The following is excerpted and adapted from a sermon by Pastor Jordan, called "Enjoying God's Sovereignty: Reflections on Psalm 115." You can listen to the whole sermon or read the text here.
Wounds in this broken world are inevitable, much like the injuries to the SuperBowl participants at the end of a season. Wounds DO NOT define us, nor are they our identity; but they do mark us. We are wounded by others (hurt caused by abuse, distrust, or harm done) or by circumstances (loss, death, unanswered prayer). We know that the gospel heals our wounds and delivers us from our sin and shame, but our wounds do not go away. The gospel allows us to move forward in joy, but it does not make us forget. Wounds are reminders that we are a fallen humanity in a fallen world, and pain, sorrow, and tears mark us. However, by faith we can overcome our wounds. We fight for joy. We fight to believe that the pain is temporary, that sin will have an end, and that it is in this life alone that we will deal with it.
If you are carrying wounds today, know that you are not alone. Your Savior felt the wounds of pain, wept over the fact that death is here (see John 11:35), and sympathizes with our weakness. And the same Savior that felt and went through pain is the same one that will make all things new, that will heal our wounds in a way that we won't feel the pain, nor shed the tears any more; those things will pass away. Here's how the apostle John captured it in Revelation 21:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.'
"And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son."
