Bible Q&A: Another Question About The Afterlife

Since Christ ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9-11), are those currently in Paradise able to see Him before the judgment?

Based on the information revealed to us in Scripture, here’s what we know:

  1.  Christ is God (John 1:1).
  2. Therefore, he is omnipresent (Jer. 23:24; Prov. 15:3; Col. 1:17; Matt. 18:20; Ps. 139:7ff).
  3. Being omnipresent, he can be in Heaven and Sheol simultaneously (Ps. 139:8 – “If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”)
  4. “Sheol” was translated as “Hades” in the Greek translation of the Old Testament which existed and was used by Christ and the apostles during the time of the early church.
  5. “Hades” is not only where the sinful rich man was said to have gone after his death (Lk. 16:23), but is also where Jesus was said to have gone after his death and before his resurrection (Acts 2:23-27).
  6. Yet Jesus told the penitent thief that both of them would be “in Paradise” before the day ended due to their upcoming deaths (Lk. 23:43), thus showing that Hades is divided into “Paradise” (the place where the righteous dead go) and “torment” (the place where the unrighteous dead go), as described in Luke 16:22-26.
  7. Since Jesus is God and thus omnipresent, he could certainly be in heaven at God’s right hand while also in a place where those in Paradise can see him in some way.

With all of that said, it must also be pointed out that there are certainly a myriad of things which God has not revealed to us in Scripture (cf. Deut. 29:29).  Therefore, while Scripture does point to the possibility of those in Paradise being able to see the ascended Christ, that is not to say that we know with definiteness that they do in fact do so.

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