Where is Paradise?
For the longest time I have thought it would be cool to live in a place called Paradise. What does Paradise sound like to you? To me it sounds like a place of low humidity, a comfortable temperature all year around, plenty of seafood, my favorite desserts, and plenty of sweet tea.
The word Paradise is found three times in the English Bible. The first time we find it is in Luke 23:43 where Jesus told the thief on the cross, “today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
When Jesus chose the word Paradise, He chose the clearest way to communicate a place of absolute peace, blessedness, joy, and comfort.
The second use of the word is found in 2 Corinthians 12:4. There, Paul the Apostle spoke of being caught up into Paradise. In that context heaven and Paradise are used interchangeably.
The third time Paradise is found in the Bible, we have Jesus telling the Apostle John, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
So, where is Paradise? It is my personal belief that it is better and more accurate to think of Paradise as a description of a place of blessedness, joy, peace, and comfort provided by God, that redeemed people will experience.
This is an accurate description because we will be in His presence then and forever. Rather than thinking of Paradise as a location separate from heaven or a compartment of heaven, it seems to me it was our Lord’s way of describing heaven.
With this understanding it would be accurate to say Heaven is Paradise and Paradise is heaven where there will be no pain or sorrow, where we will be in the presence of our Lord God forever.
A good question here would be, why did Jesus use the word Paradise instead of heaven when speaking to the thief on the cross?
Knowing the Lord as we do, we can be assured He chose the precise word that would have produced the greatest assurance and rest for the man.
I think you would agree that there was a whole lot more that Jesus was dealing with at that moment that precluded Him from having a long dialogue with this thief. If Jesus would have said, “Today, you will be with me in heaven,” the guy might have said where is heaven? What will heaven be like?
Jesus chose the clearest way to get to the point and communicate the absolute peace, blessedness, joy, and comfort the now redeemed man was soon to experience with Him.
Do you have the assurance you will one day be in Paradise? I certainly hope you do. Have a great weekend and let me know if you would like to chat about this further.
