Gethin Jones, Paris, France

My name is Gethin Jones, I’m a minister in the International Presbyterian Church and I’ve just moved to serve long-term as a missionary in Paris.

Which verses would you take to the desert island?

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” John 21:12a

It may seem a strange or funny verse to pick but the Lord helped me quite deeply through it a few years ago. I was visiting the USA for the first time and had found myself within a mile of where the bombs went off at the 2013 Boston Marathon, having been at the Finish Line about half an hour earlier. It was a rather stressful experience. The following morning, I wasn’t sure whether the friend I was staying with was up so I texted him this verse as we’d planned to go out for breakfast. I sent it partly in jest, but then I started to reflect. I realised these were words spoken to disciples who were themselves just getting over the trauma of having one they believed to be the Messiah die. They knew he was alive again, but recovery from that kind of shock can still take time. Of course, Jesus had things to tell them, issues to deal with, but first, he invited them to eat breakfast with him.

And there’s actually an important doctrine here. What is the key thing the risen Christ gives us? Justification? Sanctification? Adoption? He does give us all those things of course, but as means to an end — communion, deep friendship, with God. That’s what the Lord’s Supper is about. We believe in a God who loves, and wants to have breakfast with his people.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became life-giving Spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:42-9

This passage (v45 especially) has become precious to me as it represents a lot of how my understanding of the Bible grew during my studies at Westminster Theological Seminary. I came to appreciate the significance of Jesus’ resurrection in the context of the flow of the Bible. Reading Geerhardus Vos was a key help for me here. In this verse is a second Adam who passed the test which Adam failed. Here, at last, is a man who has passed on to the glorified state that God offered man from the beginning. Now there is a man in heaven with resurrection life coursing through him because he has been given the Holy Spirit in a special way — so special that Paul even says he has become life-giving Spirit. And he has given us the Spirit who was given to him. Actually, here’s another key truth about the Lord’s Supper. Just as by faith we receive spiritual life from a man in heaven, by faith we receive spiritual nourishment from bits of bread and wine. It all comes back to our enjoying deep friendship with God.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Ephesians 1:3

This past year I had the privilege of serving as an Assistant Minister at IPC Ealing, and I had some fun side-projects like teaching Greek at London Seminary and the Cornhill Training Course. I got all my students memorising this verse in the Greek — it’s such a key verse for understanding what God has done for us. I had grown up with the idea that there are different degrees or stages of becoming a real Christian. And of course it can seem like a gradual process for some. But, for example, I remember someone teaching me that there’s a difference between being regenerated and being baptised in the Spirit. That’s a perfect recipe for ruining someone’s assurance, as the experiences or benefits have been separated from the person of Christ. Paul is clear here. We have every Spiritual blessing, and we have them by our being in Christ. How are we saved? Simply by being united to Christ — by being put in him. Regeneration and Spirit-baptism are just different ways of speaking of being united to Christ. The key is not different processes, it’s whether or not I’m in Christ. And I get into Christ simply by repenting from sin and entrusting myself to him.

Who would you like to find on the island for company?

I’d probably just want to take a friend but I’ve been told I have to pick someone dead. 
I’d probably choose one of the writers I’ve most enjoyed reading so the top candidates would be John Calvin, Herman Bavinck, Francis Turretin and Geerhardus Vos. Turretin would be a good laugh because he sometimes just says something totally random out of the blue. It’d probably be between Vos and Calvin though and Calvin would win just because I can speak French. Vos spoke English but I guess he would just want to speak Dutch when he got tired, and I don’t speak Dutch.

Which song would you take to the island?

Handel’s Messiah! It’s a work of genius and beauty — and a great way of sneaking some extra Scripture onto the Island. I’ve found music to be a great way of memorising Scripture as well as the Shorter Catechism. Handel’s Messiah is just straight Bible through and through. I recommend the recording done by The Sixteen and Harry Christophers — the way the soprano solo interprets “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” is especially stunning.