“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6, NIV).

Four days from Christmas and my college roommate sent me a picture of his first grandchild, born today. A 5-pound, 12-ounce, 18 and ½ inch little girl. Pictures of a beaming grandmother holding the perfect new creation. Nothing but joy. My thoughts then drifted to one of my fellow’s first child’s birth day, the child who would not survive his mother’s eclampsia. The child who never came.

Most of us have seen the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, where the main character considered suicide over tragic events in his life. He was saved by an angel who showed him how life would have been for those around him if he had never existed.

This Sunday, I challenged my Bible study class to think of five things that would be different in their lives if Jesus had never been born. I asked them to do their best not to use religious jargon—like they might share it with someone who did not know Christ. It was a time of real introspection. I’ll share my five.

If Christ had never come:

1. I would never see my dad again.
2. I would live burdened with guilt from the ways I have failed.
3. I would be trapped in my humanity to focus on myself as the center of all things.
4. I would live with great anxiety over an unknown future.
5. I would walk in the dark, seeking direction for my life.

I loved the one my wife shared the best: “I would be like the back of a tapestry, with all the knots and chaos of disorganized threads and no meaning. But the Christmas child flipped me over to the true picture of my life with great design and beautiful color.”

Dear Father,

All my life has purpose, peace, forgiveness, deliverance, direction and endless relationships of love because you came as a child, died as a criminal and rose to become my Lord.

Amen