Revelation 21, 22: The Seventh Facet

Week 10, Tuesday: The Bride and the City
John’s vision is now directed toward the glory of the Bride of Christ, which is also the New City of Jerusalem. This juxtaposing of two images brings together a wide variety of Scriptural referents in an expansive vision of what we are to become as a result of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is important that we remember John is being shown visions, images of what is to be, and not the literal reality. Images suggest, they do not describe. So it’s important that we let these images do their work. As we do, we will see them connecting, expanding, and increasing, so that the sense of what Christ is preparing for us – and preparing us for – becomes even more desirable, justifying the longing of all who love the Lord’s appearing (2 Tim. 4.8).

Read Revelation 21

Meditate on Revelation 21.9-21
1.      John used the image of the Bride of Christ to represent the redeemed of the Lord in Revelation 19.6-10. Paul used the same image in Ephesians 5.25-33. How does the idea that we as a people –redeemed by the Lord,  His Bride – lead us to think about the life of faith? What does this image suggest about our daily walk with and work for the Lord?

2.      John dwells at greater length on the image of the City (vv. 10-21). Read verses 10-21 aloud, slowly, dwelling on each feature of the overall image. What feelings are stirred within you as you contemplate what we are to become because of the finished work of Christ?

3.      Meditate on Psalm 48. Compare this with Hebrews 12.22-24. We are becoming the City of God, but we are already that City. In what ways can the vision of what we are to become guide us in thinking about the calling and character of a local church – how the Lord sees us, what He expects of us, what our potential is for His glory here and now?

4.      The City of God is adorned with various precious gems, like the breastplate of the high priest of Israel. Here another image is “patched in” to the image of the Bride and the City. This image has been alluded to already, in Revelation 1.6. How does this image inform our understanding of what God is calling us to be as we patiently endure amid the tribulations of the world? What does this require of us? What does it suggest about our experience in eternal time?

5.      Imagine that you have been asked to help a new believer get off on the right foot in his or her discipleship. How would you use today’s text to give that new believer a vision of what to expect and what to strive for in working out his or her salvation (Phil. 2.12, 13)?

My Reflection
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 = Very much, to what extent does the vision of Revelation 21.9-21 guide your daily planning and living for the Lord? Why did you choose the number you did? What might you begin to do that would allow you to move that number more toward 10 by this time next year?

The Glory of God
The Bride/City of God is described as “having the glory of God” (v. 11). How does this lead us to think about the glory of God – what it is, how we should experience it, what its effects on us ought to be?

Glory to Glory
What can you do today in order to fix the vision of God’s glory, coming in and through you, more firmly in your life?

Memorize
Let’s look more closely at our memory verse, Revelation 21.6, 7. Recite your memory verse aloud. Where does this verse go in a presentation of the Gospel?

Closing Prayer
Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
 
Psalm 80.14-19

T. M. Moore

Download the studies for week 10, and all previous weeks, by clicking here.

The book of Revelation is the culminating episode in the story of God’s covenant. To learn more about that covenant, and to discover the way it integrates all of Scripture into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.