Blake Long

Christian, are you in the throes of suffering? Are you in pain, agony, or torment? Perhaps you’re wondering, Will this ever end? To wonder if our suffering will stop is a natural question, and one the Bible answers decisively.

The answer, of course, is not necessarily the answer we desire in the moment, but one we can look forward to. To what might be obvious to most, Christians—like everyone else—are not immune to suffering. Scripture doesn’t convey that followers of Jesus will live life under God’s hand pain free, contrary to the teachings of popular prosperity gospel hucksters. Suffering is the norm for Christians—whether by life’s circumstances or persecution. So Christians should view suffering as normative; we shouldn’t be surprised when it comes our way. We shouldn’t be happy with our suffering, but joyful in it knowing that it will soon end one way or another.

We long for suffering to cease; we ask God for our pain to stop. Sometimes it won’t let up; other times it will. What God desires from us in the meantime is childlike trust in Him. One way we do that is by looking forward to His future promises of grace, specifically the one in Revelation 21:4, which says: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away” (CSB‬‬).

I’m his song, “Death Has Died,” rapper Andy Mineo shares the message of Revelation 21:4 in a beautiful way.

Mineo raps:

No more broken hearts, no more broken homes; no more lockin’ doors, no more cops patrollin’; no abusive words, or abusive touches; no more cancerous cells that’ll take our loved ones; no more hungry kids, no more natual disaster; no child will ever have to ask where his dad is; no funerals where we wear all black; and death will be dead and we’ll lock the casket.

There is light at the end of the tunnel of our suffering. There is the promise of everything good as we endure the effects of sin. As we navigate current agony, we can look forward to God’s promise of no more pain, no more suffering, no more death.

Christian: there it is. Death has died, and death will die. The moment Jesus finished His work by rising from the dead and ascending to the right hand of God, death lost its pangs, it’s sting. In Heaven, death will be no longer, it will cease to exist.

RC Sproul observed:

The Puritan Divine John Owen wrote a classic book titled The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. Owen was saying that, in Christ’s death, He took upon Himself the curse that is inseparably linked to the punitive measure of death itself. Yet for those who put their trust in Christ, that curse is removed, so that now, for all who are in Christ, death is no longer a curse. Its sting has been removed. The mockery of the grave has been silenced and now death is merely a transition from this life to the next.

Christians are no longer under death’s curse because of Christ’s sacrifice. This doesn’t mean we won’t experience physical death—we will. Everyone does. Ten out of 10 die. Rather, this means Christians will not experience spiritual death, that is, eternal separation from the goodness and mercy and kindness and forgiveness of God; for that is what Hell is, in part.

Sproul said it best: “…death is merely a transition from this life to the next.” Believer, you need not fear death, for it is simply the pathway to true, everlasting life. Eternal life full of worship, of joy, of peace. Eternal life void of pain, of turmoil, of frustration, of death.

So, Christian, for now we suffer; for now we wait with anticipation of the complete death of death. But one day, sooner than we think, we will be in the eternal presence of our God, worshipping Him forever and won’t have to worry about pain, suffering, death or anything bad.

Selah.