Just wondering about our loved ones who’ve passed on before us. Since there will be no tears or sorrow in heaven how will we not be sad if those we thought would be there are not? Will we have no memory of them so we won’t be sad?
The Bible makes two general statements in this regard. The first is in Isaiah 65:17 which reads,
“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”
And the second is the one you cited from Rev. 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
We know discovering that people who we assumed were saved turned out not to be would normally cause us sadness. And yet both these verses say that at the 2nd coming everything will be changed to such a degree that we’ll no longer remember the way things were before. (I’m of the opinion that these promises will come true for the Church at the rapture.) Therefore the absence of people in Heaven who we knew on Earth will not cause us any sadness.