I was asked whether the thief in this passage was actually in heaven with Jesus that day. And would we as Christians end up in heaven immediately when we die?

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Luke 23:42-43

Jesus was crucified on the cross for our sins (please refer to John 1:1 article).

And there were two other thieves crucified along with Him, one on His left and the other on His right (v32-33).

One of them repented from his unbelief, and asked Jesus the Messiah to save him (v39-42).

And Jesus promised him that he will be with Him, that day in paradise / heaven.

But we know from Pretribulation article, that until the second coming of Jesus and judgement by God (the Father), then those who have rejected Christ would be thrown into hell (Rev 21:8).

And those who have believed and lived their lives for Christ, would get to spend eternity with Christ, in heaven.

And it is only then that the present heaven (referring to sky here) and earth would pass away, ushering the new heaven and earth (Rev 21:1).

This new heaven and earth is referred to the permanent place / heaven where Christians: from Israel and the church, spend eternity with God (Rev 21:2-27).

We get a glimpse that this is a heavenly city resembles earthly Jerusalem, called: new / holy Jerusalem (Rev 21:2,10).

New Jerusalem would not be like the earthly Jerusalem, fallible to sin, and falling away from God.

We have seen Israel’s history of various sins including idolatry down through the ages, leading to their eventual separation into northern and southern, and God’s redemptive restoration giving them a new heart and His Spirit (the Holy Spirit).

Please refer to 1 Sam 1:5 article, 1 Kings 12:20 article, Hos 6:2 article, and Joel 2:28-29 article, respectively.

But this new Jerusalem would be much more glorious. And there would be no need for sun / moon / night, as God’s glory would shine so brightly there (Rev 21:11, 23-27).

The heavenly Jerusalem also resembles the earthly city, where there are three gates on each side of the city walls: north, south, east, west (Ezek 48:30-34, Rev 21:12-13).

Here, we see a beautiful union of all God’s people into one body: from Israel and the church.

Where on the gates were written the names of the twelve Israelite tribes.

And on the twelve foundations of the city wall, were written the names of twelve apostles in the New Testament (Rev 21:14).

However, unlike the earthly Jerusalem, there is no temple as we see will be built in Ezek 40-48 as God restores His people (please refer to Joel 2:31 article).

Instead, God Himself would be there in place of the temple, as He is the temple Himself (Rev 21:22).

Hence, what we have described so far is heaven / heavenly city, where we will all spend eternity in with Jesus.

But was the thief who was crucified together with Jesus, in paradise: in this heavenly city?

As we have discussed, all men have to stand before judgment before a verdict is passed, whether they will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

And as also seen above, the heavenly city would only be “ready”, and thus replace the existing heaven (sky) and earth after the judgment.

Hell however was probably already ready. Between three days of Jesus death to resurrection, He descended to hell and preached the gospel to them (1 Pet 4:6, Eph 4:9).

This does not mean we can delay our decision to follow Christ till past our death.

The souls Jesus preached were probably a very small minority / exception, who had never heard the gospel before.

Once we die, there is no chance at turning back to choose Jesus, especially when we have heard the gospel in our lives but reject it.

For we are judged by the deeds done in the body, and if we haven’t received Christ in our lives to cover our sins / bad deeds, we will be judged as guilty on judgement day (2 Cor 5:10-11).

Indeed all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, none is upright, and thus we all need Jesus blood (Rom 3:23-26).

Please refer to 1 Cor 1:21 article, and John 1:1 article, for the gospel contents and how to respond to it.

Now back to the question: on whether the thief was actually in heaven with Christ?

In the Old Testament, we also know that there were two people taken to be with God without facing death: Enoch (Gen 5:24), and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). But are they in heaven?

As seen above, the new heavens and earth only appear after the judgement day.

Thus, although they are probably not in heaven yet, they could be said to be with the Lord, which in itself is heaven to their souls and spirits!

Anyway why do we look forward to being in heaven? Is it because it’s such a nice place, that we are going to enjoy immense pleasures? Or more because Christ is there?

For the thief on the cross who ascended that day to be with Christ, he was possibly not in heaven yet too.

And this was already paradise to Him. Because as a (new) believer, He gets to spend uninterrupted fellowship with God.

And indeed, the goal of Christianity is: intimacy with God.

Please refer to Psa 73 article, Key Truths to Unlocking the Five-Fold Ministries article, and Joel 2:25 article.

When we as Christians die too, we immediately end up being with the Lord, although probably not in heaven yet (Phil 1:22-24, 2 Cor 5:6-9).

But we should rejoice too, because Jesus is all we want!