“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the thrones saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them as their God. 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.”
– Revelation 21:1–5
Normally, we only read a verse or two, maybe three, but I want to read all five of these verses. I just want you to get the picture. Before I read, I want to lead us in prayer today based on this passage, particularly when we think about death, when we think about people who we love, we know, who have trusted in Jesus and who have gone on to be with the Lord.
I just want to read this passage in celebration of the God who makes sure that death is not the end of the story. I just want to encourage you, especially if you are mourning someone’s death right now, or when you find yourself mourning someone’s death in the future, that you might be able to come back to just hear these words and to pray accordingly.
Revelation 21:1–5 Reminds Us God Will Be With Us
Oh, God. I think about the many funerals I’ve been a part of, including funerals for my dad or my mother-in-law or close friends and church members. I think about people who might be walking through those kind of moments and are listening to this right now. We pause in the middle of mourning, and we praise you that there’s coming a day when we will be with you. You will be with us for all who trusted in you. You will wipe every tear from our eyes.
There won’t be any more mourning and anymore crying. There won’t be any more of this pain that we are familiar with in this world, because all these things will be gone. We will be with you, and you will be with us as our God. A bride adorned for her husband. This wedding picture imagery that we have here in Revelation 21:1–5.
This Verse Leads Us to Praise the Lord
So we praise you. We praise you, God, for the lives of those who trust in you, who have gone on to be with you, who are with you right now. God, we praise you that death was not the end of the story for them, that they are with you right now. They’re awaiting the resurrection of their bodies and a new heaven, a new earth, with us, us united with them. We long for the day when Revelation 21:1–5 will be sight. You as our God will wipe away these tears from our eyes. You as our God will remove mourning and crying and all this pain in our hearts. Death will be no more. We will experience life in you for all of eternity.
We pray for your comfort today as we anticipate that day. Lord, we pray for your strength, particularly over those who are mourning. For those who are crying, who are in pain today, and for your strength. Lord, help us for them, for your hope in them. God, we pray that you would help us to faithfully proclaim Jesus today as the one who conquered death, as the one who conquered sin and the grave. Help us to proclaim Jesus right around us and to the ends of the earth, that more and more people from every nation, tribe, and tongue would enjoy this scene as your bride in Revelation 21:1–5. In Jesus’ name, we pray for the mourning and the crying and those in pain. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
