THE LAST CRY

The Last Cry
Text: Book of Revelation 21:4 
GREG LAYFIELD

“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.”

Life begins with a cry.
The first sound most of us ever made was the cry of a newborn entering a broken world. From that moment forward, tears become a familiar part of the human story. Children cry when they are hurt. Parents cry when they are burdened. Hearts cry when they are broken.
From the cradle to the grave, tears mark the human experience.
But the Bible gives us a promise that stretches beyond this life. In Book of Revelation 21:4, the Apostle John the Apostle records a vision of eternity where God Himself brings the crying to an end.
One day, for the child of God, there will be a last cry.

The Reason for the Cry
We live in a world where tears are common because sin has touched every corner of human life. The Bible shows us several reasons why people cry.

First, there is the cry of loss.
Death separates families, empties homes, and leaves chairs at the table unfilled. Scripture reminds us in First Epistle to the Corinthians 15:26 that “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Every funeral we attend is a reminder that this world is not as God originally designed it.

Then there is the cry of pain.
Pain comes in many forms. Sometimes it is physical suffering in the body. Other times it is emotional distress in the heart. Many carry burdens that no one else can see. The Bible says in Epistle to the Romans 8:22 that the whole creation groans under the weight of a fallen world.
But thank God—pain has an expiration date.

There is also the cry of regret.
In eternity, those who rejected God’s offer of salvation will face the sorrow of realizing what they turned away from. Book of Revelation 20:15 speaks of those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life. That is a sobering truth and a reminder of why the gospel matters today.

The Hand That Stops the Cry
But the promise of Book of Revelation 21:4 is not only about the end of tears—it is about who ends them.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
Notice who does it.
Not an angel.
Not a loved one.
Not time.
God Himself.
The Creator who formed us, the Savior who redeemed us, and the Shepherd who carried us through life will personally wipe away every tear.
And when He does, four things disappear forever:

• Death will be gone.
• Sorrow will vanish.
• Crying will cease.
• Pain will end.

The verse concludes with this beautiful phrase: “for the former things are passed away.”
Everything that once caused heartbreak will belong to the past.
A Future Without Tears
Think about what that means.
One day there will be:

• The last funeral ever held.
• The last hospital waiting room.
• The last sleepless night.
• The last tear that ever falls down the face of a child of God.

John the Apostle saw a future where sorrow has an ending.
And the Bible does not say we will wipe our own tears away.
It says God Himself will wipe them away.
No more graves to visit.
No more pain in the body.
No more broken hearts.
No more midnight cries.
The things that broke us in this life will become former things—gone forever.
The Hope Behind the Promise
But this promise is only possible because of what Jesus Christ has done.
The gospel reminds us in Gospel of John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

And Epistle to the Romans 5:8 declares:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Because of that love, anyone who comes to Christ can be forgiven, redeemed, and given eternal life.
That is why the invitation of the gospel matters today.
One Day the Cry Will End
One day the last tear will fall.
And when it does, the hand of God will wipe it away.
And after that moment, God’s children will never cry again.