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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Pastoral Ponderings ~ The Tears We Bring Into Heaven


          When God’s book says he “will wipe away every tear from their eyes,”[1] it presents the double-sided message that God’s children will experience tears all the way through history until the time of our arrival in our new home, and God himself will wipe away those tears completely when we arrive in his presence.
          Both sides of this have their own degree of comfort. There is a certain comfort in knowing that the tears we experience in today’s deteriorating world are not a denial of God’s promise to work all things together for the good of his children.[2] While we do not like circumstances that produce grief, the “weep with those who weep”[3] side of the Christian life is to be expected (be assured that the “rejoice with those who rejoice” side of things will be just as evident).
          What God is doing for our good is unfolding at the same time as Satan and his emissaries are seeking every kind of harm and damage against Jesus’ brothers.[4] Our tears are not a contradiction of the prophetic picture. We cannot help but weep at the ugly power of evil venting its fury upon God’s creation, and God’s church. However, the church still goes out on its white horse, with a bow in our hand, a crown given by God, “conquering, and to conquer.”[5]
          On the other side, there is wonderful comfort in knowing that our heavenly Father is waiting for that day of grand finale when the powers of darkness are utterly defeated, and he welcomes his children into his divine presence forever. While we will arrive in that place with tears flowing from broken hearts, we will also be entering God’s presence where “there is fullness of joy," and at whose “right hand are pleasures forevermore.”[6]
          What God assures to us is that whatever tears we bring into heaven he will wipe away. He will wipe away “every tear,” no matter what each one represents. The source of the tears will not restrict God, nor the severity of the experience. Grief will be no match to God’s presence of fullness of joy and eternal pleasures.
          However, while our tears will be the final remnant of what we experienced in this earthly lifetime, we will not transition into heaven through some kind of impersonal tear-zapper that erases all our grief as we move through the corridor between earthly life and our new home. Rather, the promise of God is that “God” will wipe away every tear from our eyes. This does not say that God will zap our tears into oblivion, but that he will personally wipe them away.
          The deliberate imagery of our Father is of a parent wiping away the tears of his children. There will be no rebuke to us for having tears, or for weeping because of the terrible times we went through. The God who calls his people to “weep with those who weep” is more than willing to receive our weeping into his presence where he can wipe away our tears with divine comfort.
          At a time when King David was under attack from his enemies, he worshiped God with this beautiful expression, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”[7]It is this God who puts our tears in his bottle, and who writes them all in his book, who assures us that he will wipe away all our tears, and replace them with his fullness of joy and eternal pleasures.
          In our present time, God’s arch enemy, “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world,”[8]is seeking to bring about the utmost of harm to God’s people. The world believes Satan is conquering the church, while the truth in the spiritual realm is that Jesus is fulfilling his promise, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”[9]
          Because of what Jesus is doing to save all his brothers, and bring them into the home he is preparing for us,[10] we endure the terrible times darkening our world,[11]understanding that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”[12] As with our forefathers in the faith, we are, “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”[13]
          What will be the tears we bring into heaven? I’m not aware that Scripture presents any kind of box limiting such things, so neither will I. However, it is not difficult to consider the kinds of things that are breaking Christian's hearts right now, and see how Jesus’ sudden appearance, and his angels gathering his family to be with him forever,[14] would find many Christians weeping over the suffering they are experiencing at that time.
          Christians grieving the murder, torture, and molestation of their loved ones will instantaneously find themselves in the presence of the Prince of Peace, and feel the hand of God wiping away their tears. Christians who have begun to weep over childhood abuse, reliving horrifying memories that feel as though they had only then taken place, will suddenly open their eyes to the face of pure love, and feel the love of God wiping away their tears.
          Not only could we add to this list any of the heartbreaking experiences Christians could be going through when Jesus suddenly returns, but it may also be that the appearing of our Savior will cause many Christians to feel overwhelming grief that so many family and friends can no longer turn to Jesus for salvation.
          While we have the hope that we will finally and fully become like Jesus when we see him as he is,[15]that doesn’t mean we will forget what our gathering to be with Jesus forever will mean to our loved ones who did not receive Jesus Christ. They will be “calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’”[16] Knowing that it is too late for them will likely overwhelm many of God’s children. Perhaps there will also be tears of regret that we had not tried harder to make Jesus known.
          I do not like to predict where world events are heading since none of us knows for certain; and I avoid any effort to insist I know where we are in the “times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority,” since Jesus’ words are clear that, “It is not for you to know.”[17]
          Instead, I encourage us all to live as Jesus’ servants, carrying about the immediate business of his kingdom,[18] knowing that a deteriorating world, increased persecution, and even a deteriorating genome, all affirm that God has something much better in store for his children at Jesus’ return.
          So, while serving Jesus Christ,[19] and serving one another in love,[20] we rest in such a wonderful hope as this:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 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.”[21]
          In the meantime, let us be those who weep with those who weep. One day, we will know the fullness of what Scripture meant when it spoke to our hearts, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”[22] The coming morning that leads us into the fullness of joy, and the everlasting pleasures of God, will also take care of the last of our tears. By God.

© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)







[1] Revelation 7:17; the same phrase is repeated in Revelation 21:4
[2] Romans 8:28
[3] Romans 12:15
[4] I Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:12, 17
[5] Revelation 6:2, which is a beautiful picture of Romans 8:37
[6] Psalm 16:11
[7] Psalm 56:8
[8] Revelation 12:9
[9] John 6:37
[10] John 14:1-3
[11] II Timothy 3:1-9
[12] II Timothy 3:12
[13] Hebrews 11:10
[14] Matthew 24:29-31
[15] I John 3:2
[16] Revelation 6:16-17
[17] Acts 1:7; and, no, I do not believe the book of Revelation changes what Jesus said there.
[18] As is seen in Jesus’ parables about the servants (Matthew 24:45-51; Matthew 25:14-30). It is notable that the book of Revelation begins, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1). Too many try to figure out “the things that must soon take place,” and too few understand that this is written in symbolic form so Jesus’ servants will get back to work serving the purposes of the kingdom.
[19] Romans 14:18; II Corinthians 4:5; I Timothy 4:6
[20] Galatians 5:13
[21] Revelation 21:3-4
[22] Psalm 30:5

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