Several years ago James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe wrote a book called What if Jesus had never been born? They were unhappy at the allegations that the world would have been a better place if Jesus and his followers had never lived here. So they set out to trace the positive contributions that have been made in the name of Christ over the past 2000 years: contributions in areas that include social reform, medicine, education.
They refer to the great old movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, where George Bailey gets a glimpse of what his world would have looked like if he had never been born. It would have been a very different place.
As we move into Advent, it’s interesting to reflect on how John 1 talks about the difference that has come about because Jesus has been born. I will talk more about this in the next few days.
