Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Revelation

[Dango]

Hello, non-Christian here. I have a close friend who is getting into Christianity so I have just been taking some time recently to actually try and understand it a bit more than I do.

So I was just reading through some Revelations and something really struck me. In the description of the "New heaven" and "New earth" there is the following passage: "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.”

Now my world-view has always been that happiness and sadness, pain and pleasure etc. etc. are different sides of the same coin and experiencing one without experiencing the other would make existence a bit hollow and meaningless.

Is this concept explored in any more detail in the bible, or is it really as simple as eternal happiness with nothing except this?

[jimwalton]

It's true that happiness can be partially defined by its antithesis, but after people have experienced both on earth, they'll know true happiness when the see it and experience it. Since our lives in heaven follow what happens here, it will be a relief to us that mourning, pain, suffering and sadness are taken away. Like people who move to Hawaii after they've lived in Chicago or Buffalo or Seattle: you really appreciate the sun and warmth. It's not like you forget what clouds or snow are.

The concepts are explored elsewhere:

- Sorrow and pain disappear: Revelation 7.17; Isaiah 25.8
- Those who mourn are comforted: Matthew 5.4; Luke 6.21; Isaiah 65.19
- No more death: Isaiah 25.8; 1 Corinthians 15.54

The old order of things passes away: Isaiah 35.10.

What it means is that having a relationship with Jesus and living with Him for eternity brings the ideal state and the dissociation from everything negative.