Will We Know Our Loved Ones In Heaven?

Will We Know Our Loved Ones In Heaven?

Dear Bro. John:
What will be the relation of married couple in heaven?
--Bart

Dear Bart:
Jesus made it clear that in heaven we will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Matt. 22:30). Our relationships there will be like the angels. In this life a Christian person may have been happily married to more than one Christian spouse. A godly women dearly loved her first husband, but lost him to death. Later she met and married another god-fearing man whom she equally loved. If romantic relationships were continued in heaven this would pose a conflict.

Scripture describes heaven as a place where all the saved live with the Father in his home (John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:3). In Christ we are all the children of God by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:26). All Christians are like one large family of brothers and sisters (Eph. 3:15; Matt. 23:8). God's plan for the propagation of the race on this earth made it necessary for their to be marriage and intimacy. In heaven there will be no more propagation, hence no need for marital relationships.

It does seem that we will maintain our personal identity in heaven and thus be recognizable to those we loved in this life. After they had ended their earthly sojourn, Abraham, Lazarus and the Rich Man were both conscious and recognizable (Lk. 16:19-31). On the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ, talking with hin. They were recognizable to the three witnesses (Matt. 17:1-5). From this we conclude that in eternity we will recognize each other, including our loved ones.

While we will retain our personal identity, we likely will not look exactly as as we do today. In heaven "all things are made new" (Rev. 21:5). The man with a maimed body will be made whole. The woman who was weak and sickly in this life will enjoy full health. The blind will see. The aged will be in the prime of life. I like to think we will be in the same state as were Adam and Eve in the first paradise. They had the tree of life that gave them immortality, but lost it (Gen. 3:22-24). In heaven the tree of life is once more available to God's children thus they will live forever (Rev. 22:1-3).

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