Every Stone Speaks

The whole Bible in six places

Where God lives with His people

From the first page of the Bible to the last, God wants to live close to His people. Follow His story through six places: a garden, a tent, a temple, a Person, a people and a city that lasts forever.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:3 (BSB)

This is how the Bible ends: God living with His people, for good. Here is how the story gets there.

  1. A garden
  2. A tent
  3. A temple
  4. A Person: Jesus
  5. A people
  6. A city forever

Teach it in Sunday school

A garden with a little waterfall, a pool and green trees all around.
A garden with a little waterfall, a pool and green trees all around.

1. A garden

Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:8 (BSB)

In the beginning, God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden He made. Then they disobeyed Him, and when they heard Him coming, they hid among the trees. Sin had come between people and God. But God did not give up on them.

Talk about itWhy did Adam and Eve hide? Do you ever want to hide when you have done something wrong?

A camp of tents and rugs where travelers rested.
A camp of tents and rugs where travelers rested.

2. A tent

And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.

Exodus 25:8 (BSB)

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:34 (BSB)

After God rescued His people from Egypt, they lived in tents in the desert. God told them to make a special tent for Him too, the tabernacle, so He could live among them. When it was finished, His glory filled it. Wherever His people camped, God was right there in the middle.

Talk about itWhy do you think God chose to live in a tent, right in the middle of the camp?

A small stone church. God’s temple in Jerusalem looked very different, but it was built for the same reason: to meet with God.
A small stone church. God’s temple in Jerusalem looked very different, but it was built for the same reason: to meet with God.

3. A temple

And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD so that the priests could not stand there to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

1 Kings 8:10-11 (BSB)

But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.

1 Kings 8:27 (BSB)

Years later, King Solomon built a temple of stone and gold in Jerusalem. On the day it was finished, God’s glory filled it so that the priests could not even stand inside. But Solomon knew that the whole sky cannot hold God, much less one building. God was planning something even closer.

Talk about itSolomon said even the highest heavens cannot hold God. What does that tell us about how big God is?

A block of homes in a Roman town, where ordinary families lived.
A block of homes in a Roman town, where ordinary families lived.

4. A Person: Jesus

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 (BSB)

Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” “This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?” But Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body.

John 2:19-21 (BSB)

Then God came closer than ever. Jesus, God’s Son, became a man and lived among ordinary people. When He talked about the temple being destroyed and raised up in three days, He meant His own body. Jesus is where God and people meet. He died, and on the third day He rose again.

Talk about itWhy is it good news that God came to live among us as a person?

Stones, beams and tools, ready for building.
Stones, beams and tools, ready for building.

5. A people

Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 (BSB)

In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

Ephesians 2:21-22 (BSB)

After Jesus rose and went back to the Father, He sent His Holy Spirit. Now God lives in everyone who trusts Jesus. Together, His people are His temple: not a building of stone, but a house made of people, fitted together like stones in a wall.

Talk about itIf God’s Spirit lives in you, how might that change the way you treat others?

A golden palace full of light.
A golden palace full of light.

6. A city forever

But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

Revelation 21:22 (BSB)

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

Revelation 22:3-4 (BSB)

At the end of the Bible, God makes everything new. The holy city has no temple, because God Himself and Jesus, the Lamb, are there with His people. No more hiding like in the garden. His people will see His face, and live with Him forever.

Talk about itIn the garden, people hid from God. In the new city, they see His face. What changed?

For Sunday school and Bible class

Teach it: a 40-minute lesson

Ages
5 to 12
Time
About 40 minutes
You need
A Bible, this page on a screen or printed, and: A long strip of paper (or six sheets taped in a row) and markers.

Memory verse

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:3 (BSB)

  1. Welcome 5 minutes

    Ask: if you could live close to anyone in the world, who would it be? Why do we want to be near the people who love us?

  2. The six places 15 minutes

    Show each picture. Read its verse, tell what happened in a sentence or two, and ask its question.

  3. Draw the path 15 minutes

    Lay the long paper on the floor. As you talk through each stop, let the children draw it in order along the path: a tree, a tent, a temple, a baby in a manger, a group of people holding hands and a shining city. At the end, walk along the path together and say who lives in each place: God, with His people.

  4. Close 5 minutes

    Say the memory verse together. Then pray:

    God, thank You that You want to live with us. Thank You for sending Jesus. Help us to know You more and be known by You.

Younger children

Use only three stops: the garden (God walked with people), Jesus (God came to live with us) and the city (God with us forever). Let them act out hiding behind a chair, then coming out to be found.

Older children

Read Revelation 21:3 and Genesis 3:8 side by side. Ask what is the same and what is different. Then ask: what did it cost to get from the garden to the city?