The Lord is coming! While for the Israelites this encouragement means that after the (future) time of tribulation the Messiah will appear and save them, we would like to apply this exclamation to us in the New Testament: Fear not, for the Lord is coming soon – to take you to himself!
The Lord Jesus spoke to his fearful disciples on earth in a similar way: “Let not your heart be troubled… In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). In the light of eternity, our 80 to 90 years of life, with all their worries and hardships, seem very short. The prospect of soon being able to move into the Father’s house for good actually makes our fears seem smaller. For example, on a short vacation in Spain, we personally would not worry about a report such as “Great economic hardship expected in Spain.” Why not? Because we would know: “We’re only here for a short time, soon we’ll be going home!”
Paul also encourages us with exactly this thought: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). He tells them, so to speak, that it is inappropriate to compare the suffering of today with the joy of “tomorrow.” His intention is not to belittle or trivialize human suffering but to encourage them to persevere in suffering. The best is yet to come! Christians raise their eyes above the transient, the brief, the visible.
An example of this is a Christian woman who, as a teenager, suffered paralysis from the shoulders down as a result of an accident and later had to fight cancer. She says: “I can still hardly believe it. I, with wrinkled, bent fingers, stunted muscles, knobbly knees, and no feeling from the shoulders down, will one day have a new body, light, bright, and clothed in righteousness – powerful and radiant. It’s easy for me to be ‘joyful in hope’ as it says in Romans 12:12, and that’s exactly what I’ve been for the last twenty-plus years. My hope for heaven is so alive.”
What will it be like in the Father’s house? The Bible tells us hardly anything about this. But what we do know with certainty is what will not be on the new earth and therefore certainly not in the Father’s house either: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
What will soon no longer exist?
- Anxiety and fear
- Tears
- Death
- Undertakers
- Cemeteries
- Mourning
- Parting
- Depressing diagnoses
- Quarrels
- Separation or divorce
- Pain
- Thieves (and therefore police, prisons and door bars)
- Illnesses (and therefore no hospitals, doctors, viruses, broken bones, Red Cross)
- Natural disasters
- War
- Drug or pill addiction
- Psychologists and antidepressants
- Beggars
- Bandages
- Mute, deaf or paralyzed
- Loneliness
- Racism
- Worry
- Financial hardship
- Hunger and thirst
- Calculating at the end of the month whether there is enough money
- Pension or health insurance
- Night and darkness
- Sins such as selfishness, greed, lying, anger, rage, envy, blasphemy, slander
- …
Frederick the Great gave one of his palaces the name “Sanssouci”, which is translated “without worries”. It is clear to all of us – and it certainly was to him at the time – that there were also worries in this palace. Heaven, however, is indeed the only place “sans souci”.
What is important for us, however, is not primarily what will no longer be there – but Who will be there: Our Lord Jesus, whom we will then be able to see with our own eyes for the very first time!
The Lord Jesus calls out to you today: “Do not be afraid! Soon I will come and take you to myself. Just hold out a little longer! And what still frightens you today will be much smaller in comparison to this great hope of spending eternity with me!”
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