Regardless of how we talk about paradise, no man can describe what paradise truly is -it is both unexplainable and indescribable. Neither has any man on earth seen it nor have they been there, whatever glimpse you catch by revelation is a shadow of what exists truly. But most assuredly, it exists. In comparison to this world, we want to examine in this subject what is the true hope of a believer and if anything on earth is worth risking the paradise of God.
TEXT: Luke 23:39-43, John 14:1-3, Job 14:1, Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, 1Corinthians 15:19, Revelation 21:1-7, Revelation 22:9-14, Luke 16:27-31
Paradise is an eternal place of rest and peace that God Himself prepared for His overcomers. Conversely, we live in a world that is full of toils and sorrows, no matter what you have and the wealth you’ve been able to harness, you worked for it, you toiled for it, and thus, cannot be classified as paradise -for paradise is not a place of labor. Paradise is not going to last for one thousand years, it is eternal. Think about it.
Because God has indeed prepared a place for those who obeyed Him on earth, and because He would not want them to see this ephemeral world as their paradise, He purposely, sometimes will not take away all your problem. Like Paul who battled with a challenge and sought God thrice for it, yet God refused to take it away; similarly, He does for us. He will not heal all your diseases, and He will not answer all your prayers, because there is a better place prepared for you. The paradise of God is the end of every of God’s children -that is when you will know the true meaning of SHALOM.
There are trials God leads us through to prove us, test us and validate that we are worthy of the true rest of paradise. In this case, only those who are not believing God for mundane things will scale through. If your reason for serving God is to be wealthy here on earth, and God is trying you to know if you want His eternal rest, will you have the endurance to scale through to the end? Of course not. Because your sense of value is mundane, you can’t cherish that nobler and higher cause enough to allure your heart with it. But if truly you have caught a glimpse of eternity, pursue with patient endurance that eternal place of rest -it is the reward of overcomers. No matter what you become on the earth, if you don’t make it to paradise, you waste God’s effort, you waste God’s precious blood of redemption.
The word of God is forever settled in heaven, and it is by that word that we know how to conduct ourselves, it is the manual that God has given to His own to live by on earth, the Bible is God’s basic instruction before leaving the earth. You need to understand, against what the Catholic system has said, that the Bible did not become the word of God. For in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Until you realize that the Bible in your hand is God’s only book given to you to live by, you are not a believer. Reading the Bible doesn’t make you a Christian, carrying it doesn’t. when you believe the sacred word and live the life it says to live, then you are a believer. You cannot serve God acceptably until you know the will of God for your life. And the will of God cannot contradict the word of God. The word of God is God’s inbreathe.
Really, you can’t live for what you’re not convinced of. The evidence that you believe in the Bible is that you will obey it. Let me say here that because God has prepared a paradise for you, therefore, don’t make this world your paradise. If only in this world we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. There’s no one that makes this world his paradise and makes it to the paradise of God. Let’s comb through a few scriptures:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 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.
3 And if I go 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.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Revelation 21.
9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22.
There is definitely the labor to enter into the “rest” of God, and only those who labor will enter into that rest. If you don’t regard it, you will not make it. The rich young ruler disregarded it when he came to Jesus to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life. And he got the reward when he died. Yes, every man becomes powerless when death comes, that is when life truly dawns on you.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
What a condition, that this man believed that a drop of water could relieve him of the thirst and pain he was going through. He made this world his paradise and he could not make it to God’s paradise. Brethren, there is a blessed hope for the saints who overcome in their time, make God your priority, and seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. Don’t make this world your paradise. Solomon saw it all and he exclaimed, “all is vanity”. Don’t spend your time on vanity.
Shalom