When do we leave for Paradise? Immediately upon death. This was the promise Jesus gave the thief on the cross. The thief went from torture to triumph in the blink of an eye. The spirit of the believer journeys home while the body of the believer awaits the resurrection.

Paul said, “We…would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8 NIV). At the rapture our bodies will be resurrected, but Paul was not speaking of the rapture. He was describing a phase after our death and before the resurrection of our bodies. During this time we will be “at home with the Lord.” The moment believers take their final breath on earth, they have their first glimpse of Paradise.

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