Chapter 1

Danna and I each and every December, along with millions of people around the world, watch Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s A Wonderful Life. Although it wasn’t a hit in its debut, it has become a Christmas classic. In a Time magazine essay, Roger Rosenblatt pondered the film’s continuing appeal. He concluded that the story is really about friendship. That helps to explain why we often feel choked up as we watch George Bailey’s family and friends rally to him in his greatest need.

Many of us have said, “Just when George thinks he’s alone in the world, the world shows up to declare its love for him.” That sentence seems to capture the essence of our celebration of the birth of Jesus. Just when we thought we were alone in the world, Christ came to declare God’s love for us. Not only did God send His Son into the world at exactly the right time, He also demonstrated “His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8. That was and still is the message of Christmas that opens the door to a wonderful life: the joy of knowing Christ and living in His love.

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of children. Because you are His, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but His; and if His, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:4-7. Several years ago a group of historians authored a book called If—Or History Rewritten. Some of the Ifs those scholars considered were these: What if Robert E. Lee had not lost the Battle of Gettysburg? What if the Moors in Spain had won? What if the Dutch had kept New Amsterdam? What if Booth had missed when he shot at Abraham Lincoln? What if Napoleon had escaped to America?

The attempt to reconstruct the past on the basis of these Ifs was only a historian’s game. But apply it for a moment to the central event in history, the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was foretold with pinpoint accuracy hundreds of years before by God’s prophet Micah. The greatest If, therefore, the most startling question to the imagination, is “What if Jesus had not been born as predicted?” Such an If staggers the mind. It is like imagining the earth without a sunrise or the heavens without stars. Yet this must be taken seriously, especially at Christmas, because our world is oblivious to the true meaning of Christ’s coming.

Can you imagine what the world would be like without Christ? What would history have been without Him? And at a personal level, what would your life be without Him? Thank God that there are no Ifs in history. Therefore pleroma describes a full measure or abundance with emphasis upon completeness, describing what is fulfilled or is completed without any gap. Paul said it this way: “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” Galatians 4:4.

Researchers now speak of the US as living in “soft time.” This term has been coined to describe the thinking of a cell-phone user who calls at 8:20 to say they will be late for the 8:30 meeting, arrives at 8:45, and considers themself on time because they called ahead. Unlike us, God is always on time. While we may struggle to understand why He doesn’t act in world events or in our personal lives as speedily as we think He should, the Bible proclaims the punctuality of the Almighty according to His plan.

Galatians 4:4-5 says, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters.” “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would dare even to die.” Romans 5:6-7.