Tears in Heaven
Apr 23, 2018 3605
Will there be tears in heaven? I know that’s a question that seems to have an obvious answer. After all, doesn’t Rev 21:4 say,
He will wipe every tear from their eyes (NIV)?
Let me phrase the question another way, “Will we cry for joy in heaven?”
You see, not every tear is bad. Most of the times that I have cried in my life have been when I have shed tears of joy. Tears of joy don’t feel bad. Tears of joy are good. They represent an overwhelming sensation of joy that is too much for one to bear, so we express it through tears. They are happy tears.
Will there be tears in heaven?
When the Bible describes the redeemed in heaven, it describes them as experiencing irrepressible joy:
Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away (Isa 51:11, NIV).
Just think of your every wish granted. Think of your every ambition fulfilled. Think of those you love who are with you. Think of perfect love received and given. And think of the endless possibilities of eternity that lies ahead. Why would you not weep for joy?
There will be no more tears in heaven as a result of death, and sorrow and pain.
Is it possible that crying is an ability that our Creator gave us from the start, and that its purpose was in fact, to express a surplus of joy? If so, then like so many other capabilities, it has been debased by the fall, and now too often reflects sorrow and pain. When the book of Revelation says that there will be no more tears in heaven, it is in the context of the reality that God will wipe out death, and sorrow and pain. And perhaps tears have a higher, original function, than to express those things.
I can’t even begin to imagine those first moments when we realise that we are home at last, when our senses can’t even begin to take in the beauty and goodness that surrounds us, when we are reunited with those we love, and especially, when finally come face to face with Jesus. Perhaps we will cast our crowns at his feet and fall down before him. But he will come and touch us, and gently lift us up, to embrace us with all the joy of heaven.
Will there be tears in heaven? I think so.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
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