Hopeful Sorrow
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1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul addresses the believers about those who have fallen asleep in Christ
This short passage is for the specific purpose of giving hope to those who have lost loved ones and experienced the hurt and sorrow of death
Lepers of India illustration
Amber has been reading and sharing a book with me about a Christian doctor in India trying to help people with a specific disease in which they feel no pain
At first that sounds great! However, this Christian doctor explains the science behind God’s gracious gift of pain in our bodies
Pain is an alarm system to protect us and help us. It tells us if we are being burned or damaged. It tells us if we are in danger
These diseased people in India were not dying because of the disease but because they could not survive without pain
They would get small cuts and not feel the pain and infection spreading through their body
They would go blind because they couldn’t feel the pain of not blinking for hours and hours
Without an alarm system they were in great sorrow but not seeking what was needed to remedy the pain
In this passage, the Apostle Paul teaches us about the pain of death and why we have it
Purpose of Pain (13-14)
Purpose of Pain (13-14)
Sorrow points us to what is broken
We are not told in this passage to not grieve and cry and hurt
Rather we are told to have sorrow with hope, with an understanding of the biblical truths given us in the Bible
This is what makes our grieving different from those in the world who do not know Christ
Death reminds us that we are in fallen broken world because of sin
Death reigns because we have sinned and broken our relationship with our life source, God
An alarm system is going off telling us we are not immortal
Sorrow points us to hope in Christ
Christ also died but rose again to never die again
Pain of death reminds us that this life is not eternal but only a journey to get back to God
Purpose of Death (14-17)
Purpose of Death (14-17)
God brings some to himself while he is still not ready to bring others- us remaining does not prevent God from taking some from among us
God wants all his children to be with him for ever and ever- so shall we be with the Lord
Death is a separation of the soul from the body
Death is a separation from our loved ones but a reconciliation with our heavenly father (2 Corinthians 5:1-8)
Again, pain and sorrow point to this need of ours to be clothed in immortality
We are groaning and longing for this day to come (Romans 8 says all creation is groaning with us)
Purpose of Church (18)
Purpose of Church (18)
We are here to comfort one another
To show care and love to the family
To assist in laying the body of the loved one to rest- not just discarding of a body as if we had no hope
We are here to speak words of truth and life
Not just an empty “its going to be okay”
Without Christ it is not okay
Reincarnation says that they will be reborn into mortality to groan once again for something more
Our hope is that once we sleep “rest” then the groaning is over and we will be with the Lord
This is what we were created for
Ever since man was separated from our creator because of sin, pain and sorrow have overwhelmed us
But this all is an alarm system telling us to look to him for salvation and hope