Tears in Heaven
(Read Revelation 21)
In 1991, Conor Clapton, the 4-year-old son of guitar virtuoso and songwriter Eric Clapton, fell 53 floors from the window of a New York City apartment. Working through the grief that followed a period of isolation, Eric Clapton began cowriting “Tears in Heaven” with Will Jennings. Apparently, Clapton already had the first verse of the song written before he approached Jennings.
“Time can bring you down
Time can bend your knees
Time can break your heart
Have you begging please
Begging please”
Life can be so hard, so tragic, even when we’re not enduring the unimaginable loss of a child. I know of several family and friends who are staring at cancer diagnoses, family cases of dementia, heart disease, suicide, and debilitating kidney stones. One knock that Christians took from the likes of Karl Marx was that we mask the pain of life with future promises of a perfect after life. “The opiate of the masses,” Marx wrote. Followers of Jesus know the shallowness of that accusation. Advantaged and disadvantaged people have equal space in the love of Jesus Christ. We know there’s something bigger than what we can see, hear, and feel with our senses. Our faith not only blurs the boundaries between groups, but it also gives us hope for our future and hope to get through what we’re facing now.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:1-2
(D) awoke in the middle of the night with the excruciating pain of a large kidney stone, nearly a week ago. He’s been throwing up and in and out of the ER this week. Unfortunately, he can’t pass the stone, so he needs to have surgery sometime next week. He’s a very strict believer. His faith and prayers will get him through this, but where does his comfort and his determination come from?
The concept of a new earth was not unfamiliar to the first readers of Revelation. It was a recognizable theme in Hebrew Scriptures. Prophets in both Testaments wrote of this new Heaven and earth. In Revelation, the apostle John captured the most beautiful imagery he could think of. What’s more stunning to a man than the vision of seeing his bride coming down the aisle only for him? That’s just how striking the New Jerusalem will be. The Greek word John used for “new” was not “Neos” — meaning brand new, but “kainos” — meaning remade.
At the end of Chapter 20 in Revelation, John described the final judgment on Satan, where all creation will be free from everything evil, and what follows is his depiction of a perfectly remade, restored earth. When God finally makes all things new, they will stay new. I often remind myself to not believe the lie that I’m not good enough or that I’m stuck forever. Because of Jesus, I’m not stuck. There’s help available that is sweeter, bigger, and better than anything I can do for myself.
We have the hope of our certain future stored within us, but where do we turn to find the hope to cling to right now? My friend (D), my family and friends with cancer, and all the folks I know who are struggling, are neck deep in water and need a rope to pull them out. We all do.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 43:2
Through the suffering of His son, God knows pain. We feel His reassurance in the strong outstretched arm over our shoulders. It’s one thing to know that someday things will all work out, but knowing that we are with someone who loves us more than we deserve, knowing that we are not alone, knowing that walking through fire will leave us unscathed, is uplifting, healing, and redeeming. There are always going to be fires in our lives, and while God won’t always fix things for us, He will not let them destroy our hopes.
All our ailments and torments are simply reflections of this decaying, broken world — ironically, a world we weren’t made for. If we were made for this world, we wouldn’t have this unquenchable thirst for fame, money, lust, attention, and envy. Nothing we can get here on earth will ever be enough. That’s where so much of our pain comes from. Aliens in a strange place. We were made for another world.
Heaven is written 532 times in the Bible. God didn’t make some things new, He made all things new. Who is in this new Heaven? It is a community of saints overflowing with grace, forgiveness, and acceptance who are compassionate about every form of suffering. That’s who we need to be here too. For family and friends going through cancer, crises, divorce, abandonment, loneliness, etc… we need to be the saints who walk them through the rivers, to put out their fires, and help prevent them from being consumed.
And 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.”
Revelation 21:4
I remember reading this passage to our church two days after 9/11. The words never had more meaning. They were never more comforting. I felt Jesus’ presence holding me, standing beside me at the Lectern during the reading. When “former things have passed away,” the new Jerusalem will be marked by what it no longer has… no tears, no sadness, no death, no pain. Josh Harris said, “The same hands that were pierced for you will wipe away every tear from your eyes.” Only Christ can do that.
Many believe that the new Heaven and new earth will not be separate, but rather the earth of the saints who have gone before us, along with their glorified bodies, will become heavenly. Pain, trials, and tribulations will be gone. Nothing will be able to disrupt the communion of saints. God will come to the new earth to live among us. “The history of eternity is about to begin.” (Donald Barnhouse)
John’s Gospel places Jesus with God in the beginning. It explains Jesus’ humanity and deity. John also tells us that “Jesus is full of grace.”
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
John 1:16
Grace upon grace, like a perpetual cup running over on behalf of Jesus Christ. God first reached out to us for salvation, and then He continually molds us to be like Him. As children of God, we are saved, we are honored, and changed. No matter what we need, no matter how much we need, God’s deliverance comes out of his shaping us to be more and more like Him.
This grace is something I feel when I make someone smile, when I help someone clean their gutters, when I listen to the hurt of a scorned friend, when I offer empathy rather than advice for navigating a maze of hurt. We can do a lot to be more like Jesus. It shows where our light comes from and like an opened door, shows the brighter glow that shines in Heaven.
Beyond the door
There’s peace, I’m sure
And I know there’ll be no more
Tears in heaven
Eric Clapton
Key Applications:
- Read Revelation 21. Think of or write down something major that you’ve gone through or are facing right now. Now picture what that issue will look like when you’re in Heaven. Think of what that problem would be like right now, if it were surrounded by the love of Jesus Christ, prayers, and grace.
- Walk someone you know through a challenge this week. You don’t have to fix it, just walk with them. Listen, talk, or just be silent. But be present with them and encourage that person to pray with you about this. Amazing things happen through prayer.
- Our 10.5 year-old German Shepherd just came back from the vet. She’s really been struggling lately. We lost her brother 3 years ago to an aggressive cancer. Thankfully, our old girl just needs to have a simple surgery to remove an active infection. My wife and I have been praying for her. She seems to be OK for now, but nothing here on earth will last, and we know that this too will change. We can’t thank God enough for what He provides for us, for what He has already given us. We need to show others the same love and grace that we have been given, and by doing this it will make earth a little bit more like Heaven.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.