Day 26 — No More Tears

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.’ And the One seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”

— Revelation 21:3–5 (BSB)

What do you think heaven will be like?

Some people imagine sitting on clouds playing harps forever. That sounds kind of boring, doesn’t it? But the Bible’s picture of the future is so much better than that!

Near the very end of the Bible, the apostle John saw a vision of what’s coming. He saw “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). God isn’t going to throw away His creation. He’s going to make it new: everything fixed, everything the way it was always supposed to be.

Look at what John heard:

God will live with His people. “The dwelling place of God is with man.” Remember the Garden of Eden, where God walked with Adam and Eve? Sin broke that. But in the new creation, we’ll be with God, face to face, forever.

No more tears. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Think about that. God Himself, gently wiping away every tear, like a parent comforting a crying child.

No more death, sadness, crying or pain. No more hospitals. No more funerals. No more goodbyes. No more sickness, fear, loneliness or hurt. All of it will be gone forever.

Everything made new. “Behold, I make all things new.” Everything sin broke, God will fix. Every sad thing will come untrue.

Think about all the hard things we talked about in Book 4: fear, worry, sadness, death and unfairness. In the new creation, none of those will exist anymore. The storms will be over forever.

And the best part isn’t the streets of gold or the lack of pain. The best part is God. We will be with Him, and we’ll see Jesus face to face. Everything good we’ve ever enjoyed on earth is just a small taste of the joy of being with Him.

That’s the future waiting for everyone who belongs to Jesus. And it will never end.

Think about it: What are you most looking forward to about the new heaven and new earth?

Try this: Draw a picture of what you imagine the new creation might be like. Include something that shows “no more tears.”

Dear God, thank You for the amazing future You’ve promised. Thank You that one day You’ll wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, sadness or pain. Thank You that You’ll make all things new. Most of all, thank You that I’ll be with You forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.