Many human beings have spoken of and thought about going to places that they would consider a paradise. Some believe that everyone will enter into such a place one day.
Scripture reveals, however, that only certain humans one day will enter into the real place that is called Paradise: “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). This statement teaches us key truths that anyone who would enter Paradise must heed.
First, a man must hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Entering Paradise, therefore, requires that a man must hear and attend to what the Spirit has to say; heeding human speculations about Paradise and how to get there will never get anyone there.
Second, the way to Paradise is a message that the Spirit has directed and entrusted to the churches of Jesus Christ. Those who would enter there one day should do all that they possibly can to affiliate themselves vitally with at least one of His faithful churches.
Third, the Spirit’s message about entering Paradise declares that a man must overcome. Because the Spirit has entrusted multiple messages to the churches of Jesus Christ (2:1-3:22) that explain various aspects of what it means to overcome, a man who would enter Paradise must heed the full content of those messages.
Fourth, those who overcome will receive as a gift (“To him that overcometh will I give . . .”) authorization (cf. “right to the tree of life” [22:12-14]) “to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Paradise belongs to God, and only those whom He graciously authorizes to be there will be there. To enter there, therefore, you must receive that gracious authorization to do so.
Fifth, the glorified Jesus is the One who authorizes overcomers to be in Paradise (cf. 22:12-14). He is the Speaker of each of these messages to His churches. Only those who are willing to come to Him believing that He has that authority will enter there one day (cf. Luke 23:43).
Sixth, in this message, Jesus and the Spirit highlight the eating of the tree of life that is in the middle of God’s Paradise. To receive the blessedness of that privilege, a man must believe what the Scripture teaches about the tree of life, Adam and Eve, and how they forfeited eating from the tree of life through their sin.
Overcomers who believe and heed all these things will enjoy the very thing that Adam and Eve forfeited in the Garden of Eden–eating from the tree of life! They will do so in the only place that is truly a paradise.
Will you be one of those who enter Paradise one day?
To learn more about how you can enter Paradise one day, please see my post, The Salvation of a Crucified Thief.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
