Seeds of Faith Podcast

The text for this lesson is Revelation 21:1–22:21.

Key Points

• Those who believe that salvation has been accomplished by the all-availing sacrifice of Jesus’ blood on the cross will bear the name of Christ written on their forehead in Holy Baptism, and will have the right to the tree of life.
• Law: If I do not believe in Christ as my Savior, I will not enter the gates of heaven.
• Gospel: I am baptized and believe in Jesus, the Lamb of God; He has written my name in His Book of Life, and I shall be saved.

Context

This is the acme of John’s Revelation, indeed, the crescendo of all the Scriptures. In many ways, it is also a digest or summary of the Bible, for in these two chapters is contained the teachings of sin and salvation, heaven and hell, Jesus and the Church, the Holy Trinity, and so forth. John plucks images, as if flowers, from various other books of the Old Testament and New Testament to weave this textual bouquet that pictures the inheritance of the saints.

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Discussion Points and Questions

1. Sometimes we consider our eternal home to be a celestial, otherworldly place. Read Revelation 21:2–3 again. From where does our eternal home come? Where is our eternal home going to be?
2. Imagine a world without money. Our eternal home will be one in which God will “give from the spring of the water of life without payment” (Revelation 21:6). How would your world change if there were no need for money?
3. When John is lifted up and given a vision of our eternal home, he sees the city walls and gates. The walls are built upon twelve foundations, “and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Revelation 21:14). In the creed, we confess a belief in “one holy Christian and apostolic Church” (LSB, p. 158). How do the twelve apostles even now form the foundation for the Church? In what sense is our church apostolic?
4. We are accustomed to thinking about the church as God’s house. On our altars in our sanctuaries, God’s glory dwells in, with, and under the bread and wine. Revisit Revelation 21:22–27. How is our eternal home going to differ from our current state?
5. It is often said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Read Revelation 22:4. Someday, we will get to see God face-to-face. If faith is the “conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), then what will become of faith in heaven?
6. John records an extensive list of those who will not be in the kingdom. These include “sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15). Does this imply that those who do such deeds are not capable of entering heaven? Does this reject the idea that we are saved by faith alone?
7. The Scriptures are God’s own story in His own words. How would you feel if someone came along and changed your story? How would you feel if someone spoke your story in different words? Look at Revelation 22:18–19. How does God feel about someone changing His story or His words?
8. Read Revelation 22:20–21. These are the last words of the Bible. You have just read some of the most amazing promises that God makes anywhere in the Bible. There will be no more tears and no more pain. There will no longer be anything accursed. Jesus, our Lamb, will be our light. Would you give up this creation for the joys of the new creation? Can you say, “Come, Lord Jesus”?