existed, there would not have been the protestant reformation lead by Martin Luther, and the Reformation Movement known as the ChOG would have never followed.
• Our local congregation here in Racine, known as the First Church of God, would have never been established.

Imagine, if Jesus had never been born, you and I would have never experienced the demonstration of God’s love; our sin would have remained unpaid and we all would be condemned to hell.

But thanks be to God, He did send His Son, the promised Messiah.  Isaiah 9"6-7 gives just a brief glimpse at how the gift of Jesus enriches the lives of those who receive this gift:

⁶For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

⁷There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. 

For the full message shared on 12-23-12 at First Church of God, Racine, WI; go to:
A Birth Party - A Life Enriched