Hope and Faithfulness in Revelation 22: Christ’s Sudden Return

Hope at the End of Scripture

In Revelation 22, the very last chapter of the Bible, what do we find? We find hope and faithfulness. Life cannot continue without hope. There is judgment and yet, hope. After the clouds of judgment have passed John's great vision of our future ends on that note.

And what is repeated no less than three times in this chapter? Behold I am coming quickly or soon (Revelation 22: 7,12,20). In these three verses Jesus tells us we are blessed to keep the words of this prophecy, He will reward us "according to our work", and finally John says, "Amen, Come Lord Jesus" to His promise of a quick return.

"I Am Coming Quickly”: What Jesus Meant

One might think, "Well, 2,000 years doesn't seem very soon," but in the Greek soon (tachy) means suddenly. It refers more to how He will appear than any kind of timeline. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:36 His return will be sudden and unpredictable. The Word says, "when we least expect it" (Luke 12:40).

Even more, 1 Corinthians 15:52 describes just how quickly, as Paul says it will be in "a moment in the twinkling of an eye." But the promise of Christ’s sudden return is not given merely to inform us, it is meant to shape how we live while we wait.

Hope and Faithfulness in Revelation 22

What these verses give us is hope. Biblical hope is not passive; it actively changes how believers think, live, and obey. No matter what era we have lived, are living, or will live, we live in the hope of Christ's return and the joy of living in His Holy city is ever present to us.

What does it matter whether we have hope or not? Hope is not simply a wish but something that actively purifies us, just as 1 John 3:3 explains,

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Hope helps us turn from sin, desire righteousness, and encourages us to be less attached to this world. It helps us live differently than someone without hope.

Hope gives us the ability to be faithful, have endurance during difficult times and helps us choose obedience over convenience. Scripture shows how faith, hope, and perseverance are linked. Remember Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for..." Faith gives us an assurance that promises of things to come will actually happen.

That same faith even grows when we experience trials and tribulations (Romans 5:3-5). We choose submission to God because we have a hope that goes beyond this world. If God delays a decade or a thousand years, hope does not weaken, it remains firm. Our hope never ceases.

Delay, Mercy, and God’s Patience

For God, time is not constrained by the days or the years (2 Peter 3:8-9). He is longsuffering because His heart's desire is that "all should come to repentance." Any delay we feel in Christ's coming is because He desires to give grace to all who will receive it. While we wait, He does not leave us without direction or instruction. He tells us we are blessed by keeping the words of this book (Revelation 22:7).

Blessed to Keep the Words—and Our Works

What does it mean that we are blessed to keep the words of this prophecy? Whether we understand perfectly every word in Revelation does not matter. We are blessed when we read it, study it, and remember its warnings and its promises of blessings. Christians have endured many trials and murderous times by remembering these Words of hope from John's great book. The hope that helps us endure hardship is the same hope that tells us our choices right now actually matter forever.

Hope allows us to face judgment without fear. In Revelation 22:12 we are told we are blessed according to what we have done. In 2 Corinthians 5:10 we hear similar words,

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

This is not the judgment seat of those who reject Christ. This one is only for those of us who have called on Him and received His salvation. Paul tells us in Romans 2:6 that God "will render to each one according to His deeds." Paul continues in Romans 2:10, "glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good." But all of this only if a person has been justified and sanctified by the righteousness of Christ. The obedience God loves comes from faith, and faith comes from our trust in the mercy of God.

Scripture never separates works from faith, but it never confuses their order either. Works, then, are not the basis of salvation, but the visible fruit of a life truly joined to Christ. Revelation 22:14 tells us that we are blessed to do his commandments. Some translations read, "blessed are those who washed their robes."

This beautiful imagery points to the same truth: our robes are washed in the blood of Christ and if we truly follow Him we will keep His commandments. We are blessed to enter the gates of the City and eat of the Tree of Life. Jesus Himself told us in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments."

“Amen, Come Lord Jesus”: The Final Hope

A mere six verses later we hear the Apostle with great joy, saying "Amen, Come Lord Jesus." Can there be any more joyous moment for us as Christians to think of our Lord coming to earth to bring His church home? Finally, after all the pain and suffering of this life we go to a beautiful, heavenly city with the River of Life flowing from the throne of God. Shouldn't we all each day repeat these words with John. If His return does not come within our earthly lifetime, our hope does not fail or diminish.

And when our life ends on this earth, if we are still waiting, we will not have to wait any longer for then we will be with Him. This is our hope, our longing and expectation, that our Savior is faithful and true to His Holy Word. Indeed faith is believing that our Father is faithful in all things. His promises are true. His joy will be our joy throughout eternity.

If we read the book of Revelation for what it is meant to be we will see that it is God's greatest and final warning of what will become of us if we reject Him. No one can say they were not told. But it doesn't just stop at warning unbelievers, no, it proceeds to try to describe the glories of life with Him in Heaven. Judgment is not God’s final word—restoration is.

The Bible mentions hope approximately 140 times. God knows the importance of never losing hope. In the great love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, the three abiding characteristics are faith, hope, and love. The faith and hope we find in Revelation 22 is grounded in the all abiding love of our Father. God's promise of hope for believers gives us confidence that God will finish what He has promised, complete restoration.

In Genesis we begin with Eden's tree of life, a garden, and God in the midst of His creation. Sadly all of this was lost. At the end of Revelation, we see all of this restored. So we have a great hope of a complete restoration. It is as it was always meant to be. To all of this glory we can say with the Shulamite woman in Song of Solomon 8:14,

Make haste, my Beloved!