SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS

- What does Revelation 21:1 have in common with the very first verse of the Bible? What was the heaven and earth God describes in Genesis 1 & 2 like? What happened to heaven and earth - all of creation - in Genesis 3?

- What is creation like now? Read Romans 8:19-21. Who subjected the earth to its current futility? What hope is there in this earth?

- Why did God make a covenant with his people in this fallen world? (hint: Exodus 25:8, Jeremiah 32:38) What was this first covenant dependent on? What was the consequence of not obeying God by keeping his commands?

- Read Jeremiah 31:31-33 and 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. What is the new covenant? What does the new covenant lead to? What will life be like then? (hint: Revelation 7:16-17, Revelation 21:1-4) How does that hope affect your life now?