In Luke 23 the repentant robber who was being crucified said to the Lord Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (vv. 42-43). This word clearly shows us that on the same day that the Lord Jesus died, the robber went with Him to Paradise.
Is Paradise a heavenly mansion? Some may say that Paradise is not Hades but a heavenly mansion. They may think that on the day the Lord Jesus died, the robber went with Him to a heavenly mansion. However, Matthew 12:40 says, “For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” The Lord died and was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Immediately after the Lord yielded up His spirit on the cross, His spirit and soul departed from His body, not to go to a heavenly mansion but to Hades, and stayed in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
Acts 2:31 says, “He, seeing this beforehand, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was He abandoned to Hades.” After reading Matthew 12:40 some may think that the Lord Jesus being in the heart of the earth refers to His body being buried in the earth and not to His spirit and soul being in Hades. However, concerning the resurrection of Christ Acts says that His spirit and soul were not abandoned to Hades, showing us that after the Lord died, His spirit and soul went to Hades. The Lord Jesus clearly told the robber, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Paradise is a section of Hades. From Genesis to Acts we are told that the spirits and souls of all the saved ones throughout the generations go to a place of rest in Hades after death. This place is the Paradise in Hades. There is not a shadow of doubt concerning this matter.
In Philippians 1:23 Paul says, “But I am constrained between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for this is far better.” Some people may ask, “When Paul talked about departing and being with Christ, was he not talking about going to heaven? Surely Christ is in heaven, so Paul’s departing to be with Christ should have been his going to heaven.” This sounds fairly reasonable. Furthermore, they may say, “Paul also said that this was far better. Thus, he surely must have been referring to going to heaven because there is nothing better than this.” We must tell them, however, that Paul was not referring to going to heaven. Matthew 28:20 tells us that the Lord will be with us until the consummation of the age. Similarly, Paul did not think that to be with Christ was something extraordinary. The Lord is already with us on the earth today. Does this mean that today we are in heaven? To say that to have the presence of Christ is to be in “heaven” is merely a figurative expression. You do not have to wait until you die to go to “heaven.” The Lord’s presence is available at all times and in all places.
Second Corinthians 5:8 says, “We are of good courage then and are well pleased rather to be abroad from the body and at home with the Lord.” This indicates that to be abroad from the body is to be at home with the Lord. Verse 6 says, “Knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are abroad from the Lord.” This indicates that to be at home in the body is to be abroad from the Lord and to be abroad from the body is to be at home with the Lord. Some may ask, “Does this not imply going to heaven?” This is their inference, but this is not what the Bible says. This matter of being at home with the Lord is a rather complicated matter. The proper explanation of 2 Corinthians 5:8 and Philippians 1:23 is as follows. When we are in the body, we are in the material world. The Lord, however, having resurrected and ascended, is in the spiritual world. We are in the material world, and the Lord is in the spiritual world. Hence, there is a physical barrier. When we die, our soul and spirit are separated from our body. Our soul and spirit then depart from the material world to go to the spiritual world.
In this sense we are closer to the Lord after we die because we are no longer in the material world but in the spiritual world, the same realm in which the Lord is. By this we can see that we are surely closer to the Lord when we are in the same realm as He is and in the same place as He is. Yet there are numerous other places in the spiritual realm besides the third heaven. For example, a few years ago a few saints came to be trained in Taipei. Some people said that those saints were with Brother Lee because Brother Lee was also in Taipei at that time. Geographically speaking, they were with Brother Lee in Taipei. However, those saints who had come to Taipei at that time realized that they were living in their own place while Brother Lee was living in his. Although they were all in Taipei, they were not living in the same room with Brother Lee. Brother Lee was living in his home while they were living in a co-workers’ home. Although they and Brother Lee were living in the same city of Taipei, they were not living in the same place with Brother Lee. Similarly, when a saint dies, leaves his body, and departs from the material world, he goes to the spiritual world where the Lord is to be with him. However, it is not so easy to explain where the Lord is in the spiritual world because the spiritual world includes not only the third heaven but also other places, one of which is the Paradise in Hades. This fully proves that to be abroad from the body and at home with the Lord is not to go to heaven.