Will there be tears in heaven?

Many Christian spiritual songs suggest that there will be no tears in heaven. Therefore, it is common belief in Christian circles that from the moment we enter heaven at the time of death, or at the rapture, heaven will be a place with no more sorrows or cares. This teaching is taken from Revelation 21:4-5, which says, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new." However, those who quote these verses and draw this conclusion have failed to interpret this verse in its proper context.

 

Revelation 21-22 records the future events that will transpire in the New Jerusalem, in the new heaven and upon the new earth, after the old earth has passed away. (Revelation 21:1-3) This final chapter in the revealed eternal plan of God for the redeemed saints takes place after the 1,000 kingdom reign of our Lord upon this earth. (Revelation 20:3-6) Following the last events on the old earth (Revelation 20:7-10), the old creation will pass away. (2 Peter 3:10-14; Revelation 20:11) While the present creation is being supernaturally renovated by fire, the final judgment of all of the sinners, called "the Great White Throne Judgment," will take place. (Revelation 20:11-15) At this judgment, all of the sinners of all the ages shall be called up from hell and be made to stand before Jesus for their judgment. After this judgment, all sinners will be cast into the final place of judgment, the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20:14)

 

All of the saints of all the ages will be present to witness the sinners' judgment. How do we know that? After the time of the resurrection of saints, they will always be "with the Lord."(1 Thessalonians 4:17) That simply means that where ever Jesus is, we will be there. We know that He will be the judge at the Great White Throne Judgment. In John 5:27, Jesus said that the Father has given him, Jesus, "authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." Therefore, we will be witnesses at the Great White Throne judgment of all of sinners. We will watch Jesus cast some of our loved ones into the Lake of Fire. This will be a very painful moment for all of us! This must be the reason for our tears as mentioned in Revelation 21:4, as we enter into the New Jerusalem. So, at that moment at beginning of the new earth, and not before, the Lord will cause "the former things"(Revelation 21:4) that would cause us sorrow, to not enter into our minds any more. Isaiah 65:17, speaks of this same time: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." He will not wipe out all of our memories. Our memory is part of who we are. He will only delete from our memory all related sin issues or memories that would cause any future sorrow. From that moment on, there will be no more sin, or memory of sin.

 

Therefore, before the heavenly saints enter the New Jerusalem on the new earth at the end of this age, there will be moments of sorrow in heaven. Notice that in Revelation 6:9-10, the martyred saints in heaven are crying. In Revelation 7:17, Jesus is said to be wiping away tears from their eyes. This all takes place in heaven during the Tribulation Period.

 

Currently, heaven is a place of godly sorrow and joy. Are we to believe that when God looks down from heaven upon the inhabitants of earth and sees their sin that it does not grieve Him? All sin grieves God! (see Ephesians 4:30) We need to remember that when we are with Christ, our emotions will reflect His emotions. Furthermore, heaven is the place where sin originated in the heart of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12), and he continues to falsely accuse believers before the throne of God in heaven until he is forced out at the mid-point of the Tribulation Period. (Revelation 12:8-10)

 

Consequently, it is not Biblically accurate to sing about no tears in heaven.

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