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Searching For Paradise
Have you ever wondered what Jesus ment when he said to the evildoer hanging on the stake, "Truley I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise." Where is this promised paradise? If you look up the word paradise in the dictionary it gives the definition as a park or garden "Garden of Eden". So it is an earthly place not a heavenly place.
In the begining it was not Gods purpose to resurect anyone, because if Adam and Eve had remained faithful no one would have had to die. But then Adam's sin brought imperfection and death upon everyone. (Rom.5:12) So to make it possible for any of Adam's children to enjoy everlasting life, Jehovah God arranged for the resurrection. But what determins whether a person is resurrected or not?
The Bible explains: "There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." (Acts 24:15) This may suprise some. 'Why bring the "unrighteous"back to life?' they may wonder. What happened while Jesus was hanging on the torture stake will help answer this question.
These men next to Jesus are criminals. One of them has just finished insulting him, saying: "You are the Christ, are you not? Save yourself and us." However, the other criminal believes Jesus. He turns to him and says: "Remember me when you get into your kingdom." At that, Jesus promises: "Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:39-43)
But what does Jesus mean when he says: "You will be with me in Paradise"? Where is Paradise? Well, where was the paradise God made at the beginning? It was on earth, was it not? God put the first human pair in the beautiful paradise called the garden of Eden. So when we read that this former criminal will be in Paradise, we Should picture in our minds this earth made into a beautiful place in which to live, for the word "paradise" means "garden" or "park."—Genesis 2:8, 9.
Jesus Christ, of course, will not be right here on earth with the former criminal. No, Jesus will be in heaven ruling as king over the earthly Paradise. So he will be with that man in the sense that He will raise him from the dead and care for his needs, both physical and spiritual. But why will Jesus permit a man who was a criminal to live in Paradise?
It is true that this man did bad things. He was "unrighteous." Also, he was ignorant of God's will. But would he have been a criminal if he had known about God's purposes? To find out, Jesus will resurrect this unrighteous man, as well as thousands of millions of others who died in ignorance. For instance,in past centuries many people died who did not know how to read and who had never seen a Bible. But they will be raised from Sheol, or Hades. Then, in the paradise earth, they will be taught God's will, and they will have the opportunity to prove that they really do love God by doing his will.
This does not mean that everyone will receive a resurrection. The Bible shows that Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, will not. Because of his willful wickedness, Judas is called "the son of destruction." (John 17:12) He went to the symbolic Gehenna from which there is no resurrection. (Matthew 23:33) Persons who willfully do what is bad after knowing God's will may be sinning against the holy spirit. And God will not resurrect those who sin against his holy spirit. (Matthew 12:32; Hebrews 6:4-6;10:26, 27) However, since God is the Judge, there is no reason for us to try to figure out whether certain wicked people in the past or in modern times will be resurrected or not. God knows who is in Hades and who is in Gehenna. For our part, we should do everything we can to be the kind of persons that God wants in his new system.—Luke 13:24, 29.
The fact is that not all who receive everlasting life will need to be resurrected. Many servants of God now living in these"last days" of this system of things will live through Armageddon. And then, as part of the righteous "new earth," they will never need to die. What Jesus said to Martha can in a literal way be true of them: "And everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all."—John 11:26; 2 Timothy 3:1.
Who are the "righteous" that are to be resurrected? These will include faithful servants of God who lived before Jesus Christ came to earth. Many of these persons are mentioned by name in Hebrews chapter 11. They did not hope to go to heaven, but hoped to live again on earth. Also among the "righteous" to be resurrected are faithful servants of God who have died in recent years. God will see to it that their hope of living forever on earth is realized by raising them from the dead. "Jesus Christ is spoken of as "the first to be resurrected from the dead." (Acts 26:23) This means that he was the first to be resurrected of those who would not have to die again. Also, he was the first to be raised as a spirit person. (1Peter3:18) But the Bible tells us that there would be others, saying: "Each one in his own rank: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ during his presence." (1 Corinthians 15:20-23) So in the resurrection some would be raised up before certain others.
"Those who belong to the Christ" are the 144,000 faithful disciples chosen to rule with him in the Kingdom. Of their heavenly resurrection, the Bible says: "Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will . . . rule as kings with him for the thousand years."—Revelation 20:6; 14:1, 3.
So following the resurrection of Christ; the 144,000 are the next to be raised. They have part in "the first resurrection," or "the earlier resurrection." (Philippians 3:11) When does this take place? "During his presence," the Bible says. As we have learned in earlier chapters, Christ's presence began in the year 1914. So the "day" for "the first resurrection" of faithful Christians to heaven has already come. No doubt the apostles and other early Christians have already been raised to heavenly life.—2 Timothy 4:8.
But there are Christians living now during Christ's invisible presence who have this same hope of ruling in heaven with Christ. They are the remaining ones, a remnant of the 144,000. When are they resurrected? They do not need to sleep in death, but they are raised immediately when they die. The Bible explains: "We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised."—1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
Of course, this "first resurrection" to heavenly life is unseen to human eyes. It is a resurrection to life as spirit creatures. The Bible describes the change to spirit life this way: "It is sown in corruption, it is raised up in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised up in glory. ... It is sown a physical body, it is raised up a spiritual body."—1 Corinthians 15:42-44.
However, the very expression "first resurrection" shows that another one will follow. This is the resurrection to life on the paradise earth of both righteous and unrighteous persons. This will occur after Armageddon. It will be a "better resurrection" than that of the boys resurrected by Elijah and Elisha and of others once resurrected on earth. Why? Because if those resurrected after Armageddon choose to serve God they will never need to die again.—Hebrews 11:35.
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