Introduction: Are you glad to come to the end of a task? My
students feel joy when final exams are over. They feel joy
when they finish law school and obtain their law degree.
Even small tasks provide a feeling of accomplishment when
they are done. Imagine being done with sin, sadness, and the
struggles we face on earth. Even if your life seems good, it
does not compare to eternal life in the earth made new.
Let’s turn again to our Bibles and explore the end of our
mission here on earth!
I. Time to Get Serious
A. Read Revelation 1:1-2. Who is the source behind
the book of Revelation? (God gave it to Jesus who
gave it to an angel who gave it to John who gave
it to us!)
1. Why tell us that? (We have this message from
the ultimate source of truth.)
B. Read Revelation 1:3. What is the result of paying
attention to this book? (Blessings.)
1. Is there any urgency in becoming acquainted
with the book of Revelation? (“The time is
near.”)
a. Does that cause you to wonder about the
accuracy of Revelation? It was written
around two thousand years ago, how can
that be “near?” (In fact, Revelation
starts revealing the future starting with
the time of John.)
C. Read Revelation 1:4-5. Are the elements of the
gospel in these two verses? (Yes.)
D. Read Revelation 1:6 and 1 Peter 2:9. What is our
role in this kingdom? (We are God’s priests in His
Kingdom. Peter calls us “royal” priests.)
1. If God calls you a royal priest of His
kingdom, what does that suggest about your
daily work? (The priests represented God. They
did God’s work. They communicated God’s will
to the people.)
2. What important fact does our role as priests
add to our understanding of righteousness by
faith alone? (Many people think that
righteousness by faith means that their
actions do not matter. If you are God’s
representative, then your actions matter a
great deal! It is an honor to represent God.
We need to prize our role.)
E. Read Revelation 1:7. What is the end goal of our
priestly work representing the Kingdom of God?
(The formal end of sin and the second arrival of
Jesus, this time as our King and Redeemer.)
1. What is troubling about the reaction of
humans? (They “wail” because of Jesus’ return.
The word wail means “to beat and cut”
according to Barnes Commentary. This is
extreme sorrow. Intense regret.)
2. Let’s explore this. What does this say about
your mission work? (It means many will reject
it.)
3. This wailing reaction seems odd in some ways.
Some people are hostile to the gospel. Is this
the reaction to being defeated?
a. Or does this reaction seem more
appropriate to those who intended to turn
to Jesus but never got around to it?
b. How about those who are not hostile, but
are also not convinced of the gospel?
(Among those I know best, disbelief is
the dominant reaction. They generally
know about Jesus and being born again. It
is just not for them. They feel they are
“good people,” they identify as
Christians, and that is enough in their
view.)
II. Three Angels
A. Read Revelation 14:6-7. What is the motivational
point of the message of the first angel? (Judgment
is coming.)
1. We just discussed the problem of those who
never become serious about salvation. Is the
first angel’s message our message? Have we
made a mistake by stressing the love of God
and downplaying judgment?
a. Is avoiding judgment an important part of
the love message?
2. How do we prove God has the authority to
judge? (He is our Creator God. His act of
creation shows love. His sacrifice to save us
from judgment shows love.)
B. Read Romans 1:20-22. How important is belief in
God as our Creator? (Without that belief human
thinking is impaired. This is a central problem
that we face in sharing the gospel.)
C. Let’s skip down to the message of the third angel.
Read Revelation 14:9-10. Is this a message of
judgment?
1. One of the logically strongest arguments
against preaching judgment is that God wants
us to come to Him through love, not fear. Can
you think of a way to argue love in a judgment
message? (Sin cannot survive. Sin destroys.
Judgment is inevitable. Jesus gave Himself up
to allow us to avoid judgment.)
2. Think of the story of Noah (Genesis 6-9). Is
that a story of love or judgment?
a. Put yourself in Noah’s place. How would
you talk about the ark that you were
building?
III. Welcome Home!
A. Read Revelation 21:1. What are we told about the
new earth? (“The sea was no more.”)
1. There is a negative inference here. What is
inferred based on a lack of comment? (We are
told that the sea will not be here, but that
suggests that the land might exist in the
general form it is now, just larger to account
for the lack of a sea.)
B. Read 2 Peter 3:10-12. What does thus tell us about
the earth? (It seems to say that the atmosphere
(and the stars?) will burn and be dissolved. As to
the earth, it says it is “exposed.” I’m not sure
what this means, but it might be consistent with
us recognizing the contours of our present land
masses.)
1. Why are we even discussing this? (Randy Alcorn
wrote “Heaven” and it suggests this idea – an
idea that I would like to be true.)
C. Read Revelation 21:2-3. Forget the contours of the
earth, what is the great news about the earth made
new? (God will live with us! The new earth will
be the capitol of the universe. We will live in
the capitol city!)
D. Read Revelation 21:4. What will be your mental
state in the earth made new? (Joy! No death, no
tears, no pain – they are all gone!)
E. Read Revelation 21:15-16. Does this look like the
artist conceptions of the New Jerusalem? (This
tells us that the New Jerusalem is a cube! It
looks like a giant condominium! Its “length and
width and height are equal.”)
F. Read Revelation 21:22-25. What is the light source
for the New Jerusalem and the earth made new?
(God’s glory gives it light. Jesus is its lamp. As
a result, there is no longer any night.)
1. Think about that a minute. Will you miss
night? Will you miss rest and sleep? (What
this means is that we will not need rest. We
will not get tired. We will always have
energy.)
G. Read Revelation 22:1-2. How do you think this will
work? We are told that the New Jerusalem is a
cube. How can the river of the water of life flow
through it from God’s throne? How can it have a
main street? How can the tree of life grow on both
sides of the river of life? (The way I conceive
this is that God’s throne is at the top of the
condominium, which is consistent with Him being
the light source. The New Jerusalem is an “open
atrium” condominium, with the river of life
flowing down from floor to floor, and the main
street of the city following that pattern. This
means that each floor of the condo has a main
street and the river. The tree of life extends on
both sides up through the middle of the condo in
the open atrium.)
H. Read Revelation 22:6-7. Is this God’s guarantee
that He is coming to save us and live with us
forever?
I. Friend, Jesus is coming! We need to tell the
world about our Creator God. We need to warn the
world about the coming destruction. We need to
give the good news God that loves humans and has
provided a way out of destruction and into a
glorious eternal life! Will you share this great,
good news?
IV. Next week: We begin a study of the book of Psalms.
Copr. 2023, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study
