All Things New Bible Study

January 11th, 2024
by Luke Kjolhaug

Welcome to the first of many resources provided by Faith & Fellowship magazine! Our goal is to provide a practical resource for you, your small group, or your family that can be easily implemented and applied, centered on the theme of each issue of the magazine.

For this issue, we’ve created a four-week Bible study on Revelation 21:1-8, along with discussion questions and companion videos. It is our hope and prayer that these will serve you and your congregations as you dwell in his Word and seek to join Jesus on his mission.

Each week, read Revelation 21:1-8, read the devotional, and answer the reflection questions. An action step is provided for you or your small group to live out what you have been learning over the previous four weeks. Companion videos are also available for you below.

click here to download companion videos

Revelation 21:1-8
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

WEEK ONE: GOD'S DWELLING PLACE

Where is God? That is our constant cry as human beings. For the Christian, seasons of suffering or doubt can cause us to question God’s proximity to us. For the non-believer, every upturned stone in their search for meaning is also an unwitting attempt to answer the same question: Where is God? They think, “Happiness eludes me, so I guess God is not here.” But in verse 3 of our passage, John gives a more cogent answer. “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” Where is God’s dwelling place? It is with his people! Immanuel is not far off, but with us. He became one of the riffraff and ragamuffins that make up this teeming sea of humanity. In his holiness, he didn’t distance himself but drew near to us, and he has the scars to prove it.

Reflection Questions

Read John 1:14. What do you observe about the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us?
What are some “stones” humans overturn in their search for ultimate meaning?
How might your neighbor need you to “draw near” to them?

WEEK TWO: THE SEA WAS NO MORE

In the ancient Near East, the sea was seen as a force of primordial chaos, the embodiment of fear and anxiety and disorder. This is why ancient mariners wrote “There Be Dragons” on the uncharted waters of their maps. With no GPS nor depthfinder, it’s easy to let your imagination run wild. Here in verse 1, John says that “there was no longer any sea.” He is getting a glimpse of a world free of threats to our wellbeing. This is paradise restored, and his language is emphatic: NO MORE death (not just less death). NO MORE crying (not just fewer tears). NO MORE pain (not just fewer cancer patients). For believers, this is our future, too: A sin-free, un-fallen world where—as J.R.R. Tolkien puts it—everything sad will come untrue.

Reflection Questions

What “sea” (evil forces of disorder, unknown, chaos) do you face? What “sea” does your neighbor face?
How does sin bring disorder and chaos to our lives and the lives of others?
Read Colossians 2:13-15. What happened at the Cross? Why is this good news?

WEEK THREE: WITHOUT COST

I remember a test I once took in seminary. One of the questions was true/false, and the statement was simply this: “Grace is free.” How would you have answered? It was intended to be a trick question. From God’s perspective, grace is actually incredibly costly. It cost him the life of his only beloved Son. For believers however—the beneficiaries of Jesus’ work—grace is free, given through faith and not by works. It is received, not achieved. That is the truth John reminds us of in verse 6: “He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.’” In a transactional world where everything must be paid for and earned, Jesus offers waters of eternal life without cost. They are not for sale, but offered as a gift, obtained not by doing but by believing.

Reflection Questions

How does a transactional mindset differ from a grace-centered mindset?
In what ways does “performance-ism” (the belief that your identity rests on your achievements) affect you on a day-to-day basis? Does it ever infiltrate your relationship with God?
Read Isaiah 55:1-5. What do you notice about “the waters” offered here? How should this impact our witness for Christ (see verse 5)?

WEEK FOUR: THE FIERY LAKE OF BURNING SULFUR

Verse 8 is one we might be tempted to gloss over: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all the liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” When it comes to faith in Christ, the stakes are eternal. As C.S. Lewis puts it in The Great Divorce: “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”1 Even in Christian circles the idea of hell is an unpopular one, yet perhaps this is for the wrong reasons. Jesus doesn’t use hell as a scare tactic to frighten people into heaven. Fear is never of the Lord (2 Tim 1:7). Yet the reality of hell can awaken compassion, even grief, within us for those who have yet to experience the Source of all love and goodness and salvation.

Reflection Questions

Contrast John’s descriptions of heaven and hell in this passage.
Read Matthew 25:31-46. What do you notice about the final judgment? What distinguishes the sheep from the goats?
How would you respond if a skeptic asked you, “How can a loving God send people to hell?”

WEEK FIVE TO EIGHT: ACTION - BLESSING OTHERS

As a group, identify four families that you know who need to experience God’s love and grace right now. As God draws near to us, let’s draw near to those around us and share the love of Jesus. They might be a part of your church family, a co-worker, a classmate, or an unbelieving neighbor. Over the next four weeks, find a way to uniquely bless each family (one family per week). Maybe it’s working together to provide a meal. Maybe it’s inviting a lonely elderly couple to join you on a sledding outing. Or maybe it’s blessing an exhausted young couple by providing childcare, so they can enjoy a date night. Continue to build these relationships by praying for them on a regular basis, sending encouraging cards, and sharing your faith as the Lord leads.

List the names here: