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Paradise
PAUL SAW PARADISE
The Apostle Paul apparently saw Paradise. In II Corinthians 12 he writes, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise.”
The third heaven is the abode of God, the angels and the redeemed. (The second heaven is the abode of the Sun, moon and stars. The first heaven is the abode of the clouds and rain.)
Paul said that when he was there he heard things said that cannot be said… meaning that what transpires in heaven is beyond our comprehension.
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PRECIOUS LITTLE
Many of you have engaged in more and more Bible reading. Some of you have been reading through the entire Bible annually. Good for you. Keep at it!
Have you noticed in your reading how precious little information there is about what paradise, heaven will be like? We learn little about what we will be doing in the here after.
I wonder why that is…
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IF THAT’S PARADISE, I DON’T WANT IT!
Some people describe heaven as a place of continual worship to God. Probably an apt description. That surely is the sense we get of things from Revelation and John’s experience.
And yet not everyone likes to go to church, not even all Christians. So maybe a church service without end is not a great selling feature when we share Jesus with others. I’ll bet many would say, “A church service without end sounds more like hell than heaven.”
So… some people resort to coming up with their own ideas about heaven: a place where you golf all the time, a place where you can walk in gardens without end, a place where you can eat whatever you want and not gain an ounce.
All of these descriptions of heaven carried to their logical and eternal conclusion may likewise better describe hell than heaven.
There is an old Twilight Zone episode that has such a theme. A gambler dies and goes to what he thinks is heaven. There in heaven his every dream comes true. Every time he gambles he wins! Everything he touches turns to gold. After a while he tires of everything always being just right. He begins to complain to his “angel” that maybe heaven is not so hot. The “angel” laughs and remarks, “This is not heaven. It’s hell!”
Isn’t it interesting that the Devil could get us thinking about the greatest good only to twist it and even come to abhor it. “If that’s heaven, I don’t want it.”
What’s your view of heaven? Do you think it would sound more like hell to others?
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LESS IS MORE
Maybe that’s why there is so little information about heaven in the Scripture. Our feeble minds are not ready to conceive of it. They are not capable of conceiving of it. The longer we think on it the “wronger” we will be.
C.S. Lewis said that explaining heaven to us is like explaining sex to a five year old. Running out of ways to explain it, you finally say, “Put it this way, sex is the best thing you can imagine.” The five year old thinks for a bit and then retorts, “Oh, I see, you get to eat chocolate!”
Sometimes less is more. We are better off thinking less of heaven and thinking more of the one who leads us there. In spite of all the questions you may have, here’s what you need to know about paradise:
God is there, and you will see him face to face.
Your entrance into heaven has been assured only through the suffering and death of Jesus. It is a gift of grace to you without any merit or worthiness on your part.
It is so great that the sufferings of this world will seem like nothing in comparison! (Romans 8:18)
You do not want not to spend eternity there.
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VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL REMINDER
If you have not yet pre-registered your children or grandchildren or neighbor children, please do so. Pre-registration is a big help to the VBS staff!
Go to http://www.stlukehas.com.
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Keep the faith. Pass it on.