“There must be a resting place between Heaven and Hell that Christ called Paradise.”
There was and it was called Abraham’s bosom, Luke 16:19-31, but it closed when Christ took all the saved in Sheol home to be with the Lord. Ephesians 4:7-9
Where is the Lord?
Sitting at the right Hand of God the Father in Heaven. Mark 16:19
When you die where do you go if you are saved?
To be with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8
So when you die and are saved you go directly to Heaven.
We are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus RIGHT NOW.
So when you die and are saved you go directly to Heaven.
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I don't know that Corinthians says you go directly to Heaven. I have always been inclined to believe that there will be a judgement day before we join God in Heaven.
The Scriptures don't make it abundantly clear exactly when these things happen. Saying that when we die we go to God's rest or to be with The Lord doesn't mean that there aren't stops along the way or how long it takes.
You may be right, perhaps it is immediate but I don't there there is enough scriptural proof of that.
I was asked earlier if Christ was God. this is a difficult thing to understand. Although the Nicean Creed certainly makes a stab at it I don't think it is as easy as that. Christ Himself said He prayed to His Father, so in that sense they are not the same but they are both God. When He saw Mary on Easter morning He said He had not yet ascended unto His Father. I doubt that He would talk about ascending to Himself.
When Stephen was being stoned he looked up into Heaven and said he saw Christ Standing at the right hand of His Father.
It is not my intention to start a discussion, certainly not an argument about The Trinity. We probably don't all understand it the same way is all I was saying. I'm not sure how much it matters that I may not have a perfect understanding of the relationship of Christ to God His Father, but I know it is important that I accept Christ as my Savior and to follow Him and do my best to be like Him.
You may recall that when the first Nicean Creed in 325 was written that those who would not accept it were to be banished from the church. So many Bishops departed that Constantine relented and let them come back and hold their positions. It wasn't until 385 when the Creed was made 100% mandatory. After that you may have been burned at the stake or certainly banished if you didn't accept it. Anything short of that was then considered heresy. If the early Church leaders couldn't understand or even accept the Creed's version of The Trinity then I'm not worried about me not getting it exactly right, there are many things much more important.
As I said what is important is to follow Him. I think that if you don't “try” to be like Him that it is unlikely that His grace will be sufficient for you. If you learn late about Christ and accept Him late, the reward is the same as if you worked to emulate Him all your life, but, if you knew about Him and did not follow Him I don't think it will be well with you on judgment day.