Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:1-5)
Many in our community have been grieving in recent days. We are going to talk about that more in our lesson this morning. But I want to expand on that in a different direction here: this text pictures the end of grief in our eternal home with God, a place where grief shall be no more.
It is interesting that some of the most significant things said about the place the Lord is preparing for his people are negative—that is, about what is not there rather than what is. Perhaps that is logical. If you were going to describe an untaught resident of the Arctic region a tropical country, you could hardly give him a conception of it by mentioning things that are there. What would a palm tree mean to a man who had never seen anything but snow and ice? What would brightly colored birds mean to one who had only seen the gull or penguin? What would an elephant or lion mean to someone who had seen only the seal?
You would have to begin the other way. You would have to begin by telling this person what is not there. You would say there is no snow, no ice, no polar bears. In a way, that is how Scripture talks about eternity; it tells us that things we are accustomed to here will never be seen again.
No Night
Our text says night will be no more. If there is no night, it is because the shadows cast by human life have disappeared.
No Pain
There shall be no night there because there shall be no pain there. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:4).
The involuntary expression of those in intense pain is “O God!” Pain makes people think of God; enigmatically, it may in fact be a minister of God. Who among us, seeing others in pain, has not wished that we had the power to put an end to it? What we wish for here will be the reality of the life in heaven. There will be no shadow to fall over us or our knowledge of God. In that land where there is no night, there will be no night of pain. We will see his face and know he is there.
No Sorrow
There shall be no night there for there shall be no sorrow. Sorrow and pain lie very close together. Sometimes, sorrow is the result of pain. But there is a deeper pain than the pain of the body—that of the spirit and the heart. We could call that grief.
Have you considered what it means that Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? He was just like us. Sorrow is one of the deepest facets of human life. When we see Jesus weeping—grieving—at the grave of Lazarus, then we are willing to listen to him.
Who among us has not wished that we had the power to wipe away tears? We will not have to worry about that on the other side. What could be more beautiful and tender that that God shall wipe away all tears form their eyes? There will be no more sorrow; no more grief.
No Curse
Or no longer will anything be accursed as the ESV puts it. This is the same as saying “there shall be no more sin.” In the beginning, God’s creation was good; it was blessed. Sin blighted it. The curse is nothing but the curse of sin. Yet where can we escape that curse? Where is sin not found? Sin is as universal as human nature, as lasting as human history.
But this pictures the long reign of sin is ended. Sin is so common a fact in our present life that it is almost impossible for us to imagine a world without its curse. But wouldn’t this be a wonderful world if there were no sin in it? Paul would write, O death where is your sting? O death where is your victory? Here we can say that only in faith and only in prospect. We say it in view of Christ’s great victory over sin.
But there we can see the result for ourselves. Death has had a long reign, but now that reign is no more. The pale horse and his rider shall never ride again. There shall be no more night for there shall be no more night of death—and no more grief that death brings.
The rich man of Luke 16 had a message for those he had left behind. While that is only a parable, we might wonder sometimes what those on the other side would say if they could bring us a message.
I am certain those with God would have wonderful things to tell us.
To those in sorrow, they would say to not mourn as those who have no hope.
To those in doubt, they would bring the message of the life to come.
To those tempted, they would say endure every loss.
To those who have sinned, they would bring the message of repentance.
To those who grieve, they would bring comfort—one day, grief will be forever ended.
-Bryant Perkins
0 Comments