“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 KJV)
“…wipe away all tears…” and “…former things are passed away.” As comforting as this verse really is, is it not the case sometimes that a former something passing away has been the very source of our tears? I mean, being separated by death, whether that’s an actual loss of a loved one or a friend, or whether it’s the loss of a career, or a life altering event like graduation or marriage; anything that leaves a significant gap between how things were and how things are now. Our first comfort that we long for is in a hope that someday somehow we’ll be reunited. Or in some way the greater normalcy will be re-established. After all, if there was some good, we want it back, at least in part, like it was.
That is not how the next verse proceeds though. The one on the throne speaks of making “all things new”. Not merely repairing what was broken. All new. We see a glimpse of that now as we put our trust in Jesus. Our heart has new desires. We see that works to save ourself are futile. We see works for God’s kingdom are priceless and out of reach of moth and rust. We see a greater value in our neighbor and care less and less about their agenda. What will that reunification look like? All new. People who are no longer plagued with issues and who are seen by people who are no longer able to judge because Christ’s grace is sufficient for both because of their trust in him. People who have tears wiped away because they see the cause of those tears are no more. And that’s just the very dirty glimpse that we can see now! All new.
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” (Revelation 21:5 KJV)