“But He emptied Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

— Philippians 2:7

As Christmas approaches, it is interesting to reflect on the impact of Jesus. Consider a sampling:

• Suppose we would gather a group of literary men together and ask them what is the greatest masterpiece of literature ever written by man, and many will tell, perhaps the majority, the greatest work ever penned by merely human hands was Paradise Lost, written by John Milton—a believer of what some would call “the delusion of the Christian faith”—a believer in the Bible.
• Even the sagacious Ben Franklin, not known for his piety in his life, in his later years wrote to Thomas Paine and implored him not to release the manuscript, of his Age of Reason. Of Jesus of Nazareth, Franklin said, “I have this to say, that the system of morals that He left us, and the religion that He has given to the world is the greatest thing that it has ever seen, or is ever likely to see.”
• How about men like Patrick Henry, that great speaker who championed freedom? He said, “The book worth all other books in the world is the Bible.”
• And then there was Dr. Benjamin Rush, anatomist and physiologist, who said that the only true and perfect religion that man has ever seen is the religion of Jesus Christ.
• And Isaac Newton, the scientist and philosopher, said that the only perfect philosophy in the world is the philosophy of the Gospel.

We are all infinitely better off for Jesus Christ’s having been born.

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming and thank You for the Christmas celebration. Thank You for changing our world in so many positive ways. Give us strength to live out the Christian life so we, too, may be a source for good…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN IMPACT
THE WORLD AROUND US.