Rev. 21:4 ... "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
"The first things have passed away!" What a statement this is! What it signifies is absolutely won-derful. In v.1 it says that "the first heaven and the first earth passed away." So the text is pointing to a time when the earth and life on it will be past history. Not to a "time," actually, for in reference to the same subject in Rev. 10:6 John heard a "strong angel” from heaven (who) “swore by Him who lives forever and ever ... that there will be delay (time, KJV) no longer.” From the perspective of the text above Jesus has already returned to take His loyal subjects from earth, and the earth and universe have been destroyed by fire. Time has been swallowed up by the infinitude of eternity. In fact, the judgment has already occurred; the unfaithful have been consigned to eternal torment in hell; and the faithful in Christ have been ushered into the glorious beauty of heaven, which is described in this chapter in the imagery of an ideal city protected by massive walls.
One can imagine the vivid scenes of the judgment. A faithful Christian wife is received into heaven, but her faithless and disobedient husband is cast into torment. God-fearing parents disappear into the beauties of heaven, but their rebellious and pleasure-seeking children descend into inextinguishable fire. Reverent people pass through glorious portals, but dear friends and neighbors who had no respect for the Lord are ordered through infernal doors to eternal doom. The faithful, humble, reverent souls who are saved would not deserve their glorious reward if they were not stricken with the worst kind of sorrow and anguish to witness the everlasting departure of their beloved family members, friends, and neighbors into what they know is a never-ending state of horrible punishment.
Our text, however, proclaims that one of God's first acts in welcoming the saved into His celestial court is to remove this awful pain and anguish they will doubtless be experiencing. With the power of His infinite kindness He will "wipe away every tear from their eyes." He will separate from their minds the memory of their lost and doomed loved ones so that their spirits will be free to enjoy heaven.
Another cause of perpetual sorrow and tears on earth is the death of those with whom we have close attachments. Death is never far from anyone, and when it confronts us, we are powerless to escape it. The grave yawns before us as an insatiable monster to whom we yield the still, silent bodies of our families and friends. But it is never filled. "Sheol (the nether world) and Abaddon (the place of perish-ing, i.e., the grave) are never satisfied," (Pro. 27:20). One of the sublime comforts and securities of heaven is that "there will no longer be any death." The bonds that unite souls in heaven will never be sundered by death the tyrant, and this persistent source of grief on earth will never be known in heaven.
During this life we must cope with pain from birth until death. We are confronted by countless diseases and by injuries from which there are no complete recoveries. Surgery and drugs can mask or diminish some of this pain, but ere long it returns in full force. One of the great benefits of heaven is that "there will no longer be any ... pain." Pain will be only a dim earthly memory, but even that faint trace shall quickly fade into extinction. When this earth is wrecked and annihilated, and when the judgment is past, I want to be found in the blessed group of redeemed souls who are emptied of all pain and sorrow forever, and who never again have to contend with the threat that death incessantly imposes upon us now. Don't you, too, my dear reader?
