"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)
There is a teaching widespread currently which suggests that when we get to heaven, God will show us all the things that we could have done, but refused to do, or were unwilling to do for whatever reason.
Frankly, such teaching is contrary to "The goodness of God, which leads to repentance" (Romans 5:4)
All throughout Scripture, our "repentance" is demonstrated all the more in what we permit God to do for us, or in what we are willing to receive from Him.
In Luke 15, the lost sheep consents to be carried (Luke 15: 3-7).
The lost coin consents to be found. (Luke 15: 8-10)
The "prodigal son" consents to receive the Father's blessings (Luke 15: 11-31).
For this reason, Jesus told us that the one "work" which we need to do is "believe on Him." (John 6": 29)
Do you believe that He is interested in blessing you, and lavishly so?
This faith magnifies in us as we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18).
Furthermore, the verse which preachers use to justify a sense of "Don't miss out" does not support so disappointing an interpretation.
Why will God wipe away "all tears from their eyes"? "The former things" will have passed away, that's why.
It has nothing to do with us, for in the end it has never been about us, but about Him:
"15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. " (1 John 2: 15-17)
In the Book of Revelation, one of the elders tells John why he should not cry:
"5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." (Revelation 5: 5)
In fact, the Book of Revelation does depict (and predict) what people will do in heaven:
"9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 7: 9-12)
When we are there, we will not be crying because we "missed out" or "we could have done more". We will behold Him who was, is, and ever shall be (Hebrews 13: 8). Our hope to be like Him (1 John 3:1-3) will be realized.
In fact, everything that we have grown to know and believe on in our lives will be fully presented to us:
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." (Revelation 5: 11-12)
Paul wrote about this fullness in his epistle to the Corinthians:
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Corinthians 13: 12)
Do not worry about your time on earth being for naught. Do not look at yourself, but look at Himself, and Let Him do all the following in your life:
"14Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
"15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. "16With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." (Psalm 91: 14-16)
To the extent that we begin thinking "I have got to use my time properly," to that extent we are looking at ourselves, and not growing in grace.
God is outside of time:
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." (Psalm 90: 4)
He sees the beginning from the end:
"25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
"26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say,
He is righteous? yea,
there is none that sheweth, yea,
there is none that declareth, yea,
there is none that heareth your words." (Isaiah 41: 25-26)
He takes our bad, and makes it work for our good:
"
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose.
29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8: 28-29)
The Old Testament is filled with examples of God taking our bad, worse, and worst, and making us glad, no longer under the curse, and first.
Lot could not be a worse example of "wrongdoing and failure", yet God's grace blessed him:
"Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20Behold now, this city
is near to flee unto, and it
is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (
is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. " (Genesis 19:19)
Incidentally enough, "mercy" first appears in the Bible in this passage — connected with "loser" Lot. His presence blessed the city of Zoar.
Lot's daughters got him drunk and caused him to father children with them (Genesis 19: 36-38).
One of his later descendants, Ruth, would go from poor, widowed, childless exile to highly exalted woman of favor, married to Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer and type of our Lord Jesus.
This same Ruth is compared to another woman, whose dubious past would scandalize
Joseph comforted his brethren – who had betrayed him and cruelly lied about his death to their father Jacob — when he discovered himself as second in command in Egypt:
"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life." (Genesis 45: 5)
Yet the Scripture is clear what originally motivated the brothers to do what they did:
"
8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words." (Genesis 37: 8)
This passage has puzzled some commentators:
"
15And a certain man found him, and, behold,
he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed
their flocks.
17And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan." (Genesis 37: 15-17)
I believe that this "certain man" is a manifestation of Jesus Christ, pre-incarnate. He is directing Joseph to his brothers, who would then:
"And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams." (Genesis 37: 18-20)
The brothers just hated Joseph, and for spite and envy they betrayed him and sold him off. Yet God took this great evil and did a greater good.
Of course, the greatest evil, which has instituted to this day and forever, the greatest good, is Jesus' death on the Cross.
Man rejected their own Creator, their own Savior, yet their rejection became precisely the means by which Jesus Christ, God's Beloved Son, fulfilled every type, shadow, plan, and purpose for all of mankind.
The worst act that man could perpetrate, became the seat and scene and certainty of consummate victory for God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
There is no "should have, could have, would have" with God. He is overcoming all the time, and He wants us to overcome all things with Him.
When you get to heaven, you will not cry because "you missed out" on anything. In fact, your bankrupt failures can set you up for even greater good:
"
20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. " (Romans 5: 20-21)
In truth, the only way that anyone of us can "fail" is if you think that you and you alone must fix or deny or pretend about your failures.
Consider also this type and shadow:
"
1David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard
it, they went down thither to him.
2And every one
that was in distress, and every one that
was in debt, and every one
that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men." (1 Samuel 22: 1-2)
"Distressed, in debt, discontented" . . .One pastor summed it up: "They were losers."
"David" means "Beloved", and He is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. The only way that we can "lose" would be if we refuse to just come to Him:
"
28Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11: 28-30)
Jesus told us to "believe on Him" (John 6: 29), and He told us to seek only one thing:
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6: 33)
Paul exhorts his readers not to "get busy or else", but quite the opposite:
"
1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left
us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it." (Hebrews 4:1-2)
Jesus is our rest (Matthew 11: 28), and He is the one whom we should receive:
"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1: 17)
By the way, "17" is the number of victory in the Bible.
Paul writes to the Hebrews:
"1
0For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God
did from his.
11Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4: 10-11)
Consider also Job, who suffered greatly because of his own attempts to establish his righteousness, instead of resting in God's:
"In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12: 10)
Job came to the end of himself when he saw Himself:
"
1Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
2I know that thou canst do every
thing, and
that no thought can be withholden from thee.
3Who
is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
4Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
5I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." (Job 42: 1-5)
James writes this testimony for Job:
"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." (Job 5: 11)
When we get to heaven, we will be one with Jesus, gathered to Him in fulness. How could we possibly cry about all the things that we failed to do, or that we missed out on?
We are called to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord, we need never worry about missing out or losing, or even "crying because we could have been 'someday'" but failed to get it.
You will not cry because you "missed out" when you get to heaven, Beloved. God's grace through His Son Jesus Christ is greater than our failures, our times, our everything.
