SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2015
9:46 AM
Bible Reading & Meditation Focus: The Changes
in the New Heaven and New Earth
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
21:4-6a
Message of the
verses: “4 and He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any
mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He
who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 Then
He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end.”
There will be a great change when believers get to
heaven, and John writes that our Lord will wipe away every tear from their
eyes. What does this mean? Well I have heard different things about this
phrase, some say that this will not take place until after the new heavens and
new earth are displayed, that people will still have things to cry about when
they get to heaven, but one thing is for sure and that is that we will not be
crying over sins for Paul writes the following to the Romans in Romans 8:1 “Therefore
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” John MacArthur writes more about no more
tears “What it declares is the absence of anything to be sorry about—no sadness,
no disappointment, no pain. There will
be no tears of misfortune, tears over
lost love, tears of remorse, tears of regret, tears over the death of loved
ones, or tears for any other reason.” That
surely will be different from how things are now working on planet earth.
Next John tells us another dramatic difference from the
present world, and that is “there will no longer be any death.” We have touched on this in earlier SD’s as we
learned about the Rapture when all the dead believers from the church age along
with those alive when this event happens will go directly to heaven with the
Lord. We learned that there are two
deaths and that those who are in the second death because they did not trust
Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will be a part of. We all have been touched by death, death of a
love one, or watching death on TV as many wars and terrorists issues are going
on at this time, but in heaven there will never, ever be any death. Paul writes the following in what is known as
the resurrection chapter of the Bible 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 54-55 “54 But when this perishable will have put on the
imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come
about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 “O
DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’” Isaiah wrote in Isa 25:8 “He will swallow up
death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And
He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has
spoken.” MacArthur writes “Both Satan,
who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14) and death itself will have been cast
into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14).”
Next we learn of another difference, and that is that
there will not be any mourning or crying in heaven. We looked about crying already, but we will
touch on this and mourning again. John
MacArthur writes “The grief, sorrow, and distress that produces mourning and
its outward manifestation, crying, will not exist in heaven.” I believe that is a wonderful statement and
something to truly look forward to. This
is not pie in the sky religion, but truth from the Word of God, truth that
gives all believers hope to live out the troubled times that we live in.
Another thing that will be absence in heaven is pain, and
many people live their lives in great pain.
I remember listening to Johnny Erikson Toda who has lived in a wheel
chair since the age of seventeen speak about pain from bed sores that she
continually has, yet her hope is to be with her Lord in heaven where there will
never, ever be any more pain. She is a
remarkable woman who loves the Lord and serves Him daily.
When we think about all of these changes that happen we
will better understand it when we read what John writes next: “the first things have passed away.” This is something that I hold onto for when
these first things have passed away that means that there will be no more
temptation to sin, no more battles to fight and that is what I look forward to.
Next we read in verse five “He who sits on the throne
said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’
This of course in our Lord Jesus Christ who promises to make all things new
and John MacArthur writes about this “The new heaven and the new earth will be
truly a new creation, and not merely a refurbishing of the present heaven and
earth. In that forever new creation,
there will be no entropy, no atrophy, no decay, no decline, and no waste.”
It seems that perhaps that John may have lost his
concentration at this point and so the Lord tells him “Write, for these words
are faithful and true.” If that is the
case of him losing his concentration I surely can understand it. We have been reading about the old heavens
and earth passing away, but one thing for sure is that “heaven and earth will
pass away” still God’s “words will not pass away (Luke 21:33).”
We next read some familiar words from our Lord, words
that we His last said when in His human body, words He said right before He
gave up His spirit “It is finished.” We
don’t know the first words that Jesus spoke after being born but we do know
that when He was 12 years old He was in the temple telling His mother that He
was about His Father’s business and at the end of His life He said it is
finished and now we read that again as He says “It is done.” John MacArthur writes “Jesus’ words marked
the completion of the work of redemption; these words marked the end of
redemptive history. It is the time of
which Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 ‘24 then comes the end, when He
hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule
and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His
enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27
For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says,
"All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted
who put all things in subjection to Him. 28
When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be
subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in
all.’”
Jesus Christ is surely qualified to declare the end of
redemptive history and the reason He is qualified is because of what He says
last in our verses for today: “I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: “O Sovereign Lord,
thank you for Jesus, who by His willful death and supernatural resurrection has
defeated death, sin and Satan, both now and forever. I confess you, Lord Jesus, as my King, My
God, and my faithful Friend and Savior! Amen.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Fight the good fight.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Rahab” (Joshua 2:1-6).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who was given permission by
Antiochus VII to make the first Jewish coins (about 139 B. C.?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/28/2015 10:46 AM
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