Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Revelation 21:1–22:5
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. . . . [There God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (21:1–4).
We come now to the very last things that are to happen within the biblical doctrine of last things. Having considered the intermediate state for both believers in Christ and those who never trust in Him, final judgment, and the consummate existence in the lake of fire for those who are not saved, we turn to the consummate state for believers. This state is the new heaven and earth (Rev. 21:1–22:5).
In our study of systematic theology, we have seen that God could have destroyed all human beings after Adam sinned, but He chose instead to save some of them by grace (Eph. 2:1–10). Yet the Lord did not purpose to save only human beings; He enacted a plan to redeem the physical creation as well. Isaiah foresaw that God would swallow up death forever (Isa. 25:6–8). Paul wrote that the physical creation is groaning until the day of the resurrection, when the world itself will be released from its bondage to futility (Rom. 8:18–25). A curse came upon the earth when Adam sinned (Gen. 3:16–19). The effects of this curse will be banished forever when John’s vision of the new heaven and earth comes to pass at the last day.
Scripture tells us enough about the new heaven and earth to make us long for it. As we will see in our next study, God will dwell with His people in this new creation and we will see Him face-to-face (Rev. 21:3; 22:4). That will be the best gift of all. Yet several other benefits attend the Lord’s presence with us. As Revelation 21:4 indicates, none of the things that cause us misery will remain in the new creation. Death will be gone, for the One who is life in Himself cannot abide its presence. There will be no more pain or sadness, for the former things—even sin itself—will have passed away.
Today’s passage tells us that in the new heaven and earth, our tears will be wiped away one last time. God Himself will do this, so we see just how close we will be to the Lord and how secure our joy will be. Dr. R.C. Sproul comments on this in his book Everyone’s a Theologian: “Many of us recall how, when we were children, our mothers comforted us when we were sad, wiping away our tears with her apron. We usually were brought to tears again the next day, and needed comfort all over again. However, when God wipes away our tears, they will never come back, because the things that now make us cry will be removed. There will be no more death, sorrow, or pain. These former things will have passed away.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
God often brings comforts and counsel into our lives to help ease the pain of living in a fallen world. We are right to be grateful for these things. Yet we also know that as long as the present order remains, new sorrows are going to come our way. Let us thank God for how He consoles us even in this life, and may we look forward to the day when all pain and sorrow will be no more.
For further study
- Isaiah 65:17–25
- 2 Peter 3:11–13
The bible in a year
- Zechariah 1–3
- Revelation 17
- Zechariah 4–9
- Revelation 18–19