There will be no more death. Revelation 21:4
Since it was the week after Easter, our five-year-old son, Wyatt, had heard plenty of resurrection talk. He always had questions—usually real stumpers. I was driving, and he was buckled into his seat behind me. Wyatt peered out the window, deep in thought. “Daddy,” he said, pausing and preparing to ask me a tough one. “When Jesus brings us back to life, are we going to be really alive—or just alive in our heads?”
This is the question so many of us carry, whether or not we have the courage to speak it aloud. Is God really going to heal us? Is He really going to raise us from the dead? Is He really going to keep all His promises?
The apostle John describes our certain future as “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). In that holy city, “God himself will be with [us] and be [our] God” (v. 3). Because of Christ’s victory, we’re promised a future where there’s no more tears, no evil arrayed against God and His people. In this good future, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (v. 4).
In other words, in the future God promises, we’ll be really alive. We’ll be so alive that our life now will seem a mere shadow.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”a m
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,n
and there was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City,o the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,p
prepared as a brideq beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.r
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.s
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.t There will be no more death’b u
or mourning or crying or pain,v for the old order of things has passed away.”w
5 He who was seated on the thronex said, “I am making everything new!”y
Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”z
6 He said to me: “It is done.a I am the Alpha and the Omega,b the Beginning and the End.
To the thirsty I will give water without costc from the spring of the water of life.d
7 Those who are victoriouse will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.f
INSIGHT
- Where do you experience death in your life?
- If God promises that death is doomed and we’re going to really live, how does this renew your hope?
Today’s passage gives us a glimpse of heaven, describing it as a physical place (Revelation 21:1–2). Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us (John 14:2–3), and this promise is fulfilled in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, (Revelation 21:2). While it’s a great comfort that heaven is a perfect place (v. 4), the most important thing is that it’s the dwelling place of God (v. 3).
In this final vision of the beginning of eternity (21:1–22:9), John hears Christ declaring, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it, “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse will one day be completely removed and reversed (Revelation 21:4–5; see Genesis 3:16–19).
PRAYER
God, You said death will meet its end and You promise me genuine life. Thank You. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Revelation 21:1–7 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Ruth 1-4; Luke 8:1-25
