ENTERING INTO PARADISE

KEY VERSES: ¹⁸ Then said He, (Jesus) “Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?” … ²² And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ Then said one unto him, “Lord, are there few that be saved?” And He said unto them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ²⁵ When once the Master of the House is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are…”  ²⁷ But he shall say, I tell you, “I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity…”  ³² And he said unto them, “Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected…”  ³³ “Nevertheless, I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.” (Luke 13)

 
  Unlike theologians and archeologists, I contend that the Kingdom of David is the bounds of the Garden of Eden, and that “Israel” by Divine decree includes the territory from the sea to the Euphrates and from Egypt to what is now Turkey. As such, I also believe that Jerusalem is the center (midst) of the Garden wherein the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge stood (Gen 2:9). God’s Garden cannot be found because the explorers are looking for a physical place resembling the Garden, and they are focused on geography rather than scripture. One day, I will write all the evidence of what I write.  Today, I will focus on the evidence in the key verses. Jesus provided the knowledge to recognize the resemblance (v. 18).
  Let me start with “perfection” (v. 32). From the Hebrew, the Garden of Eden was not merely “very good” as translators have it, but entirely good. The Kingdom of God (i.e., the Garden of Eden) is the only place on the globe which is perfect. Of course, the entire Creation was perfect, but God dwelt in the Garden. Therefore, the perfection of the Garden was the Presence of God therein. When in the Presence of God, the condition is glorification (Exod 16:10). From that passage, it is God who has the “Glory” and those in His Presence are in Glory. The apostles at the transfiguration, saw the glory of the Lord in Jesus. After the resurrection of the dead, those who lived for Christ will be glorified as Jesus was:

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor 3:18); That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim 3:17)

  Hence, “glorification” is the final condition of those who behold the Lord “as in glass.” The throne of God in “Glory” sits upon the transparent sea of glass. (Rev 4:6 & 15:2). Glorification seems to commence with the ability to see God in the Creation and is finished when those who endure to the end, stand on the sea of glass in His Presence. “Heaven” is where perfection (i.e., glorification) is finally accomplished, and it must be a perfect place. It is in the midst of Paradise, standing under the Tree of Life in the Garden. Of course, as I have written before, the Tree of Life is possibly an ancient olive tree, but also a metaphor for the Holy Trinity with the “vine” (trunk) representative of Jesus (John 15:5).
  Point #1 is that perfection exists in Paradise alone, but “Paradise” is both in earth and in heaven simultaneously, as is perhaps implied when Jesus said to pray thusly, , “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”(Mat 6:10). Why would that be the way to pray? Perhaps because “in earth” is material, and “in heaven” not of material.
  I believe that Heaven and Earth (now with capital letters) co-exist at the same place, and that place is Israel, and that God’s throne sits where it did from the beginning of the Creation — in Jerusalem. It is perhaps in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus agonized over His Purpose.
  For Point #2 Jesus asked, ““Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?” (v. 18). To what would He compare it? Then in the key verses, it is noted that Jesus, somewhere in Galilee, was headed to Jerusalem (v. 22). He was going “home” to die, as He said that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets would be seen in the Kingdom of God, and themselves (other than them) cast out (Luke 13:28). Isaac, and Jacob were in “Abraham’s Bosom” as Paradise is called (Luke 16:23). It seems that Jesus was facing Jerusalem and referring to the Kingdom of God.
  Point #3 is the that the subject matter was salvation; how many will be allowed in. They asked, “Then said one unto Him, Lord, are there few that be saved?” (v. 23). Where is the place of salvation? Heaven, also known as Paradise. I submit that the midst of Paradise is Jerusalem.
  Jesus responded, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (v. 23). Where has that subject been brought up before? “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen 3:24). (A sword in scripture is the Word, Jesus). Jesus was walking the Way toward Jerusalem. It was there that redemption would be accomplished. Jesus was going home to die, just as the first animal, likely a lamb, died so that Adam and Eve would live. Jesus was going home to the midst of the Garden to resume His place as the Tree of Life on the River of God in the Garden of God:

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (Rev 2:7); In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:2); Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Rev 22:14).

  Jerusalem is that “city” — the City of God is called New Jerusalem. Why would it be called that? Because it is at the place of Old Jerusalem. Perhaps New Jerusalem is right there, and it need not come down, but be transformed on the very “foundation of peace” — that is what Jerusalem means. Jesus was headed toward Jerusalem to provide Peace ON Earth, and so that things “in earth” would be as “in heaven” (both will small letters); that Paradise would be revealed to the world.
  When Jesus said to the malefactor on the Cross, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), it was already late in the evening. I believe that they were already there, and death translated them from one existence to another. They didn’t travel, but Jesus “gave up His Ghost” and His Ghost was with the thief in another world which coincides with this one. “Thus saith the Lord, ‘The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?’” (Isa 66:1). “The heaven” is again in small letters, as is “the earth.” They are not places, but existences. God’s throne is in the supra-natural, and His footstool in the natural.
  The Holy Cross on Calvary in Jerusalem identifies the Way between the natural and the supra-natural. The Cross’s footrest is God’s footstool and the sign above, “King of the Jews” points toward His Kingdom in another realm. I have written a blog before that the Cross is representative of the “Decision Tree.” In the Paradise of the Garden, which Tree to stand under was the question. Temptation led the two to make the wrong decision; as they stood under the Wisdom Tree and neglected the Tree which provides eternal life (i.e., the Jesus Tree).
  Adam and Eve were cast out into the world because they ate of the wrong tree. In the world, they were given reprieve. Because they trusted God, and kept safe by wearing His coat, they endured to the end. My book, The Skull of Adam, identifies how Melchizedek took Adam’s bones to Calvary  — the place of the skull — and buried them there awaiting regeneration thanks to Jesus. Melchizedek is believed to be Jesus. (More on that in the Book of Hebrews). Adam was taken “home” to be redeemed, and that was the Edenic Covenant.
  If Genesis 3:24 is examined closely, the gate to Paradise was the straight (v. 24) Gate that only a few would enter. The iniquitous could not enter-in because the gate to Paradise was guarded by cherubim. It’s that same “gate” which guards the entryway to the heavenly Paradise. Is the Cross the “Gate” to Paradise? It seems as if it is! The narrow Way to get to Paradise is by the blood and water of Jesus. To get through that Gate, the cherubim must recognize that people who try are Jesus’s. That is determined by who has worked iniquity and who has not. That’s the strait part of which Jesus spoke.
  Jesus said, “It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem” (v. 33). In other words, according to John 3:16, those who trust in Jesus will never perish. At the Rapture, they will be “transported” to Jerusalem to never perish. Us “prophets” will be the royal priests, who will not need to travel anywhere for any length of time but translated “home” in the twinkling of an eye, just as the thief was.
  The dead in Christ will not arise, but be translated to Jerusalem, and transformed into Glory as the Holy Cross takes them from one realm to the next; from the visible Kingdom to the Invisible one! Heaven is not “up” because “up” is infinite directions. Therefore, it must be toward Jerusalem where Jesus was translated.  The last point, therefore, is that Christians are near “heaven” wherever they are so long as they are right with Jesus. As is written, “To live is Christ; to die is gain,” (Phil 1:21) means that if we walk toward the Cross with Jesus, entry into Paradise is obtained. It is the “prize” of which Paul wrote.
  The last “last point” is that the password for the cherubim to allow those without iniquity to enter in is “Jesus.” The key verses say, “When once the Master of the House is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are…”  (v. 25). You must know and trust Jesus to for your soul to re-enter Paradise, and He, not you, decides who gains entry.

(Picture credit to Blog: The Times of Israel)