Paradise is the place of blessedness and joy
in the presence of God
where the righteous go after death.
The word comes from
a Persian term for a garden or park
and is used in Scripture
for the garden of Eden,
for the intermediate state of the redeemed,
and for the final dwelling of God’s people.
Jesus promised the repentant thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
It is a place of conscious comfort, rest, and fellowship with the Lord while awaiting the resurrection and the new creation.
Paradise appears in both Testaments as a picture of God’s ideal provision and presence. In the beginning it describes the garden of Eden, where humanity walked with God in unbroken fellowship. After the Fall that garden was closed, yet the hope of restoration remained. In the New Testament Jesus uses the word to assure the dying thief of immediate presence with Him after death. Paul speaks of being caught up to Paradise and hearing things that cannot be told. The book of Revelation promises that the one who conquers will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God. Across these uses, Paradise consistently points to a real place of blessing, life, and nearness to God — first lost, then secured by Christ, and finally restored in the new creation.
- Paradise originally describes the garden of Eden, a place of life, provision, and God’s presence.
- Jesus’ promise to the thief on the cross shows that the redeemed enter Paradise immediately upon death and are with Him.
- Paradise is a place of conscious existence and comfort, not unconscious sleep.
- Paul identifies Paradise with the third heaven, the realm of God’s presence.
- The final paradise of God includes the tree of life and the full restoration of what was lost in Eden.
- Access to Paradise is through Christ alone; He reopened the way that sin had closed.
- Paradise is both an intermediate reality for believers who die and a picture of the eternal state in the new heaven and new earth.
- Edenic Origin – The garden of God where humanity first lived in fellowship with the Creator.
- Intermediate State – The present dwelling of the redeemed with Christ after death and before the resurrection.
- Place of Presence – Being “with Christ,” which Paul describes as far better than remaining in the body.
- Final Restoration – The paradise of God in the new creation, with the tree of life and unrestricted access to God.
- Access through Christ – Opened by His death and secured for all who trust Him.
- Conscious Blessedness – A state of comfort, rest, and joy in the Lord’s presence.
- Contrast with Judgment – Set over against the place of torment for those who die without Christ.
- Luke 23:43 – “And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”
- 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 – “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven… And I know that this man was caught up into paradise… and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
- Revelation 2:7 – “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
- Genesis 2:8-9 – “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden…”
- Genesis 3:22-24 – After the Fall, God drives the man out and places cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
- Ezekiel 28:13 – “You were in Eden, the garden of God…” (imagery of the original paradise).
- Luke 16:22-25 – Lazarus is carried to Abraham’s side (a parallel picture of the blessed intermediate state) while the rich man is in torment.
- Philippians 1:21-23 – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain… My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 – “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord… we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
- Revelation 22:1-5 – The river of the water of life and the tree of life in the New Jerusalem, where God’s servants will see His face and reign forever.
- Isaiah 51:3 – “For the Lord comforts Zion… and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord.”
- Nehemiah 2:8 – Reference to “the king’s forest” (paradise) as a royal park, reflecting the original sense of the word.
Paradise is the promise of life with God — first tasted in Eden, lost through sin, and restored through Jesus Christ. On the cross the Lord turned to a dying thief and gave him the assurance of Paradise that very day. That same promise holds for every believer: to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. Paradise is not a vague state of unconsciousness but conscious joy in the presence of Christ while we await the resurrection and the final paradise of God. The tree of life that was guarded after the Fall will once again be accessible, and the people of God will see His face. Until that day, the way into Paradise remains open through the One who said, “Today you will be with me.”
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.