People Will Know Each Other in Heaven {848 words}

I. People will have their normal human faculties

A. Revelation 21:3-4 says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"

B. Luke 16:22-24 says, "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'"

Comment (1): In Revelation 21:3-4, God will wipe every tear from His people's eyes, but why would He be doing that? It would not be because people are still suffering hardships and death in life because those things will be over once we are in heaven. The most logical explanation is that He will wipe the tears away from our eyes that result from knowing that our lost loved ones are suffering in eternal torment. We will remember them, we will know that they died lost, and we will know that they are suffering. But the Lord will comfort our hearts concerning them. This verse shows that we will still have our memory and intellect.

Comment (2): In Luke 16:22-24, the rich man had a physical body that could look up. He could see, and he knew that he was in agony. He had already died, but he recognized Father Abraham and Lazarus, who had also already died. If he could recognize them, then there is every reason to believe that we will recognize people in heaven, too.

II. People will be in Christ's immortal likeness

A. I Corinthians 15:49 says, "And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven."

B. I Corinthians 15:53 says, "For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality."

C. Philippians 3:20-21 says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

Comment (3): In death, we will receive new, improved bodies with added capabilities, not bodies with fewer abilities. This is true based on the above verses because we will have bodies that resemble the Lord's. From Scriptures, we know that He could appear (Luke 24:36-37) and disappear at will (Luke 24:31), and we also know that He could eat (Luke 24:42-43). From all of His appearances after His resurrection, we know that He had a physical body.

III. Immortal people recognized mortal people and vice versa.

A. Matthew 17:1-4 says, "After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.'"

B. John 20:16 says, "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!' (which means Teacher)."

C. John 21:7 says, "Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, 'It is the Lord,' he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water."

Comment (4): From Matthew 17:1-4, we see that Peter, James, and John recognized two prophets that had died long before any of them were even born. Moses had lived about 1,500BC, and Elijah had lived about 800BC. In John 20:16, Jesus was resurrected in His immortal body, which we shall also have, and He recognized Mary. Then, when He spoke, she knew that it was He. In John 21:7, Jesus appeared to His disciples in His immortal body, and His disciples recognized Him.

Conclusion: The Bible is rich with evidence that we will have improved bodies in heaven over what we have on earth. We will be able to appear, disappear, and eat. Like Peter, James, and John, we will recognize Moses and Elijah without needing to be introduced. We will have memory of our loved ones from earth, and we will have our normal facilities of seeing, feeling, speaking, knowing, and recognizing others.