Anchored in Christ

On March 22, 2016, at exactly 12 pm, my mom went to be with the Lord. (Read my tribute.)

While death is no longer an enemy for a believer in Jesus Christ, it remains difficult for the dying and their loved ones.

I’m really going to miss my mom!

Death is the result of sin in the world, and without the hope of a Savior to forgive us for our sins, we are under the wrath of God.

But thanks be to God that He sent His only Son to die for our sins and rise again to give believers eternal life in Jesus Christ (John 3:16).  While we still face the physical consequences of living in a fallen world, death, we can set our hope in the promises of God through Jesus Christ, and rest secure knowing heaven awaits those who die in Christ. My hope is that the encouraging Scripture passages I share below will lift your spiritual eyes heavenward as you wait to go home to Jesus.

“Oh, the sweet life of a Christian that hath made his peace with God! He is fit for all conditions: for life, for death, for everything.” —Richard Sibbes

Comforting Bible Verses about Death for Those Dying in Christ

Romans 8:38-39

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 2:9

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.

Revelation 1:17-18

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Revelation 14:13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Romans 14:7-9

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Philippians 1:21-23 

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Revelation 21:4

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

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. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 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. 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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Peter 1:23-25

…You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

Job 1:21

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Comforting Bible Verses about Death from the Psalms

Psalm 16:8-11

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;     my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 34:4-5

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.

Psalm 46:1-2

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,     though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.

Psalm 55:22

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 116:15

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Psalm 149:6

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

5 Book Recommendations on Suffering, Death, and Dying

1. O Death, Where Is Your Sting? Classic Sermons on Dying in Christ and Our Heavenly Hope by Charles Spurgeon
2. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
3. The Gospel According to Job: An Honest Look at Pain and Doubt from the Life of One Who Lost Everything by Mark Mason
4. Hearing Jesus Speak Into Your Sorrow by Nancy Guthrie
5. Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges
6. Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering by Tim Keller

See more recommended books: 15 of the Best Christian Books on Grief, Death, and Suffering

Some of the Best Comforting Quotes about Suffering, Death, and Dying in Christ

Never fear dying, beloved. Dying is the last, but the least matter that a Christian has to be anxious about. —Charles Spurgeon

A Jesus who never wept could never wipe away my tears. ― Charles Spurgeon

How awful to die out of Christ! How blessed to die in Christ! —William Tiptaft

The pain felt upon the departure of loved ones from this life will generally mirror the joy we felt while they remained with us. — Sam Storms

You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. —Timothy Keller

Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny. — C.S. Lewis

Man is made capable of three births: by nature, he enters into the present world; by grace, into spiritual light and life; by death, into glory. —John Newton

Thus we spend our years with sighing: it is a valley of tears, but death is the funeral of all our sorrows. —Thomas Watson

Let us consider this settled, that no one has made progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await the day of death and final resurrection. – John Calvin

It is in weeping that we learn to contemplate the goodness of God. It is in mourning that we discover the peace of God that passes understanding. — R.C. Sproul

Displaying the glory of the grace of God is the point of suffering. —John Piper

Often we say that Christ will meet us on the other side. That is true, of course, but misleading. Let us never forget that He walks with us on this side of the curtain and then guides us through the opening. We will meet Him there, because we have met Him here. – Erwin Lutzer

A Christian funeral should be a coronation ceremony, a statement to the world about eternal life. – Billy Graham

Depend upon it, your dying hour will be the best hour you have ever known! Your last moment will be your richest moment, better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death. It shall be the beginning of heaven, the rising of a sun that shall go no more down forever! – C.H. Spurgeon

Never fear dying, beloved. Dying is the last, but the least matter that a Christian has to be anxious about. Fear living – that is a hard battle to fight, a stern discipline to endure, a rough voyage to undergo. —C.H. Spurgeon

God will allow evil only to the degree that it brings about the very opposite of what it intends. ― Timothy Keller

Oh, the sweet life of a Christian that hath made his peace with God! He is fit for all conditions: for life, for death, for everything. —Richard Sibbes

…fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, even when the cross is heaviest. —J.I. Packer

Those who understand God’s sovereignty have joy even in the midst of suffering, a joy reflected on their very faces, for they see that their suffering is not without purpose. — R.C. Sproul

Jesus holds the keys to death, and Satan cannot snatch those keys out of His hand. Christ’s grip is firm. He holds the keys because He owns the keys. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. That includes all authority over life and death. The angel of death is at His beck and call. —R.C. Sproul

The proper epitaph to write for the Christian believer is not a dismal uncertain petition, ‘R.I.P.’…but a joyful and certain affirmation ‘C.A.D.’ (‘Christ abolished death’). —John Stott

Song Recommendations

Song: I Can Only Imagine by MercyMe

Even if the Healing Doesn’t Come by Kutless

God Be With You Till We Meet Again

Lest Ye Sorrow

Blessed be the Name of the Lord by Matt Redman

In Christ Alone by Keith and Kristyn Getty

I’ll Fly Away by Alan Jackson

Golden City

Grave Robber by Petra

Funeral to Birthday by Flame This song has always been very encouraging to me.

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Related Article: J.I. Packer’s 10 Tips for Grieving the Loss of Loved One

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