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What is so great about Jesus? His life forever changes our world for the better!

In the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey discovers the impact of a single life: his own. Had he not lived, his town of Bedford Falls would be a meaner, darker place. It would be called Pottersville, after the greedy banker who seeks to enslave the town in his overpriced slums. The friendly pub becomes a sleazy, brawling dive. The local police, brutal. The whole town descends into merciless grasping. Clarence, the angel that grants Bailey’s wish to have never been born surmises: “A man does not know the impact his life will have.” 

If one ordinary man might have such a profound impact, what impact has the life of Christ had? Have you ever imagined a world into which Christ was never born? For starters, there would be no Christmas Day. Erase the fond memories of family, friends, warm meals, gifts given and received. All gone. 

Much of the world’s best art and literature would disappear. No Bach, no Handel’s Messiah, no First Noel, no Sistene Chapel decorated by Michelangelo. Augustine’s City of God, unwritten, as would be Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov.

Perhaps much of science would have been undiscovered by the successful scientists who were guided by their faith in Christ. We might not have the modern scientific method from Roger Bacon, or the Newtonian view of the universe from Isaac Newton, or the vaccines from Louis Pasteur. 

Hundreds of the world’s best universities, founded as Christian training schools, would not exist. Gone is Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Oxford, Cambridge, and other centers of learning. 

Hospitals, largely invented by Christians to care for the poor and ill, might be far fewer. The International Red Cross, begun by a Presbyterian in Geneva, never founded. 

Chapters of world history would be unwritten. While we might happily expunge the Crusades from history, would we want to erase the spread of Christianity in Eastern Europe to help pull down the Iron Curtain? Would there even be a United States if the Pilgrims had not landed at Plymouth? Perhaps not a country founded on religious freedom. Perhaps it would have been an Islamic oligarchy, like Iraq or Iran. What would Fernandina Beach be like without Christ in this world? Pottersville?

You and your family might not exist. Millions of families have been sustained over the generations by faith in Christ. Mine certainly would not be here. Our four sons and nine grandchildren, gone. 

And for those who do know Christ: What would your life have been without him? I shudder to consider where the dark trajectory of my life would have ended. 

But that dark world does not exist! The one blessed by Christ does! Surely, it is a world with evil and suffering but consider the other benefits Christ has brought to alleviate and uplift this world 

Roman culture dismissed mercy as a weakness. Yet, Mary rejoiced in her Magnificat,  “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50). Christ, based on the sacrifice of his life, offers mercy to all, and so elevated mercy as a way of life. Historian Rodney Stark writes in his Triumph of Christianity: “In the midst of the squalor, misery, illness, and anonymity of ancient cities, Christianity provided an island of mercy [that] started with Jesus.”

Christ, the Lord of Mercy, also brought an increase of justice, love, and hope to this world. Mary continues: “He has . . . exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:52-53).

Considering the impact of Christ’s life, we rightly rejoice during this season, reflecting the words of Mary: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). No matter how bleak the world may seem to us at times, we live in a world changed—vastly enhanced—by Christ forever. 

Hark! The herald angels sing Glory to the newborn King 
Peace on earth, and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled 
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,  Join the triumph of the skies 
With angelic host proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem