Luke 23:39-43 ESV
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Both criminals hung from a cross on either side of The Lord. They both were in the hands of a fate that resulted from their own actions and faced the same sentence of condemnation. We see two different reactions before us.
There are two paths before us. One leads us to life, to the Paradise promised to this man. He believed Jesus. In doing so, he received the mercy from God that overcomes judgement.
The kingdom was opened immediately, the same day. Again, we see the pattern of now and not yet. Our righteousness in Christ begins before we die and our life in Him is given spiritual breath and awakens before our bodies rise. Eternal life begins that will be fully realized when He returns. If we are still on earth, we will rise to meet Him as He comes in the clouds. If not, we will accompany Him on His return.
We enter fully into today which holds tomorrow.
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