‘Former Things Have Passed Away’

‘Former Things Have Passed Away’

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

The eternal state is distinctive as much for what it excludes as for what it includes.  Our text for today begins a discussion of those exclusions.  Life, as we experience it, is often painful.  Those pains are manifold.  We experience them in the realm of the physical, the mental, the spiritual, and the social.  They bring forth, from our broken hearts, ‘tears’ and ‘crying.’  We endure ‘pain,’ and ‘death’ comes to us all.  Christ  rectifies all these things in His Heavenly Kingdom.  Our text today, declares the exclusion of all these aforementioned things.  Beyond that, other verses, written in this general context, point out other things which will be absent in the eternal state.  There is ‘no temple,’ because Christ is the Sanctuary of His people.  There is ‘no sun or moon’ because Christ is our Light, and His Glory illuminates the place.  There is not ‘anything’ that ‘defiles or causes an abomination or a lie.’  There is ‘no more curse,’ nor is there any ‘night at all.’  These are blessed exclusions.  There have been many long nights for some of us, with much pain and  deep darkness.  We  have  wept often, and endured  the pain of those  who ‘defile’ and ‘lie.’  Christ will right all the wrongs, straighten all that which is crooked, fix what is broken, and  satisfy every longing soul.  He will remove from all His people, all which disturbs us in any way.  Much of that will be because ‘the former things have passed away.’

Our most Holy and Wise God,
we look forward to the day, when You shall make all things new.
We praise You, that in that day, You will right every wrong,
and dry every tear.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning