Godly Grief

1 Thes. 4-13-17

John 11:35 Jesus weeps at the death of Lazarus, even though He knows He will resurrect Him.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Grief

Grief. Emotional suffering brought on by bereavement, mishap, or disaster. To grieve is either to cause or feel sorrow or distress

I want to make the point that it is okay for us to grieve, especially at the loss of those we love....

If Jesus can weep at the death of a dead loved one, than so can we.

But we do not grieve as the World does, having no hope....

English Standard Version (Chapter 4)

The Coming of the Lord13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Anger, Sadness, and Bittterness can accompany our experience of grief and these are powerful emotions. Negative emotions are a part of the grieving process.

I want to highlight the upward spiral in the grieving process and the downward Spiral.

Grieving: Your Path Back to Peace The Key to the Patterns of Grief

Hope is the key to the grieving process

Might I suggest that hope is the anchor to the grieving process.

Note again the apostle Paul’s Words

The Amplified Bible adds those who have no hope “beyond this life.”

That is critical to understand that those who are outside of Christ do not have the hope of those who are in Christ.

And that is what makes up the difference between the Christian’s grief and the unbeliever’s grief

The disposition of the heart. That disposition of the heart can make up the difference between which side of the grief scale we find ourselves on.

It’s important again to note that Jesus wept

English Standard Version Chapter 11

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36

Jesus wept. Its the shortest verse in all the Bible and yet it is the most studied and most profound. The fact that the Lord of the universe could weep and be so moved in Spirit that He breaks down and cries.

Jesus understood the power of death. He understood the presence of death.

And you see to understand death, you must understand sin and the Garden of Eden.... What took place there when death entered the world.

What is it that God says? “Eat of the fruit and you will surely die.” Death comes in two senses: spiritual and physical. The spiritual death is manifested when God says “where are you?” Now how can an omnipotent God ask “where are You?” He obviously knows where they are and what they have done. But it is the spiritual manifestation of something deeply profound and mysterious. It is the separation of God from the pinnacle of His creation.

And then the physical death. We are first introduced to it in such a brutal way. Cain killing his brother Abel. You see, its an indication that something has gone terribly wrong, that the created order has been shattered. The Life of the Garden of Eden has now given way to this thing called Death. This horrific dark reality that man must now contend with.

But then we read in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” You see, for the Christian, the Death of Jesus must be a historical event. Surely, it must have happened or else the entire system makes no sense. Paul says if Christ has not been raised than we are the most to be pitied. We’re fools, in other words.

But this is no ordinary death. This is God Incarnate—God’s only Son given over to die for us all. God the Father giving His only begotten Son—the son who existed from all eternity humbles Himself to die on a cross. And I don’t have the time to expound upon the mystery of the Trinity, but to say that the Father and the Son, along with the Spirit, existed in divine relationship and fellowship from the beginning. And it is from this reality that God becomes a man.

Now why is this important? Because it is the only way that the sting can be taken out of Death. How else could the pain and the suffering and the darkness associated with death be taken away were it not for the Creator stepping in and sharing in the burdens of His Creation. Stepping into the same darkness that allowed Cain to be filled with so much rage that he killed his brother.

This is why I believe the Christian message. Because it is the only one of all the world religions and worldviews out there that bears the burden of Death. Jesus said that HE came that we might have life and have it to the fullest. He overcame death, so that we may live.

And it is for this reason that Paul is able to say we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We have been baptized into a living hope. “Because He lives I can face tomorrow, because he lives, all fear is gone.” And you know maybe today you’re living without hope. Maybe things don’t make sense right now, and there is no light in your present darkness. Well, I want you to know that God is inviting you into His light this day. He bore the burden of death,and he can take your pain away.

Let us pray....(Spontaneous prayer)

The show ended here, with me giving a brief plug for the Scene Show and the Behind the Scenes podcast.

God Bless you!