I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and so had the sea. Then I saw New Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God in heaven. It was like a bride dressed in her wedding gown and ready to meet her husband.
I heard a loud voice shout from the throne:
God's home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.
Then the one sitting on the throne said:
I am making everything new. Write down what I have said. My words are true and can be trusted. Everything is finished! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water from the life-giving fountain to everyone who is thirsty. All who win the victory will be given these blessings. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Revelation 21:1-7
I think every time I read about Heaven I see something about Eternal Life with Jesus that I had not seen before. There is a profound significance to the fact that "death, suffering, crying and pain" are all absent from the place where I will live with Jesus forever. All four of these things are life long experiences here on planet earth, not one single event. As soon as we enter the world from our mother's womb the first sign of life itself is the cry of a baby. Crying is the first thing we do on this earth. Suffering and pain are the roads that our mothers traveled to bring us here. And death is the inevitable conclusion to life. We have no other way of exiting this earth than by drinking of the original "curse of death."
The longer we live here the more, pain and suffering become our daily companions. And crying is our heart's response to the pain and suffering of others.
Earlier this week I spent almost six hours standing by my wife's bed as she suffered excruciating pain from a kidney stone. Getting rid of the source of that pain became the most important thing on earth for those few hours. I wanted desperately to take her pain and give her relief from what had become an ordeal, but I could not.
Jesus knows what a "death free, crying free, pain and suffering free" life is like, because He has experienced that forever in Heaven. The Cross was not the only place Jesus suffered in this world. For more than thirty years He walked on roads that hurt His feet, He was betrayed by those whom He loved, and He cried when death snatched away His friend Lazarus. Jesus knows every pain you suffer, every trouble you have, and every tear that comes from your eyes.
Jesus came to earth to remove the curse from those who will follow Him! When you go to live with Jesus in Heaven none of the bad things of this earth will go with you! In Heaven, NOTHING CAN GO WRONG!
"Lord Jesus, I want to imagine what it will be like to live without death, suffering, pain and crying. Thank You Lord that those things will be gone forever! Praise Your Holy Name. Amen."
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