“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.’”​—Revelation 21:1-4.

Under kingdom rule, many will be the reasons for happiness. Mourning, outcry and pain due to various causes will be taken away. Death that spread from sinful Adam, the first man, will be no more. (Romans 5:12) What a monumental worldwide cause for tears will thus have vanished! And what reasons for gladness will exist when resurrections occur instead of deaths due to Adam, when his offspring have been rescued from the effects of his sin, and when perfect human health has replaced the many ills now plaguing mankind! Then, indeed, will “the former things have passed away.”