The Return of the Lord, Part 7 (#901)
We’ll continue today with our series on The Return of the Lord, we are on part seven, where we’re are going to talk about the word paradise.   A lot of people talk about going to paradise.  In previous sessions we saw that there weren’t any indications of anybody being raised from the dead and going directly to heaven.  People were raised from the dead, but they didn’t come back from paradise or heaven.  Jesus Christ ascended into heaven later on, after his resurrection.  And he’s the only one that has done that.   But there is a paradise talked about in the Bible, but it has nothing to do with going to heaven today after you die.   If you have a friend or family member who is a Christian and if they were to die today they would not ascended to heaven — that won’t come until the return of the Lord and they would not go to paradise, that’s not going happen either.   And there isn’t any hot place called hell except for two things: one there’s the parable of Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom which as we talked about the previous session was really explaining something in terms of Pharisees’ believed because that’s what they thought it was a parable or a fable wasn’t true.  And then later on the end of the book of Revelation there is a lake of fire read about last time and will read a little bit below but more about today we read about last time where there is a lake of fire where the devil and the beast and others go at the end, but that’s not some place where you hang around, like in the movies and fiction it’s just a place for people that don’t want to eternal life go to the second death.  But paradise does exist in the Bible, it’s not mythical.  There are many things that are mythical about it in fiction about it and many things in church tradition that aren’t biblical, but there is a paradise.  The thing it’s different from much Christian theology is that paradise will only exist in the future paradise is used for two things the original paradise in the Garden of Eden which of course is gone long long ago and I doesn’t exist anymore.  And then there will be a new paradise at the very end of the book of Revelation.  So let’s start here in Genesis Chapter two verse eight and read about the original paradise…
Taught by Bruce Mahone, 20160814.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Paradise
Gen. 2:8-10          God planted a garden (Greek: paradise) eastward in Eden
(The word “paradise” appears in the Greek Septuagint version in Gen. 2:8, 9, 10, 15, 16; 3:1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 23, 24; 13:10; Num. 24:6; II Chron. 33:20; Neh. 2:8; Eccl. 2:5; Song of Solomon 4:13; Isa. 1:30; 51:3; Jer 36:5; Ezek. 28:13; 31:8, 9; Joel 2:3)
Gen. 3:22-24        He placed at the east of the garden (Greek: paradise) of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword…to keep the way of the tree of life
II Cor. 12:1-4        How that he was caught up (caught away – by a vision) into paradise (third heaven: cf. II Peter 3:5-13)
Rev. 2:7                 I will give to eat of the tree of life…in the midst of the paradise of God
Rev. 22:1-2           On either side of the river, was there the tree of life
Rev. 22:14            That they may have right to the tree of life
There is no record in scripture of anyone dying and going directly to heaven or paradise.
Summary
Acts 26:22-23         That he should be the first that should rise from the dead
I Cor. 15:51-52       In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump
I Tim 1:1                  Lord Jesus Christ our hope
Col 1:3-5                  For the hope which is laid up (NIV: stored up) for you in heaven – vs. 5
I Pet 1:3-5                Begotten us again unto a lively hope be the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – vs. 3
Teaching
The Return of the Lord, Part 7 (#901)