What If No Christ?

 

Intro: Before Christmas, I saw on one particular news program an interview with an atheist. They had paid for a big sign in New York Times square. It read “Who needs Christ in Christmas?” It had a big X through Christ’s name and it said under it, nobody! Does mankind really need Jesus? What if we didn’t have Jesus Christ? How bad do we need Christ? The New Testament would not have been written?  We would not have this New Testament or Covenant with God if Jesus was not needed. Have you ever stopped to think about this? What would we have if we didn’t have Christ?

I. Without Christ we could not be justified or made right with God. Romans 5:1 (NKJV) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Ro 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

II. Without Christ “There would be no Immanuel, God with us” as Isa. 7:14 & Matt. 1:23 say. If Jesus had not come there would be no mercy, grace, truth, and forgiveness as John 1:14 says. There would be no fulfillment of the wonderful promises in John 10:10b of Jesus coming to give us life and that more abundant. 

III. Without Christ there would be No comfort that we find in the New Testament for those that are rejected by the world, spiritually lost, suffering, hurting, and dying without hope and help. 

IV. Without Christ There would be no salvation from the penalty of our sins. Animal sacrifices in the O.T. could not forgive or permanently remove the guilt and penalty of sin, were only types that pointed the real thing, the forgiveness and removing of the guilt and penalty of sin found in only in the blood of Jesus Christ. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Acts 4:12 (NKJV) Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

V. Without Christ There would be no Holy Spirit in our lives to lead, guide, and direct us. There would be no fruit of the Spirit in our lives. No love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

VI. Without Christ and His resurrection, There would be no hope of the resurrection or eternal life. At death, we would have to bow our heads say an eternal goodbye and weep as those without hope. The apostle Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 (NKJV) ¹²  Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴  And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵  Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶  For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
¹⁷  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
¹⁸  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. ²⁰  But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
²¹  For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²²  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. ²³  But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. ²⁴  Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵  For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. ²⁶  The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷  For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. ²⁸  Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

VII. Without Christ There would be no book of Revelation which tells us about our future with Him, or about His coming back to rule and reign and how we will rule and reign with Him over this earth. Revelation 20:6 (NKJV)  Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. 

VIII. Without Christ there would be no promise of a new heaven and earth where sin and death does not dwell. Revelation 21:1 (NKJV) Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Jesus is the Son of God, the promised Messiah who gives life and who has the right to judge life. He is the One who knows the future and can warn man and tell man how to prepare for the devastating events of the end time. Being the true Messiah, He is bound to declare the truth to us, so we can take of the water of life freely, without cost.

Invitation: So who needs Christ? Everybody does. Let us rejoice today because Christ has come. Revelation 22:16-17 (NKJV) ¹⁶ "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." ¹⁷ And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Do you have Jesus Christ in your life to forgive you of your sins against God? Have you taken of the water of life freely?

If not, this invitation is for you! The Spirit says come and the church says come! Confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you. Then invite Him into your life to take charge of you. Be baptized to show you are sincere in your faith.

Thanks to God

 

Intro: We Christians have much to be thankful for all year, not just once a year. We thank God that He is the ultimate Giver. He gave a gift too wonderful for words—the gift of his Son. God’s extraordinary gift of salvation through Jesus should motivate you and I to give thanks and be generous to others. Spend time meditating on how much God has given you. Then show your thankfulness by living for Him and serving Him.

I. Thanks to God we have been set free from the slavery of sin. Romans 6:17-18 (NLT) ¹⁷ Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, (sin controlled you), but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you live in obedience to God’s word! ¹⁸ Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. The unsaved people of the world act as they do because they are slaves to Satan and sin. Once we too were unsaved people controlled by sin, we had no choice. But thank God, now we are free from our slavery to sin and we are controlled by Christ.

II. Thanks to God We have been made spiritually alive with Christ. Colossians 2:11-13 (NLT) ¹¹  When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. ¹²  For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. ¹³  You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

When Satan had his hold on us, we were spiritually dead. No access to God. Then God made us spiritually alive and delivered us from Satan and sin through Christ. The penalty for our sin and its power over us were miraculously destroyed by Christ on the cross. Thanks to God all our sins have been forgiven thru Christ and we are now new creatures in Him.  a. Thanks to God because Jesus canceled all charges against us. V:14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.  This record of charges was for all our trespasses against God’s law. We could not pay the debt for these offenses, we were guilty, but when we were saved by Christ, God wiped out the record of our sin for us by nailing it to the cross of Christ. Hallelujah, thank God for such a wonderful Savior who has canceled all charges of sin against us through His cross. b. Thanks to God the devil’s power is broken. (v:15) Through the cross He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Not only have all charges against us been nailed to the Cross, spiritual authorities and rulers have been rendered helpless against us because of the Cross. Jesus who now lives in us has the Supreme authority over all principalities and powers.

III. Thanks to God We have peace that comes from Christ. Colossians 3:15-17 (NLT) ¹⁵  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
¹⁶  Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷  And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Because Christ has given us His peace, we show our thankfulness by living as His representatives in everything we do as we give thanks through Him to God our Father.

IV. Thanks to God We have the victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (NLT) ⁵¹  But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! ⁵²  It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. ⁵³  For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. ⁵⁴  Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
⁵⁶  For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
⁵⁷  But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because Christ has given us the victory, we are to be strong and immovable. (v:58)  So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. Because of these promises—of victory over sin, death, and the devil, a future resurrection with new bodies that will be fashioned by God himself, and of living eternally in His Kingdom, We believers now have motivation and responsibilities in living for God in these perishable bodies. Our time on earth is valuable, let’s show how thankful we are by living for Jesus and serving His Kingdom.

Conclusion: We have much for which to thank our Father God for. The way we live our lives will show how thankful we really are. The more thankful we are, the more we will begin to focus on the things of God rather than our problems.

Invitation: You have a chance right now to respond to Jesus. If you need salvation or something else that only Jesus can supply, now is the time to bring your requests to Him.