Chapter 353—All Suffering Ended
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
.
Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. In the home of the
redeemed there will be no tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning.
“The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be
forgiven their iniquity” (
Isaiah 33:24
). One rich tide of happiness will flow
and deepen as eternity rolls on.
The time has come to which holy men have looked with longing since the
flaming sword barred the first pair from Eden, the time for the “redemption
of the purchased possession” (
Ephesians 1:14
). The earth originally given
to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so
long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of
redemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored.... God’s original
purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode
of the redeemed....
There, “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them: and
the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (
Isaiah 35:1
). “Instead of
the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the
myrtle tree” (
Isaiah 55:13
). “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; ... and a little child shall lead them”
(
Isaiah 11:6
). “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain”
(
verse 9
), saith the Lord.
One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of
His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet,
are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought....
The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire
universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the
vast creation. From Him who created all, flow Life and light and gladness,
throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the
501