The Power of Hope in the Face of Death​

Article Written by Pastor Phil Bray

What difference does hope make? Take a moment to reflect on this verse from             1 Thessalonians 4:13:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.”
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Paul is writing to a church in the first century that had some of its members die. They had been anticipating the return of Jesus before anyone died, and now they were confused and frightened about the future of those who had “fallen asleep.”
Death has a way of sobering everyone up. Death is a horrible tragedy. It seems so final and cold. Death is no respecter of persons—young or old, rich or poor, beautiful or homely. All people will die if Jesus does not return first. I want you to think about death for a moment—to think about your death, to think about the death of someone you know who is close to you. Why does it frighten you? Why do you shrink back in horror from the threat of death? Why did you pray for safe travel for your loved ones over the holidays? You do not want to experience death—personally, but especially in those you love. Most of us could bear the thought of dying ourselves before we would want to face the horror of living life without our spouse or a child.
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We grieve when we lose someone to the monster of death. We weep, we mourn, we suffer inward anguish, missing them more than words can express. Why is it so painful emotionally? It is because death seems so final. You won’t see that person again, hear their voice, or feel their embrace. There is a void—a sucking black hole of space in your soul. You feel as if life will not be able to go on. Color seems to have drained from the canvas of life until all that is left are the scratches of an outline of what life used to be. God knows that death will pain us like this. God intends to comfort us in the face of death with this passage of Scripture. That is why He gave us this passage of Scripture (1 Thess. 4:18). He gives us hope, and that hope provides reinvigorating comfort to the broken and weary soul. Hope is like the cool trickle of ice-cold water down your parched throat on a hot summer day. The burning gnaw of thirst is soothed, the longing and aching of your throat is quenched in cool relief. That is how hope comforts, soothes, and relieves the searing pain of death.

So, what difference does hope make? We will grieve. We will hurt. We will weep tears of agony. Yet, we do not have to weep like those who have no hope. For the one who has no hope, there is no relief from the torture of loss. But for the one who has hope, the grief can be endured, and life can go on. How, then, does hope make such a difference?
Picture two men sitting in a terrorist prison, awaiting their public beheadings. They are in different rooms, separated by hallways and passages, completely unknown to one another. They know that at any moment their killers may walk through the door and drag them to their doom. One of these men is crying silently, realizing that he will never see his family again. He is wallowing in the corner in the fetal position in great despair. The other, though frightened, is almost excited with anticipation. His every nerve is on high alert. He is not languishing in potential agony but looking with anticipation at the door. He is pacing the floor, peering out the window—waiting, waiting, waiting. What is the difference between these two men? One has hope of rescue. One has a hope of being delivered from the jaws of death before the executioner’s stroke falls. Where does this hope come from? The second man just received a message taped to the bottom of his breakfast dish that was slid under his door. That message told him to be ready for an American Special Ops unit that was about to secure his release. The message provides hope of rescue. The reputation of the American Special Forces bolsters the confidence in the message, for they are the best in the world at what they do. As a result of the message from one who can certainly accomplish the deliverance, hope is born.

That is what this passage is for us struggling with the excruciating loss of death. It is a message from the One with all power—the One who can do anything He pleases. When the Lord of Heaven says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:14–17)—hope is born!

We have hope, for God is God, and He is not a false hope. He has proven through the resurrection of His own Son that death has met its end and that it will be reversed (Acts 2:24). “A horse is a false hope for victory; nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him because we trust in His holy name. Let Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in Thee” (Psalm 33:17–22).

Hope in God and soothe away the grief. Grief will come, the pain will threaten to drown you, yet cling to the life raft of God’s promise here. Wait with excited anticipation for the reversal of death and the reunion of all those in Christ!