Life After Death

Chapter 1

Paradise

by Richard W. DeHaan

    I like the story told about the fellow who, when asked if he was on his way to heaven, replied, “Why, man, I live there!” As a believer, what he said was true. Heaven is the real home of everyone who has placed his trust in Christ.The believer is simply a pilgram here on earth, passing through on his way to glory—his permanent address.

    In fact, those who know the Lord are even now seated “together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Yes, positionally, we who know His are already in heaven. And at death our souls, in actuality, go to heaven, where we will enjoy the presence of God and the many blessings awaiting all who love Him.

    Now, that was not always the case. When a believer died before Christ's ascension, rather than going to heaven his soul was received in shoel. (The place referred to in the Old Testament as “sheol” is called “hades” in the New Testament.)

    No one in the Old Testament days, therefore, could ever speak as Paul did when he talked about being absent from the body and present with the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 5:6 , 8).

    David, the man after God's own heart, could only say:
....my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For thou will not leave my soul in sheol....(Psalm 16:9–10)

    And in Genesis 49 we are told that when Jacob came to the end of his earthly pilgrimage:
....he gathered up his feet into the bed and died, and was gathered unto his people (Genesis 49:33).

    Unlike the apostle Paul, who at death anticipated with glad expectation the personal presence of Christ in heaven, David, Jacob, and all the other Old Testament saints had the prospect of being gathered with their people in sheol.
    In fact, the very first assurance anyone ever received of experiencing the personal presence of Christ at death was given by the Lord Jesus to a thief hanging beside Him on a cross.

    To the repentant man, Christ said, “Today shall thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).     That man—the one hanging beside the Lord Jesus— would enjoy Chist's presence that very day in paradise. And today as well, whenever a trusting child of God dies, he experiences the blessing of the personal presence of Christ.

Two Compartments of Sheol

But where is paradise?

    Dr. William Evans, in his commentary on Romans and 1 Corinthians, said this: “Paradise was first on earth—the garden of Eden; then it was below the earth—the part of hades, into which Christ descended. It is now located above, where Christ is. Someday it will be on earth again—probably the New Jerusalem descending ouot of heaven upon the earth.”

    Whether or not we agree with everything Dr. Evans says, of this we are certain: paradise, the abode of the righteous, is in heaven where Christ is. In 2 Corinthians 12:2, the apostle Paul described a most thrilling experience in his life when he told us that he was “caught up to the third heaven.”

    And in verse 4, making reference to the very same place, he mentioned being “caught up into paradise.” It would therefore seem that the location of heaven and paradise is the same. Paradise is in heaven.

    But paradise was not always in heaven. As Dr. Evans described it, paradise was at one time “the upper part of hades.” Located in a region below the surface of the earth, it was the place where the souls of the righteous dead awaited the resurrection of the body.

    It was in the lower division of hades that the souls of the wicked dead were (and still are) confined, awaiting the resurrection of the bodies and a transference into their final abod, the lake of fire.

    In the story, the Lord Jesus told about Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19–31), Lazarus was “carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom” (v. 22).

    The rich man, on the other hand, was described as being “in hades....in torments” (v. 23). The Lord Jesus indicated that there was a “great gulf fixed” between them.

    Both men, however, were in hades. Lazarus was in the upper division; the rich man, the lower. We call the upper section “Abraham's bosom” or paradise. It was a place of comfort, blessing, and joy. The lower section of hades was, and continues to be, a place of remorse and suffering.

The Moving of Paradise

    There has been a tremendous change, however, in the upper half. Paradise is not in heaven. Every believer, when called for this life, instead of going into the upper part of hades, is ushered into heaven, where he is blessed by the very presence of the Lord Jesus.

    Now, just when did that change take place?

    In response to that question, let me say first of all that it did not occur before the death and resurrection of Christ.

    This is evident when we compare three passages of Scripture. David, writing in Psalm 16, declared: “....my flesh also shall rest in hope. For Thou will not leave my soul in sheol....” (Psalm 16:9,10).

    Peter in Acts 2 indicated that David was speaking “of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hades, neither His flesh did see corruption” (Acts 2:31).

    The Lord Jesus, as He hung on the cross, gave this assurance to the dying thief who had expressed his confidence in Christ: “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

    Please notice again the words of Acts 2:31. Peter said that David was speaking of the Lord Jesus when he said that His soul (that is, the soul of Christ) “was not left in hades.”

