“December 4–10. Revelation 1–5: ‘Glory, and Power, Be unto … the Lamb for Ever,’” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: New Testament 2023 (2021)
“December 4–10. Revelation 1–5,” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: 2023
December 4–10
Revelation 1–5
“Glory, and Power, Be unto … the Lamb for Ever”
Receiving spiritual impressions helps you recognize that the Holy Ghost wants to teach you. Recording and following those impressions demonstrates that you value them and desire to receive more.
Invite Sharing
As you begin a discussion, it may be helpful to invite class members to share some of the messages they found in the book of Revelation during their personal or family study. For example, what did they learn about Heavenly Father’s plan to save His children? What did they learn about the Savior and His role in this plan? Encourage class members to keep looking for important messages about Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation as they continue reading Revelation at home. Give them an opportunity during future lessons to share what they find.
Teach the Doctrine
Jesus Christ is the Living Son of the Living God.
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The imagery and symbolism in Revelation 1 vividly testify that Jesus Christ lives and that He guides His Church. Perhaps class members could write on the board several phrases from Revelation 1 that include imagery or symbolism and share what each phrase teaches them about Jesus Christ. For example, what do we learn from these symbols about how Christ leads His Church today? How does John’s description of the Savior compare to the one in Doctrine and Covenants 110:1–4?
Jesus Christ knows us personally and will help us overcome our challenges.
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Reading the Lord’s messages to the various branches of the Church in Revelation 2–3 could help reassure class members that the Savior is aware of them. Maybe you could invite them to scan these chapters to find evidence that Jesus Christ knew each branch’s trials and strengths. They could also share experiences in which they felt that the Savior was aware of their unique circumstances. What counsel did the Lord give the Saints that can also help us overcome our struggles?
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In these same chapters the Lord made inspiring promises to those who overcome. You could invite class members to work in pairs to search Revelation 2–3 to find the Lord’s promises. Perhaps they could also draw pictures to represent some of these promises, then share with the class what they find. How do these promises inspire us to continue striving to overcome our own trials and weaknesses?
Only Jesus Christ could make Heavenly Father’s plan possible.
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Would an object lesson help your class understand the symbolism in Revelation 5 about the Savior opening the sealed book? You might bring a treat in a locked container to share with the class. Before class, secretly give one person the key to the lock. Describe to the class what is inside the container, and allow several class members to try opening the box before the person with the key opens it. Then the class could compare this object lesson to Revelation 5. Questions like these might help: How is the salvation of Heavenly Father’s children like the locked container or the sealed book? Why was Jesus Christ the only One who could open the seals? (see the quotation in “Additional Resources”).
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Like the jubilant people mentioned in Revelation 5, today we can also raise our voices to praise the Savior as the One who is worthy to offer us salvation. Perhaps class members could sing together a favorite hymn of praise about the Savior, such as “Glory to God on High” (Hymns, no. 67). Class members could identify truths the hymn teaches about Jesus Christ. What similarities do we see between the messages of our hymns of praise and the declarations in Revelation 5:9–14?
Additional Resources
Only Jesus Christ could atone for us.
Describing events in the premortal life, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught:
“Christ volunteered to honor the moral agency of all humankind even as He atoned for their sins. In the process, He would return to the Father all glory for such redemptive love.
“This infinite Atonement of Christ was possible because (1) He was the only sinless man ever to live on this earth and therefore was not subject to the spiritual death resulting from sin, (2) He was the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore possessed the attributes of godhood that gave Him power over physical death, and (3) He was apparently the only one sufficiently humble and willing in the premortal council to be foreordained to that service” (“The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Mar. 2008, 35).
Improving Our Teaching
Use the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets. “The Lord has commanded us to ‘teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom’ [Doctrine and Covenants 88:77] and to use the scriptures to ‘teach the principles of [His] gospel’ [Doctrine and Covenants 42:12]. The scriptures and words of latter-day prophets and apostles are the source of the truths we teach” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 21).