Coming—A World Without Pain — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

Coming—A World Without Pain

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”—Rev. 21:1-4.

FEELING physical pain can alert a person to injury that might otherwise go unnoticed for some time. Indeed, there are occasions when sensitivity to such pain can be lifesaving. Yet the Word of God promises a world without pain. The Christian apostle John was divinely inspired to write:

There it is—a promise from God that ‘pain will be no more.’ What could this possibly mean? How will it affect humankind?

SOMETHING NEW AHEAD OF US

Such questions need to be answered. But those words recorded 19 centuries ago say much more. They indicate that there is something new ahead of us. Briefly consider what this prophecy means.

The foretold “new heaven” is the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ. Associated with him in rulership are his “joint heirs,” designated here as the “New Jerusalem.” (Rom. 8:14-17) The promised “new earth” is not a different earthly globe. Rather, it is a new unified and righteous human society subject to Christ’s kingdom.—Compare Psalm 96:1; Ecclesiastes 1:4.

Replaced will be the ‘former heaven and earth,’ the previous system filled with tears, death, mourning, outcry and distressing pain. And whereas the literal watery seas will remain, the symbolic “sea” of restless, ungodly peoples will no longer exist.

DEVELOPMENTS UNDER KINGDOM RULE

What grand developments are ahead! Under Kingdom rule, God “will wipe out every tear” from human eyes. This does not mean, of course, that tear ducts no longer will release their natural fluid—something that is physically beneficial. Nor will tears of joy be eliminated, for the earth will be filled with rejoicing.

Mourning and outcries for various distressing reasons gradually will be removed during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 20:6) As a result, tears of sorrow will cease to flow from human eyes. But what about the removal of pain—something also foretold?

THE PAIN THAT WILL VANISH

The ability to sense physical pain can be beneficial. In fact, it is essential to human life. Hence, God’s promise that there will be no more pain could not mean that earthly subjects of Kingdom rule will become insensitive to all pain.

Rather, this promise that ‘pain will be no more’ indicates that mental, emotional and severe physical pain will vanish. Such pain has resulted from sin and imperfection. (Rom. 5:12; 8:21, 22) How will it ‘be no more’? In the sense that its causes will be eliminated.

CAUSES OF PAIN REMOVED

Consider just some of the blessings to be enjoyed by mankind under Kingdom rule. Perhaps you can mentally place yourself among the throngs certain to enjoy the world without pain that is before us. What would it be like to live on earth after the following causes of pain have been removed?

Adversity will be gone, and with it the emotional pain it causes. Poverty—certainly one of the manifestations of adversity in so many cases—will not exist. How can we be sure? Well, would Almighty God, to whom all earth’s gold and silver belong, be powerless to eliminate poverty? (Hag. 2:8) Unquestionably, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah can and will remove that cause of pain.

Under Kingdom rule pain-producing hunger and malnutrition will be eliminated. “If I were hungry,” says Jehovah, “I would not say it to you; for to me the productive land and its fullness belong.” (Ps. 50:12) Moreover, God’s Word gives the assurance: “There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow.” (Ps. 72:16) And surely the Maker of mankind can and will see to the unselfish distribution of earth’s abundant food supplies, bringing to a permanent end the pain resulting from hunger.

Oppression, another cause of mental and emotional pain, will also be eliminated. In words that will find complete fulfillment under the rule of Jesus Christ, we are assured: “He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one, and the souls of the poor ones he will save. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and their blood will be precious in his eyes.” (Ps. 72:12-14) Can there be any doubt that the pain of oppression will then be past?

Illness, still another cause of mental and emotional pain, will never shatter the tranquillity and happiness of godly families under Kingdom rule. Jehovah God has the power to remove sicknesses. (Ex. 15:26; 23:25; Deut. 7:15) His prophet Isaiah wrote of a time when “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isa. 33:24) Removing all physical, mental and emotional pain will pose no insurmountable problem for the Divine Physician.

Death—the great pain-producing enemy of mankind—“will be no more” when the divine will is done fully in heaven and on earth. (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 21:4; Matt. 6:9, 10) Mourning, outcry and pain certainly will be out of place when joyful resurrections replace sad burials and ‘death and Hades give up those dead in them.’—John 5:28, 29; Rev. 20:13.

YOURS—IF YOU WANT IT

Yes, a world without pain is coming. It can be yours in that such a hope can be your possession. The absence of pain associated with adversity, oppression, illness and death will be among the many blessings then to be realized by obedient, God-fearing mankind.

Can people now living embrace this hope with utmost confidence? Yes, for a world without pain has been promised by the only One capable of bringing it about—Jehovah, “the Most High over all the earth.”—Ps. 83:18.