John 15:22

For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy . The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy , but by identification . He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father , not His sympathy with us.

We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way . We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world.

There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky! There’s a mother’s deep prayer, And a baby’s low cry! And the star rains its fire While the beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King.

A number of years ago a remarkable Christmas card was published by the title “If Christ Had Not Come.” It was based on our Savior’s own words, “If I had not come,” in John 15:22. The card pictured a minister falling asleep in his study on Christmas morning and then dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.