Make sure you have a notebook and pen on hand for writing down your thoughts as you study this lesson.

Objective

In this lesson, we’ll see that Revelation ends with the complete victory of Christ and His glorious eternal reign over all creation.

Key Verse

Revelation 21:4: And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Introduction

What is happening in heaven during this time of tribulation on earth? John allows us to peer through heaven’s windows as God judges the earth. While believers face different views about the timing of Christ’s return and the church’s experience during tribulation, all Christians agree on this wonderful truth: God’s people will be forever united with Christ in glory.

In chapter 19 we discover one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Scripture—the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. This powerful image symbolizes the complete and eternal union of God’s people with Christ. Throughout Scripture, God has used marriage as a picture of His relationship with His people. The prophet Hosea compared God’s love for Israel to a faithful husband pursuing an unfaithful wife. In the New Testament, Paul tells us that human marriage is a mystery that points us to the relationship between Christ and His church.

Ephesians 5:32: This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

It’s no accident that Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. By turning water into wine at that celebration, Jesus was pointing forward to the ultimate wedding celebration—when He would be united forever with His bride, the church. The Marriage Feast of the Lamb represents the moment when everything God has been working toward throughout history reaches its glorious completion.

Revelation 19:7-9: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

The seven years of tribulation come to an end when Jesus Christ returns in the clouds. In this lesson, we’ll look at the magnificent events described in the final chapters of Revelation:

• The Second Coming of Christ
• The millennial reign of Christ
• The resurrection of the dead
• The final judgment
• The eternal state

The Second Coming of Christ

The Second Coming of Christ will be sudden and dramatic. Many Bible students distinguish this event from what they call the rapture, believing that Christ will first come for His church and then return with His church to establish His kingdom. Other believers understand these as different aspects of the same glorious return. Regardless of your position on the timing, all Christians agree that Christ’s return will be visible, powerful, and victorious.

The Second Coming will not be secret or hidden. Every eye will see Him when He returns. Christ will come back with the saints and angels to defeat Satan’s forces and establish His righteous rule.

Revelation 19:11-15: Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Revelation 1:7: Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

All through the Bible we read prophecies that the Lord will come with His saints to judge the wicked. This ancient promise will be fulfilled in the Second Coming of Christ.

Jude 14-15: Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Consider these additional Old Testament prophecies that speak about Christ’s return:

Psalm 50:3-6: Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people: “Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge.

Zechariah 14:4-5: And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.

Notebook Moment: How does knowing that Christ will return in victory and power encourage you when you face difficulties and injustices in this present world?

Matthew 16:27: For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

Christ promised that He would return in the same manner that He departed from this earth.

John 14:3: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Acts 1:11: Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.

Christ comes back to conquer, judge, and rule. He will defeat the Antichrist and the armies of the world at the great battle of Armageddon.

Revelation 19:19: And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

Christ defeats the Antichrist and the false prophet completely. They are cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 19:20: Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

The Millennial Reign of Christ

After the battle of Armageddon, Satan will be bound for a thousand years. Christ will then establish His righteous reign on earth with Jerusalem as His capital.

Revelation 20:1-4: Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The reign of Christ will be a direct fulfillment of the prophecy that God gave to David centuries earlier.

2 Samuel 7:16: And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

The Old Testament prophets spoke repeatedly about this glorious reign of the Messiah on earth.

Isaiah 2:2-5: Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Isaiah 11:1-9: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Micah 4:1-7: Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.

Why will Christ reign on earth for a thousand years? The purpose will be to demonstrate what God always intended for humanity. We will see what it means to live in perfect obedience under the righteous reign of Christ. The earth will finally experience the peace, justice, and prosperity that God designed from the beginning.

Jeremiah 31:31-34: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.

Satan will be released at the end of the millennium. In one final act of rebellion, he will gather the nations for war against God. But this last desperate attempt will be quickly crushed, and Satan will be defeated and punished for eternity.

Revelation 20:7-10: Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Resurrection of the Dead and the Final Judgment

After Satan’s final defeat, those who have died without Christ will be resurrected for the final judgment. This is not a resurrection to life, but a resurrection to judgment.

Revelation 20:11-15: Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Bible tells us that someday every knee will bow before Christ. This prophecy will be fulfilled at the final judgment.

Isaiah 45:23-24: I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.’

Philippians 2:10-11: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Himself prophesied about the final judgment when He described it as the separation of sheep from goats.

Matthew 25:31-34: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’

It is important to understand what the Bible teaches about who is judged and how they are judged. Believers will not stand before the Great White Throne for condemnation. Our sin was judged at the cross when Jesus paid the price for our rebellion against God.

2 Corinthians 5:21: For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Notebook Moment: How does it change your perspective on daily challenges to know that if you trust in Christ, you will never face God’s condemnation for your sins?

However, the Bible does teach that believers will give an account for how we have lived for Christ. We will be rewarded according to our faithful stewardship of the gifts and opportunities God has given us.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15: For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

The Eternal State

After the final judgment, the Lord will create a new heaven and a new earth. Everything that sin brought into the world will be completely destroyed and replaced with perfection. There will be no more sorrow, no more tears, and no more death.

Revelation 21:1-4: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 22:1-5: And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

For all eternity we will enjoy God’s presence and grow in our knowledge of His infinite grace and love.

Psalm 16:11: You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Notebook Moment: When you consider the promise of eternity with God—no more pain, no more tears, no more death—how does this hope change how you view your current struggles and disappointments?

Conclusion

The Bible ends with the completion of God’s perfect plan. Christ is triumphant over sin and death. He will reign forever as King of kings and Lord of lords. Every enemy has been defeated, every tear has been wiped away, and every wrong has been made right.

This is the wonderful hope that we have as believers. We look forward to the day when Christ returns to establish His kingdom and to bring us into His eternal presence. No matter what difficulties we face in this present world, we can live with confidence because we know how the story ends—Christ wins!

The prayer of every Christian should echo what John prayed at the very end of Revelation: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

Revelation 22:20: He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Until that glorious day arrives, we have the privilege of living as citizens of His coming kingdom, sharing the hope of His return with a world that desperately needs to hear the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Check Your Understanding

Take this 5-question quiz to check your understanding of this lesson.

Congratulations on completing the New Testament Survey course!