    Since, as David and Peter indicated, the Lord Jesus entered into sheol–hades at death, and since Christ promised the dying thief that they would be together in paradise on that very day, we may conclude that paradise was still located below the surface of the earth in the place known as hades at that time.

    Not many years following the death and resurrection of Christ, however, the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 equated the location of “the third heaven” with that of paradise (see 2 Corinthians 12:2 , 4).

    Paradise was no longer in hades when the apostle penned those words. Rather, it was in a new place. Unlike Old Testament times, paradise is now in heaven.

    We ask again, when did the change take place? Jesus said to Mary following His resurrection:
    Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brethern, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God (John 20:17).

    On the evening of that very same day, however, we hear the Lord Jesus inviting His followers to touch Him. Here's what Luke wrote about it:
    And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
    Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have (Luke 24:38–39).

    We may therefore assume that at some time between our Lord's moring appearance to Mary and the meeting with His disciples that same evening, Christ had ascended to the Father and returned.

    It very possibly was then that the upper portion of hades was emptied of the souls of the righteous.It was probably then that “the third heaven,” the place where God Himself is, became the new location of paradise.

    And now, unlike those believers who died before the cross, the trusting child of God enters into the presence of Christ in heaven at the moment of death.

    Paul may hae had in mind the transferal of the redeemed from hades to heaven when he wrote:
    When he [Christ] ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
    Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
    He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things)(Ephesians 4:8–10).

    Some Bible scholars relate this passage to Peter's wards where, speaking of Christ, he said that He “went and preached unto the spirits in prison, who at one time were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:19–20).

The Blessings of Paradise

    Old Testament saints could not look forward to going into the presence of the Lord when they died. None of them could ever say with quite the same depth of meaning as Paul that “to die is gain.”

    No, they never knew the hope that is ours at death of:
Stepping on shore and finding it heaven!
    Of touching a hand and finding it [Christ's]!
Of breathing new air and finding it celestrial!
    Of waking up in glory and finding it home!
                                                        —L.E. Singer

    Jesus gave this wonderful promise to His disciples:
Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me.
    In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
    And if I god and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:1–3).

    Those words, of course, were spoken to the followers of christ before the cross, in anticipation of His second coming. The prospect of being with Christ, however, is just as true now for the believer who dies. When he is “absent from the body,” he is “present with the Lord” (see 2 Corinthians 5:8).

    And just as we look forward to seeing Christ, I'm confident that He too anticipates with great joy receiving all those He has redeemed through His sacrifice at Calvary. He welcomes them home.

    I received a letter some time ago that so blessed my heart that I'd like to share a portion of it with you. It reads as follows:

    “Last month my mother went to heaven. She was 95 and a blessing to everyone who met her.” The writer then went on to tell what a 7–year–old greatson said about the passing of that dear saint of God. Expressing his great love and admiration for her, he remarked, “I'll bet Jesus was glad to see Grandma!” I would agree.

    When we think about the death of a Christian, our minds are usually taken up with the joy a believer must experience when he first sees the One who saveed him. Yes, what a thrill it will be to meet the Lord Jesus!

    But I think that 7–year–old suggested something we tend to overlook. Certainly we're eager to see Christ. But the Lord Jesus—the One who loved the church so much that He gave His life for her—must find great satisfaction whenever another blood-bought child of God is escorted by the angels through the gates of glory.

    So Christian friend, whether you are facing death yourself or grieving the loss of a loved one, remember the words of that young boy “I'll bet Jesus was glad to see Grandma.” And I'm sure that if you know Him, He'll be glad to see you, too!

    There are many things we don't know about heaven. But of this we are assured: those who die in Christ will enjoy His presence and the blessings He is preparing for all who will dwell in that wonderful place.

    That future home, however, is only for those who believe on Christ. Do you know Him? If not, trust Him for salvation today.

    A retired pastor who now ministers to shut-ins related to me the following experience:

    A 96–year–old man had lost his beloved companion of many years. He said to the minister, “There's nothing I want more than to be with my wife again.”

    The pastor replied, “Why do you say that? You don't profess to be a Christian. How do you know where she is. And can you be so sure you'd be happy there?”

    After thinking for a few moments, the man replied, “Your're right. In fact, when it comes right down to it, the thought of leaving this life terrifies me.” Then he blurted out this sad confession: “I'm sick of living, but afraid of dying.”

    What a dilemma! Tired of living, but scared of dying. Contrast that with the outlook of one who knows the Lord and is living for Him. for the believer, there is no need to fear either life or death. Ready to go; read to stay—whatever plan God has for him, he knows everything will be all right.

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