Friday, November 17, 2006
Luke 23:43 "Today you will be with Me in Paradise."
HEAVEN -- WHEN WILL WE ARRIVE?
"Are we there yet? When will we be there?" What parent hasn't heard those words? What weary traveler hasn't felt them? "When will we reach our journey's end?"
When exactly will the believer in Christ arrive in heaven? Will we arrive immediately after we die? Or will we have to wait until the Judgment Day?
What does the Bible say? First of all, all believers in Christ, from Adam to the end of time, will be there on the Judgment Day. On that day, according to the Scriptures, the believers will be raised from their graves (1 Thessalonians 4:16), they will be invited to take their everlasting inheritance (Matthew 25:34), and they will also meet the Lord Jesus in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). So it might seem, based on these Scriptures, that if we die today we'll have to wait for Christ's return before we get to our final destination.
Yet the Bible is absolutely clear about the believer going directly to heaven immediately after closing his eyes in death. "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Also, in one of his parables, Jesus tells how the angels transported poor Lazarus to heaven as soon as he died. And let's not forget what the Savior said to the repentant thief: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).
Obviously we're dealing with some mysteries here which involve time and eternity issues we can't fully fathom. So let's stick with what we do know. If we die tonight, we won't have to wait. We'll be there! In heaven! Forever with the Lord! We'll see His loving face. We'll see His scarred hands -- those beautiful scars! The journey will be over, and yet it will have just begun.
