2/24/2013
Luke 23:39-43: Paradise Now
"43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43
Jesus informed one of the wayward criminals who was crucified next to him, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” No other book but the Bible is trustworthy enough to tell us what Paradise is and how we can get there. We can be assured that we are going to Paradise today; we need not wait until right before we take our last breath that heaven will be our home.
Some people use the word Paradise to mean a place of delight where they would like to be. In the Bible, paradise was originally The Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived in innocence; when they disobeyed God's one and only command (Genesis 3), they lost their first paradise and were forced out of the Garden.
Then, a man by the name of Abraham believed in the one living and true God and chose to follow Him with His life; He so strongly held to God by faith (and not his own works) that when others who believed like him died, they called that Paradise a place called “Abraham's bosom.” It was the resting place of those who loved God before Christ died on the cross (Luke 16:19-31).
After Christ died on the cross, the scriptures inform us that he freed those believers in Abraham's bosom so that all who profess faith in Him could live with God for eternity. (Ephesians 4:8) Hallelujah! Since Christ paid for all of our sins including the thief next to him on the cross – Jesus was going to bring him to Heaven – the place where God Himself dwells. Jesus promised His very special presence to the criminal, and He promises that same presence to all who put their faith in Him.
Click here to learn how to have eternal life.
Listen to the complete sermon below!
Then, a man by the name of Abraham believed in the one living and true God and chose to follow Him with His life; He so strongly held to God by faith (and not his own works) that when others who believed like him died, they called that Paradise a place called “Abraham's bosom.” It was the resting place of those who loved God before Christ died on the cross (Luke 16:19-31).
After Christ died on the cross, the scriptures inform us that he freed those believers in Abraham's bosom so that all who profess faith in Him could live with God for eternity. (Ephesians 4:8) Hallelujah! Since Christ paid for all of our sins including the thief next to him on the cross – Jesus was going to bring him to Heaven – the place where God Himself dwells. Jesus promised His very special presence to the criminal, and He promises that same presence to all who put their faith in Him.
Click here to learn how to have eternal life.
Listen to the complete sermon below!