The Gospel on Christmas and Every Day

John Work became “the first African-American collector of Negro spirituals. This proved to be a daunting task for Work because they were passed down orally, from plantation to plantation; very few were ever written down. But Work proved up to the challenge, publishing his first book, New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, in Songs of the American Negro, six years later. It was in this second volume that ‘Go, Tell It on the Mountain’ first appeared. The original singers of the song fulfilled the same important task the angels gave the shepherds that first Christmas night outside of Bethlehem, proclaiming, ‘That Jesus Christ is born!’ And thanks to John Wesley Work, so can we.” (1) “Go, Tell It On the Mountain, Over the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born…The shepherds feared and trembled, When lo! Above the earth, rang out the angels chorus that hailed the Savior’s birth…Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born. And God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn. Go, Tell It On the Mountain, Over the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born.” The angels and God’s hymn writers consistently exhort God’s people to proclaim Christ and the gospel for the benefit of believers and unbelievers—and sometimes, we do it in song. Will we embrace and be witnesses of the unmatchable light of God’s gospel in our music, relationships, and perspective, which pleases God more than anything else?

Living in Unity with Christ

The apostles also steadfastly exhorted God’s people to live lives worthy of Christ and the gospel through their faith given by God. “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ… standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). “Philippi prided itself on being a Roman colony, offering the honor and privilege of Roman citizenship. Paul reminds the congregation that they should look to Christ, not Caesar, for their model of behavior, since their primary allegiance is to God and his kingdom. They need to stand together with one another and with Paul in striving for the gospel.” (2) “Unity is one important way in which believers’ lives are shown to be ‘worthy of the gospel of Christ’…Paul urges his readers not to break under the pressure of opposition, but instead to exert pressure of their own. This means proclaiming the gospel they have believed and living in a manner worthy of it.” (3) “A Gospel walk and conversation lies in such things as these; constant attendance on the preaching of the Gospel…cultivating love, unity, and peace…retaining and striving for the doctrines of the Gospel…believers ought to stand fast, and should abide by it, and never give up…the holy Spirit of God…is the beginner of the good work of grace on the soul, he is also who carries it on and will perfect it; and therefore to him should the people of God look for grace and strength, to enable them to stand fast in the profession of their faith, to hold fast without wavering, and to persevere to the end…true Christian love makes the saints to be of one heart and soul…brotherly love should continue, and all endeavours be used to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace…by which a good warfare with them may be warred, and the good fight of faith fought with much success; and the whole requires great care and solicitude, earnestness, zeal, constancy, and courage: striving together for these, intends either striving with the apostle, and as they had him both as a fellow soldier, and for an example.” (4) God calls us to live lives worthy of Christ for the benefit of believers and unbelievers, with God’s unmatchable light and the Spirit’s power.

Not Ashamed

Paul opens his letter to the Romans with his declaration of faith. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17; Habakkuk 2:4) “Paul explains why he is so eager to preach the gospel everywhere: the gospel is the saving power of God, in which the righteousness of God is revealed. Because of their lack of size, fame, or honor in the Roman corridors of power and influence, Christians might be tempted to be ashamed of the Christian message. But Paul says it is nothing to be ashamed of, for it is, in fact, a message coming with the power of God that brings people to salvation…the expression in Greek (dikaiosynē theou, ‘the righteousness of God’) likely…refers directly to God’s right moral character, particularly manifested in his holiness and justice, and in the way that his method of saving sinners through Christ’s death meets the just demand of his holy nature…From faith for faith probably means that right standing with God is by faith from start to finish. The life of faith is all-encompassing: it is by faith that one initially receives the gift of salvation (eternal life), but it is also by faith that one lives each day…The whole of the Christian life, from beginning to end, is lived in trust and dependence on the God who graciously justifies the sinner.” (5) The unmatchable gospel light of God is meant to be seen in our relationships, speech, choices, desires, and perspective, which pleases God more than anything else. “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Luke 7:23)

Pleasing God

“For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:1-4) “They spoke ‘the Gospel…salvation by Christ, and not by the works of the law; the pure Gospel, and not a mixed one, free from the mixture of all human doctrines and inventions of men, without any adulteration and inconsistency; the whole of the Gospel, and not a part of it only; they declared the whole counsel of God, and kept back nothing that might be profitable: and this is styled the Gospel of God, to distinguish it from the Gospel of men, or that which the false teachers taught, and which was called the Gospel, though it was not so…setting forth the grace of God in election, redemption, justification, pardon, adoption, regeneration, and glorification, and expressing things relating to the kingdom of God…the apostles were so bold to speak it, because it was not of men, but God…not that there were any previous fitness and worthiness in them to be ministers of the word; but such was the good will and pleasure of God, that he from all eternity chose and appointed them to this work…[the gospel] which to be trusted with is a very great honour; and the discharge of such a trust requires great faithfulness, and which the apostles had…the Gospel as delivered to them, both as to matter and manner; neither taking from it nor adding to it, nor mixing it with anything of their own, nor disguising it with any artifice: not as pleasing men; to gain favour and affection, esteem, applause, and honour from them; to escape reproach and persecution, and obtain worldly advantages by dropping, concealing, or blending of truths to make them more agreeable to the taste of natural men: but [for] God…and who being the searcher of the hearts, and the trier of the reins of the children of men, knows the intentions and designs of men, and the springs of all actions; and sees through all artifices, and from whom nothing can be hidden, and who will, in his own time, bring to light the hidden things of darkness; under a sense of which faithful ministers act, as of sincerity, and as in the sight of an omniscient God.” (6) We see here how the apostles consistently exhorted God’s people to live the gospel. Like them, we are to be witnesses of the incomparable, superior, preeminent light of God in the gospel in our relationships, speech, choices, desires, and perspective, which pleases God more than anything else.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:3-4) “Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n and nature sing!” Merry Christmas!

Related Scripture: Acts 15:7; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31) 2 Corinthians 5:21-6:2; 10:15-16; Ephesians 4:1-6; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38.

Notes:

1. https://gaither.com/go-tell-it-on-the-mountain-the-story-behind-the-song/

2. English Standard Version Study Bible Notes, Philippians 1:27, (digital edition), Crossway, 2008.

3. The Reformation Study Bible, Philippians 1:27, Reformation Trust Publishing (Ligonier Ministries), Sanford, Fl., 2015.

4. Gill, John, John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible, Philippians 1:27, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/phil-1.html.

5. Reformation Study Bible Notes, Romans 1:16-17, Ibid.

6. Gill, John, John Gill’s Exposition on the Whole Bible, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-4, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/1-thessalonians.html.

December 25, 2024