Conclusion of Making All Things New-As Foretold

Pause to savor what the Bible is foretelling. 'God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.' That cannot refer to normal tears that wash out sensitive eyes, nor can it refer to tears of joy. No, the tears that God will wipe out are tears caused by suffering, grief, disappointment, hurt, and agony.  How can we be sure? Well, this remarkable  promise of God links wiping out tears with 'death, mourning, outcry, and pain being no more.'

Does this not prove that cancer, strokes, heart attacks, and even death will have been eliminate? Who of us has not lost a loved one to some disease, accident, or disaster?  God here promises that death will be no more, which suggests that the children who might be born then will not have to face the prospect of growing up and then getting old-ending  in death.  This prophecy also means no more Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, fibroid tumors, glaucoma, or even cataracts-so common in old age. 

You would no doubt agree that mourning and outcry would decrease with the removal of death, old age, and disease. Yet, what about grinding poverty, child abuse, and oppressive discrimination based on background or skin color?  Were such things-common today-to continue, we would not be rid of mourning and outcry. Thus, life under "a new heaven and a new earth" will not be  marred by these present causes of sorrow.  What a change!  We have, though, considered so far only three of the four occurrences in the Bible of the phrase "new heavens and a new earth." There is one more that ties in  with what we have examined and that underscores why we have reason to look forward to when and how God will fulfill his promise to 'make all things new.' The following article deals with that prophecy and what it can mean for our happiness.

Next time: THE NEW WORLD-WILL YOU BE THERE? 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000