At the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age God will permit Satan to deceive the nations on the earth and they will rebel against the rule of the saints. Then fire will come down from God and destroy those wicked people.

At the white throne judgment administered by Christ and His saints (for the Father judges no one), all the dead will be raised. Each person will be judged according to his or her works. Those who have done good will inherit eternal life on the new earth. The wicked will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

Then the total Church, including the firstfruits which had ruled with Christ over the saved nations and the balance of the Church as well, will descend from Heaven and come to rest on a high mountain of the new earth. This is our understanding at the present time.

When Revelation 21:4 speaks of the removal of tears, death, sorrow, crying, and pain it is referring to the saved nations. The members of the Church compose the city. They are the trees of life. The Holy Spirit will flow from them. They will be the ones who will remove pain and dread from the nations. This is the meaning of the symbolism as we see it.

It makes us think of the forty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel where, after having passed through water to the ankles, knees, and hips, and finally water to swim in, the saints are placed as trees of life along the banks of the River of Life.

Then the Divine Life of God will flow out to the dead sea of mankind and mankind will come to life. Many "fish" will be caught for the Lord at that time.

During the Church Age, which we are in now, God is calling out His predestined elect and building them up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. They then will serve God throughout His creation as kings, priests, judges, and teachers.

This is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. The Spirit of God and the Wife of the Lamb invite all who will do so to come and drink freely of the waters of eternal life.

Tears, death, sorrow, crying, pain, will not just vanish from the earth when the Lord returns. Rather the sons of God will spread out from Jerusalem and bring the Glory of God to the ends of the earth. The curse will be lifted at their hands, just as takes place on a small scale today as the saints pray for the sick and for other bondages.

We can experience the power of the age to come right now as we seek the Lord and do His will. But the fullness of Divine Glory the Lord Jesus will bring with Him will bring justice, peace, and joy to all the saved nations.

The Glory of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will not just drop down from the sky. It will be brought to the nations at the hands of the saints as they go forth to rebuild the desolation caused by the rule of self-centered man.