Revelation 21:4 - A Vision of Heaven.
Revelation 21:4 (NLT) He[God] will wipe
every tear from their eyes, and there will be no
more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these
things are gone forever.
COMMENTARY PEARL
Have you ever tried to explain something
to someone and couldn't quite find the words?
Have you ever tried to describe something complex
to a child? For God to describe heaven to us in
a way we could understand would be like trying
to describe the beauty of Hawaii to a
three-month-old child. We're not able to comprehend, in our
finite human understanding, all the infinite
glories of heaven.
In fact, the apostle Paul, who had the
unique experience of dying and actually going to
heaven, said that he heard things so astounding that
they couldn't be told (see 2 Corinthians 12:2-4).
Paul was essentially saying that he couldn't put
his experience into words.
Heaven is beyond our comprehension. While
there aren't many verses in the Bible that tell us
about it, Scripture does tell us a few things. It
says that in heaven there will be no night. There
will be no fear. There will be no suffering or
death. All of the pain and disabilities that we
face in this life will be gone in heaven.
But the glory of heaven is even more than
having new bodies- and even more than the absence
of darkness and sorrow and pain and death. The
fact that Jesus Christ will be there is better
than all the beauty and all the answers to all
our questions.
Your eyes will see the king in his beauty
and view a land that stretches afar. (Isaiah
33:17, NIV) [Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie]
COMMENTARY
In Spite of Sickness
God can work in spite of sickness. He
still answers prayer and heals people today, and
He still does miracles. In sickness and in
hardships, He can work in a person's life. Even if a
person still has the sickness or problem, God can
work in spite of it and give them a special
strength. And no matter what happens to our physical
bodies here on earth, we have the promise of heaven
and ultimate healing in heaven. At that time,
God says He will wipe away all our tears. There
will be no more death, sorrows, crying, or pain
(see Revelation 21:4).
What a glorious promise! There is
more--so much more!--beyond this life on earth.
Whatever our limitations, whatever our problems, God
promises us that we will one day receive a new body
that won't have the shortcomings we experience
today.
And God can also use sickness to bring a
person to Himself, can't He? I know of many people
who have come to the Lord in the hospital or
when facing death. Suddenly they reevaluate their
lives. They wonder, What am I living for? What's
really important in my life? What's going to happen
to me when I die? And they begin to think about
eternity.
As the psalmist said, "Before I was
afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word"
(Psalm 119:67). God can work in spite of sickness,
and He can work through sickness. Nothing is
impossible for Him. [Every Day with Jesus by Greg
Laurie]
CLOSING PEARL
Living Under the Curse
It is true that disease flows from the
curse God pronounced on us after Adam's rebellion.
It is also true that Jesus came to reverse this
curse. But does this mean Christians shouldn't have
to put up with cancer, Down syndrome, Lyme
disease or Alzheimer's? We'd like to think that
since Jesus came to take up our diseases, there
should be healing for everything from migraines to
menopausal sweats. But that's akin to saying: "There's
an oak in every acorn - so take this acorn and
start sawing planks for picnic tables." Or it's
like saying, "Congress just passed a Clean Water
Act, so tomorrow morning Manhattan residents can
start drinking from the East River." Forty years
will pass before that oak is ready for lumbering.
Purging industrial ooze out of a river will take
decades.
And so it is with Jesus' reversal of
sin's curse (and the suffering that goes with it).
What Jesus began doing to sin and its results
won't be complete until the Second Coming. The
purchase of salvation was complete and the outcome
was settled with certainty. But the application
of salvation to God's people was anything but
finished. God "has saved" us, yet we are still "being
saved" (I Corinthians 1:18). We are still on
earth.., this means we're still going to feel the
influence of that old curse. At least until heaven!
First Corinthians 15:45 calls Jesus "the
last Adam" who came to undo the curse triggered
in the Garden of Eden - but this summer you'll
still be wrestling with weeds in your backyard, as
well as a backache from all that hoeing. Only in
Paradise will it be said, "No longer will there be
any curse" (Revelation 22:3).
Jesus, thank you that you saved me... and
that I am still being saved. I look to that day
in heaven when there will be no more sorrow,
sickness, disease or death! [Joni Eareckson Tada Daily
Devotional:
http://www.joniandfriends.org/daily-devotional re Isaiah 53:5]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
Revelation 21:4 - Our Ultimate Hooray 1.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20200711-1028.html
Revelation 21:4 - It Is Not Yet The End!:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20200608-0839.html
Revelation 21:4 - Out With The Old And In
With The New!
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2014/20141229-1230.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
Steps to Peace by Billy Graham:
https://stepstopeace.org/
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Panorama of Prophecy with Pastor Doug
Batchelor: https://www.panoramaofprophecy.com/
Islam and Christianity in Prophecy, The
Third and Final Conflict by Tim Roosenberg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSJB-fuHLU&list=PLWhQIHGTHlkaGg5Cwe3NDzWtFX8vNSpsE
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio: https://www.awr.org/bible
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
