R&R Doctrine of Suffering [Death and Grieving]

R&R Devotional Bible Study

The Doctrine of Suffering:
Death and Grieving

Many a person nowadays seems to have forgotten the doctrine of suffering. The reason for this is two-fold:
First – People do not really study The Word of God, and base what they consider Christianity to be off of their feelings...
Second – Christianity is not properly portrayed or taught, thus is misconstrued...

Instead of telling people there will be suffering, and even persecution for believing in Christ, people are told that they will have a better quality life, and that if you follow Christ, only good things will happen to you.

Thus, when bad things occur, people cry out and say things like 'I am angry with God because I am poor, because bad things are happening to me, because this is not the positive experience I was told Christianity would be...and so on and so forth...'

Now, if we briefly consider suffering, let us look at a few control questions:

Who Suffers?
The short answer is the whole of humanity. But to look a little more closely at the answer, it is those who are truly of God who truly understand suffering, and who accept what God says concerning suffering.

What is suffering/Why do we suffer?
This is a little more complex to answer. But the simplest way to understand this is to understand the fallenness of man, and the fact that the entirety of creation is cursed by Yahweh due to the sin of Adam. This actually directly ties into the answer to 'Why do we suffer?' because it is pretty much the same answer

Suffering is the state of being in acting in direct opposition to Yahweh....

When do we suffer?
-James 1.2-6

The wages of sin is death. True death is to be absent from life. Thus, ultimately, the second and final death is to forever be separated from the presence and grace of Yahweh, and to be cast into the outer darkness in the torment, judgment, and punishment of Yahweh for all eternity.

This may sound clinical and cold. But in reality it is not. Facts do not care about feelings or onions. Only the truth of God matters.

Matthew 11.28-30 tells us:
"28-Come to Me [Jesus], all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29-Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30-For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Romans 12.15 tells us:
"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."

Ecclesiastes 3.2-9 tells us:
"1-There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - - 2-A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3-A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4-A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. 5-A time to throw stones an a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 6-A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7-A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak. 8-A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace."

Ecclesiastes 7.2-4 tells us:
"2-It is better to go to the house of mourning that to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart. 3-Sorrow is better than laughter, for when a face is sad a heart may be happy. 4-The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure."

Death is the ultimate reminder of mankind's ultimate condition...the condition of sin. Romans 6.23 tells us: "For the wages of sin if death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Death is a grievous thing. The lose of a person is hurtful and causes grief and pain and mourning and depression and emotions like that. In looking at a persons death, it is natural to mourn...and others should come around and mourn together. As we see in the above passage, we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

But what should we do with this? Someone dies and we mourn, but why and what is this all about?

Hebrews 9.27 tells us:
"And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment."

When someone dies, it is a reminder to us that this happens to each and every person. James 4.14b tells us: "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." This is by no means belittling us, but rather reminding us that life is short. Death is a reminder to us that we are here for a short time and that our focus is to be pointed to Christ Jesus. We see that Jesus calls us to focus on Him in the above passage from Matthew. If our focus is earthbound, we look at all the pain and suffering that comes from our time here on earth. Our ultimate comfort and satisfaction can only be found in Jesus for He and He alone can comfort and console.

It would also do us well to remember that this comfort and solace is antithetical to that of what we would think and how we think. God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways [Isaiah 55.8-9]. True comfort is not necessarily the same as what we would do to try to comfort on another. See...the only way to truly comfort someone is to point them to Christ Jesus because as Jesus tells us in John 14.6, Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, and no one can come to the Father but through Christ Jesus.

Comfort is solely dependent upon being reconciled to God The Father...

Death is a reminder of man's predicament of sin. The wages of sin is death. Physical death occurs for every person. The only true way that we can be comforted is to look to and believe in the Name of Christ Jesus who is God the Son. John 6.37b tells us that '...the one who comes to Jesus, Jesus will not cast out."

John 3.16 tells us:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

1 Peter 5.7 tells us:
"Casting all your anxiety [cares] on Him [Christ Jesus], because He cares for you."

People die. It is the natural course of life. We will grieve and mourn. But we are commanded move on and seek the Lord Christ Jesus and believe upon His name, thus focusing on Him. But our condition is told to us in Romans 3, which should make us cry out to God even more because of our condition.

This is what the entirety of man is to do in a worshipful manner. Physical death is the exit from time and space and on to eternity. That is why it is good that we have this reminder, in order that we can do as Philippians 2.12 tells us...that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, because it is God who is at work in us...

Where is the comfort in this?

As I have already mentioned, spiritual comfort is antithetical to physical comfort. Isaiah 11.2 tells us: "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." We are being told of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. We are told of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.22-23 which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The comfort is turning away from self, and turning to God...casting your cares on The Lord Christ Jesus...and relying on the spiritual stability of God the Holy Spirit in all situations, including the times of mourning and grief.

[Written in 2016; Edited in June 2025]

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