[TruthTalk] Paradise

[Terry Clifton]

To DaveH: A short time back, if I remember correctly, you said that in your opinion, people do not die and go to Heaven.  I gathered from what you were saying that Paradise and Heaven were two separate places, and that Paradise was sort of a holding place for the spirits of the dead, while their bodies are waiting resurrection.  If I am a little foggy on this, feel free to correct me, because at the time I simply dismissed the whole matter. In any case, you felt that no one was yet in Heaven.   I bring this up again because as I was reading my Bible this morning, I noticed that Paul said in Phil.1:23, that his desire was to depart and be with Christ.  Now we know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, in Heaven, and we know that Paul feels that if he dies (is executed) he will be with Jesus, so evidently there is some room for error in your premise.  A little further study reveals that Paradise is in the third Heaven, which is up, not down,(2 Cor. 12:1-5). So, looking in that direction, we find that the tree of life is in Paradise (Rev. 2:7) and we find that the tree of life is in Heaven (Rev.22:2) .  To me, the obvious conclusion is that Paradise and Heaven are the same place. How 'bout them apples? Terry