We’re closing the book of Revelation with a bang! John’s giving us more thrilling glimpses of our eternal future with Jesus, and reminding us that this exhilarating future is coming sooner than we think.
The trees are being parted as we make our way into the golden city, the New Heaven and the New Earth. Many people are hesitant about living forever in heaven, but John will help us look forward to our ridiculously bright future with excitement.
What’s your idea of heaven on earth? You might have had a little taste at a beautiful place or with a loving group of people. But we’ll get the ultimate taste of heaven on earth when Jesus comes to reign on earth for 1000 years at the end of this age.
We all have hopes for our lives. From healthy and flourishing families, to financial stability, to your favorite sports team winning the championship. These desires have something in common: they are not guaranteed to happen. But one hope we can count on is the return of King Jesus to make everything right in our world. That's the hope we need.
The sky is always most beautiful after the storm, and that’s what we’ll start to see as we get to the last few chapters of Revelation. After God’s storm puts an end to evil and suffering, we’ll celebrate with all of heaven and earth.
The final judgment depicted in Revelation sounds terrifying, and it should be for those without Jesus. But for those of us who’ve put our trust in Christ, it’s good news of how God will finally free us from the destructive effects of sin in the world.
Maybe you've heard the phrase, "Be in the world, but not of the world." But what does that really mean, and how do we live that out?
We have an ancient enemy who’s trying to peel away the disciples of Christ to worship him instead. The continual encouragement in Revelation is to endure, even when Satan makes life difficult for us. And as we’ll see in Revelation 14, we can be faithful today by remembering the harvest reward we’ll experience in the days to come.
This week we’re heading back to Revelation! Many Christians think of Revelation as some kind of Magic 8-Ball that gives cryptic answers to our burning questions about the future, but John primarily wrote the book to be a source of encouragement and challenge for us today. There are many things Christians need to endure in the world today, and John will show us the way.