Monday, June 22, 2009

No More Tears in Heaven

Revelation 21:4-6

Three things jump out at me from these three verses regarding our future residence in New Jerusalem. One is “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (verse 4); then “I make all things new” (verse 5), and finally, “It is done” (verse 6).

“God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” is a reference to God finishing His work on the earth. For those who enter into the New Jerusalem they will never cry again, nor experience death or sorrow or any more pain. All things that plagued us before will be gone, for the old earth and its curse will have been removed. I like the promise that we will never cry again for all of our losses and hurts. Why would any of us even have tears in our eyes when we stand before an Almighty God? I think that it will have something to do with how great that He is when we see Him, and possibly we will cringe and cry when we remember how small that we made God, and how angry and how distant.

“I make all things new” is a promise that the new heaven will not be a stagnant place that we will become accustomed to and eventually bored with. Christ will always be creating wonderful and bountiful things for His beautiful bride to enjoy. I remember this line being used by Jesus in the film, “Passion of the Christ” when He is carrying His cross up Calvary’s hill. There is no biblical indication that He actually said that on the way to the cross, but His death there was certainly paying for the right to say it!

“It is done” guarantees that the whole of the redemption plan is accomplished. Jesus cried “It is finished” at the cross, and all has been finished every since, but the future events of Bible prophecy are yet to come to pass. Though already “finished” in heaven, they are yet to be “done” here on earth. When God is “done”, you and I will place our hands on our heavenly inheritance (verse 7), and we will drink of His fountain forever (verse 6).

Take these three glorious prophecies and reevaluate your own personal perception of your heavenly Father. See God now as you will see Him then. Make Him a big God, with boundless love, ready to bless His people and show them all of heaven’s mercies. When you stand before Him then, may He be just as big and wonderful as you believed that He was in this lifetime.

As He will make things new in heaven, may you know that He has made things new even now! All of your old is gone and your new is in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). If you see remnants of the old still lingering in your life, don’t fret, just rest in His finished work and let the Holy Spirit glorify Jesus.

Finally, see God as a finisher, not someone who is catching up. Too often, we see God as responding to the attacks of the enemy, but it is actually the other way around. Satan stirs when God has spoken and it is to frighten us away from where God wants us to be. God has done the work and Jesus has paid the price. Any fears and anxieties that come over you are a blatant attack of the devil to dissuade you from God’s intended plan. See your Father as having it all in His hands, and you will see His concern for you.

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