In (Luke 23:43) Jesus said to the thief on the cross: “…Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Not only does this verse tell us that it is never too late to come to Christ but it also calls His future kingdom paradise. I wonder what thoughts come to your mind when you think of the word paradise? I know for me paradise is an incredible place of ultimate beauty, joy, peace, and endless precious adventures with my Savior. And when comparing my future eternal home with my earthly habitation there can be no comparison at all since our sin filled world is anything but paradise.
Paul David Tripp said it well: “If you don’t keep the eyes of your heart focused on the paradise that is to come, you will try to turn this poor fallen world into the paradise it will never be.”1 My friends true paradise is something everyone longs to find but sadly most people try to find it in our “poor fallen world.” For the non-Christian, without acknowledging it, he worships a false god called self. With no real god to believe in he places himself as the supreme person in his universe, and spends the rest of his life searching for a reason for his existence. Searching every pathway, every byway, overturning every stone, examining every philosophy, and experiencing every feeling, as he comes to the end of his journey, the answer he finds is that none exists! In other words, there is no paradise but only a hopeless end to life!
For the Christian, however, he focuses not on earthly values and possessions but on heavenly treasures, or in other words, a paradise that is to come. For the believer he has an endless hope but for the non-believer he has a hopeless end.
Before Adam and Eve sinned they lived in a wonderful paradise and had intimate fellowship with God. However, when they sinned paradise was lost. But praise God when we repent of our sin and invite Jesus into our hearts, like the thief on the cross did, we get a glimpse of paradise now and secure our passport to the full reality of paradise in the world to come. And since true paradise will only be found and fully experienced in the world to come may I challenge you to follow the Apostle Paul’s wise counsel: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4).
1 If you don’t keep the eyes of your heart focused on the paradise that … Quote by Paul David Tripp – QuotesLyfe