And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

No Pain

Solomon summed it up best when he wrote his thesis on life in the book of Ecclesiastes: life is hard, and then we die. Many things are unjust in life. We still die. Life is filled with sorrow, weeping, toil, injustice, weariness, and the body falling apart. Death comes to all men. In a nutshell, life is not for the faint of heart. It comes with a lot of baggage that, at times, is hard to bear, and then a man dies. There is nothing more finite about life than the reality of death. What began with great joy in the birth of a child ends with the heartache of a broken heart when death comes. One of the characteristics of death is how inequal its justice is upon all men. The young can die, and the old must die. Famous people die, and people no one cares about die. The rich die rich, and the poor die poor, but death becomes the equalizer because riches and poverty are left behind. There is no escaping the trial of life.

John describes in the Revelation one of the greatest joys of eternal life. When the saint dies, God wipes all the tears of life away. In the presence of a loving God, there will be no death, sorrow, or crying. There shall be no more pain. Everything about life is defined by death, sorrow, crying, and pain. God is not the author of these things. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of the Lord, there was no death, sorrow, crying, or pain. These things came as a consequence of rebellion. It seems easy for men to blame God for someone dying, but the reality of life is the reality of death. There is sorrow because of the consequence of sin. The tears of life are shed as the fulfillment of life without God. There is no crying in the presence of God. He wipes all tears away.

Pain is the focus of life, whether literal, figurative, or spiritual. Everyone experiences pain in one fashion or another. The older a person becomes the greater the pain. Life is a pain because there is so much pain in this world. God is not the author of pain. In the presence of God, there is no pain. Before Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of the Lord, there was no pain. When the saint stands in the presence of God, there will be no more pain. The joy of eternal life is realizing a world when the grace of God removes all pain from the heart, soul, mind, and body of the saved. It is hard to imagine a world without pain, but that is precisely what is found in eternal life. Without pain, there is no death, sorrow, or crying.

John writes the blessing of eternal life is the former things have passed away. Everything a man experiences in life is gone forever. It does not exist. Nothing remains of the former life with death, sorrow, crying, and pain. It is hard to imagine a world without suffering. Can it be a man can exist in a world where there are no tears? How is it possible to be somewhere where death does not knock on the door constantly? Eternal life is a place where there is no death. That seems almost impossible, but it is real. God will wipe away all tears, and there will be no pain and no death. All of those things will be gone forever and never return. The eternal life of the saint will never again experience the sorrow of death, filled with pain and tears. Heaven is a place where there is no pain. Wow. Lord come quickly.