It's not very often that we think that we are presently in the thick of battle, bullets whizzing overhead and shells exploding all around us. But this spiritual reality that John lays out in Revelation has helped me to make sense of a lot more of what has been happening in the recent months and I'm happy to say that ground has been gained in more than a few places.
We've been studying Revelation in G360 and to date the biggest takeaway for me is how dominant the theme of warfare as describing the every day Christian experience is. Initially introduced as being thrown in prison by Satan, or a faithful witness being killed among the seven churches in the first 3 chapters, John later pulls back the curtain to reveal that we live in the intervening period where Jesus the Psalm 2 king has ascended into heaven (Rev 12.5), but Satan is thrown down to earth (and may or may not be bound depending on your position on the millennium). In his anger, he is presently warring on the saints and allowed to conquer them through empires in control of the world. At the same time, Christians who are on earth are numbered like the fighting men in Numbers to a 144,000 are those who are seeking to counter-conquer, that is by their evangelism bring people into repentance and faith in Jesus instead. That is how Christians are living out their day to day, trying to resist Satan's relentless battering on Christians, rejecting the alluring seduction of the powerful and rich who worship Satan, and at the same time holding out the gospel to those who are in Satan's camp.
Looking back over the two semesters there's been quite a few victories worth celebrating. Biggest of all has to be one of my 121s coming to believe in the gospel as we went through Mark's gospel, and he finally took a step for his baptism on Easter Sunday.
There was also one new Christian who started joining for Bible studies in my GG and it's been wonderfully encouraging watching her grow in her knowledge and love for Jesus. We also had one non-Christian guy A, who describes himself as a postmodern existentialist atheist, who came for my talk on whether Jesus really resurrected and who came for some of our end of sem May Bible Retreat (MBR) to continue examining Christianity!
At our MBR, hearing my group share their takeaways from John's gospel really showed me how powerful God is to use the words of John to accomplish his purpose. John wrote that he put pen to paper in order that his readers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing might have life in his name. Truly, the gushing thankfulness that they had as a group showed me that John's purpose was accomplished as we opened up each chapter and let the word do the work. Two anecdotes stood out particularly, one student K mentioned that John 12 was pivotal in showing her that her faith is not her own but something given by God. She initially resisted, feeling she should receive credit for coming back to Christianity, but felt that knowing this grew her thankfulness for her faith as a gift from God. Another student J mentioned that he's become super convinced that John's account is a rich and detailed picture of Jesus that serves to show just how wonderful life is under Jesus, and he's thankful that he's left behind his worldly life for life with Jesus.
At the finale night, we got to hear from quite a few students who testified that being in a community on campus kept them a Christian, or introduced them to the gospel, which continues to bring me joy as someone who benefitted in both those ways back when I was a student myself. The staff were especially moved to hear one of the students who was on the path to investment banking out of maximising the money he could earn come to value the gospel so much that he made several costly decisions to prioritise his relationship with Jesus.
There's a lot more I would love to share as I begin to reflect and consolidate on the two years in this MAP and the 6 years in total in SMUCF, which I will do over the next 2 months. We're not entirely out of the wood yet with J.I Packer's Knowing God coming up, as well as SSBC summer.
Please join in me in lots of thanksgiving for God's kindness in working through the instruments that we are in SMUCF!
Please also pray that as I prepare to transition to life in Bible college and also part time in IBC that my heart will continue to be humbled by the cross, and I will be wise in rest and in the preparation that I do!