48 Reasons to Worship Jesus this Christmas
AKA 48 counterfactuals that show how fantastic it is that God became human in Jesus
Pietro Perugino, Baptism of Christ, c. 1482 (a fresco in the Sistine Chapel)
God becoming human is the central fact of the history of the world—if that’s the case, as we’ve argued it is in our preaching series this December, there are infinitely many reasons we could list to give thanks for it. Here are 48 of them to start off your Christmas right.
- If Jesus isn’t God, the gospel isn’t true—salvation cannot happen the way we’ve all expected it to, and the authors of the New Testament got everything wrong.
- If Jesus didn’t exist before the world, He’s not God.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, he’s a liar—and if he's a liar, why are we still talking about him?
- If Jesus isn’t really God, it’s not God we’ve been reconciled to.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, humanity hasn’t been united to God.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, it’s not the power of God he’s made available to us.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then what he’s done isn’t really God’s gift—and if it’s not actually a gift from God, then we’re living in a world without actual grace from God.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, he doesn’t have the authority to forgive us.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, he doesn’t have the authority to reconcile us to God.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, we can only cross our fingers and hope that God really accepts us.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, we haven’t been connected back to God, and our predicament is as hopeless as ever.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, he doesn’t have the power to change our nature.
- If Jesus didn’t exist before the world, the world doesn’t strictly need him to exist.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then the one who made the world isn’t the one who’s remaking it.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then the God who made the world doesn’t have skin in the game—he had someone else do the hard parts of healing it.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, he doesn’t deserve our worship.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then worshiping him like he is God would be blasphemous.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then the greatest being in existence (God) isn’t the one who’s done the greatest thing in history (Jesus is).
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then God isn’t a re-Creator, and our hopes that the world will be recreated in wholeness are dumb.
- If Jesus didn’t always exist in the past, he might not always exist in the future. If he doesn’t always exist in the future, whatever salvation he’s won for us might not be permanent.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then his becoming human doesn’t prove to us that God is a selfless and humble God.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then he’s not the ultimate way for us to know who God is—and whatever we think we see about God in Jesus might be a devastating misunderstanding.
- If Jesus isn’t really God, then he’s not really in control of our lives or all of history.
- If Jesus isn’t human, the gospel isn’t true—salvation cannot happen the way we’ve all expected it to, and the authors of the New Testament got everything wrong.
- If Jesus isn’t human, humanity hasn’t been transformed.
- If Jesus isn’t human, what happened to him might not happen to us—we won't have permanent life, we won't be resurrected, and we won't have God's Spirit live within us.
- If Jesus isn’t human, the resurrection of his body doesn’t imply the resurrection of ours.
- If Jesus isn’t human, we haven’t been united to him.
- If Jesus isn’t human, we can’t be viewed in his place, with God looking at us and seeing him and looking at him and seeing us.
- If Jesus isn’t human, God is unjust in forgiving us and punishing Jesus.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he doesn’t fully understand our suffering.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he can’t be fully merciful with us in our weakness.
- If Jesus isn’t human, all the Old Testament prophecies still stand unfulfilled.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he’s not the offspring of Eve that will crush the serpent’s head.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he’s not the offspring of Abraham that God will use to bless the entire world.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he’s not the offspring of David that will rule the world forever.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he’s not the prophet like Moses who speaks with authority to make God fully known.
- If Jesus isn’t human, humanity will never fulfill its God-given responsibilities of caring for the earth and all its creatures.
- If Jesus isn’t human, humanity hasn’t been lifted higher than angels like the Bible expects.
- If Jesus isn’t human, there’s no glory in store for us.
- If Jesus isn’t human, we’re not his brothers and sisters.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he can’t make us God’s children.
- If Jesus isn’t human, we’re not made in his image and won’t become like him.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he hasn’t tasted death for the rest of us.
- If Jesus isn’t human, he hasn’t faced temptation on behalf of us.
- If Jesus isn’t human, his life can’t flow to us—and we’re still headed for the finality of death, with nothing more.
- If Jesus isn’t human, God might give us a second chance, but there’s been nothing done to change our nature.
- If Jesus isn’t both really God and also really human, he can’t speak for either of us—we still need a mediator.
Jesus is truly God, and he is truly human. Merry Christmas indeed!
