Paradise is simply a "garden of delight". It is not a place, but the description of a place. Paul calls the third heaven Paradise in 2 Cor. 12.
Hades and Sheol
Hades, the Greek word, and Sheol, the Hebrew word, simply mean the "unseen". Sheol is translated 31 times "the grave", 31 times as "hell" and 3 times as "the pit". Hades is translated 10 times as "hell", once as "the grave". As it is used in Scripture it has the force of "the power of the grave".
Old Testament Saints
The place of the departed saints of old was not revealed. Resurrection was known (see Job 19:2525For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: (Job 19:25) to 27), but the fact of receiving a body of glory awaited the revelation given to Paul as recorded in 1 Cor. 15:5151Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51) to 54, and Phil. 3:2121Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21). The interval between death and resurrection was not revealed in the Old Testament. All was dark until the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, when LIFE and incorruptibility were brought to light by the Gospel which was given to the apostle Paul.
Christianity
No Sleep of the Soul
Memory and consciousness remain with both saved and unsaved after death, as can be seen by reading Luke 16:1919There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: (Luke 16:19) to the end. This is the first time in the Bible that the curtain is brushed aside and we get a little view of the unseen world. "Sleep" in Scripture always refers to the body. The whole subject of 1 Cor. 15 is the resurrection of the body. It sleeps until the resurrection morning, when the dead in Christ will rise to receive an incorruptible, and an immortal body. James tells us in Chapter 2 verse 26, that "the body without the spirit is dead". Paul tells us that when caught up to Paradise he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it. The transfiguration scene certainly would not teach us the sleep of the soul. Both Moses and Elias spoke of His decease which He would accomplish at Jerusalem, thus showing that they were more intelligent than the disciples who companied with Jesus. One would ask the reader whether being asleep would be "far better", or being "with the Lord" would mean joy to one's soul, if unconscious in sleep. No, reader, it is the body that is referred to when the word "sleep" is used.
Both of these Scriptures speak of Christ as descending into hell. Now if we remember that the Word simply means the "unseen", or to give it the full meaning of Scripture "the power of the grave", all is clear. His resurrection was the open witness of His victory over all the power of the enemy -see Col. 2:1515And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15).
Ephesians. 4:8-9-10
Verse 8 is a reference to Judg. 5:1212Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. (Judges 5:12). Sisera was captain of the host that had the children of Israel in captivity. Now Sisera is defeated and he is himself a captive, while Israel is set free. This is a picture of just what happened when Christ arose from the dead. The Devil had the power of death through man's sin, and now he is defeated. He has no longer the power of death over the Christian, but is himself a captive, and we set free. See Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)/15. Christ's descending to the lower parts of the earth means nothing more than the grave. Acts 8:22And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. (Acts 8:2) tells us that "devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him", yet Stephen was absent from the body and present with the Lord. It was the body of Stephen which they carried; thus Scripture speaks, and thus we speak to one another of our loved ones who have departed to be with Christ.
The Glory of the Person of Christ
The Christian holds that Jesus Christ was very God and very Man. The mystery of His Person is beyond the human mind. Matt. 11:2727All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:27) tells us: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father". As God, He could not pass through death, but the Eternal Son became a Man. He took a human body, with a life that made it possible for Him to pass through death, though He was not subject to it. On the cross He dismissed His Spirit, an act of divine power. He was in heaven and on earth at the same time. (John 3:1313And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13).) He ever dwelt in the bosom of the Father-never left it-though He became a Man and dwelt among us. When the glorious work of redemption was completed, that Blessed One passed into death. His body was laid in the grave-His soul in the unseen world. In resurrection He again appeared in Manhood, and as Man departed to be with the Father. (John 16:2828I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. (John 16:28), Luke 24:5151And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:51), Acts 1:1111Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11).) Christ is now a Man in the glory.
Spirits in Prison
In 1 Peter 3:18,2018For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)
20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20) we have the curtain brushed aside, and we are given to see the place of those who rejected the Spirit of Christ preaching in Noah's day. Christ never went in Person to that place. This is very evident by the fact that verse 20 says only eight souls were saved-just the number in the Ark.
Absent From the Body-Present With the Lord
This is contrasted with our being now "in the body", so that it cannot mean that we have His presence then in the same way as now. It is true that He is in the midst of those gathered to His Name now, but that is not the same as being with Him. Let no one rob you, dear Christian, of the precious truth that LIFE for the soul, and incorruptibility for the body have come to LIGHT by the Gospel. Let no teaching exclude THAT LIGHT with all its blessedness. H.E.H.
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