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Will We Know Each Other in Heaven?
A Dangerous Lesson
These types of lessons may be dangerous for two reasons:
We are dealing with something, namely the afterlife, about which we have incomplete information.
There is a lot of emotion that can be attached to this topic.
Therefore, we need to do two things:
Speak conclusively on what we can learn from the Bible and leave the unanswerable as just that.
Prevent our emotions from denying what can be legitimately garnered from the word of God.
Definitions
For the purpose of this lesson I will define how I am using certain words in order to help avoid confusion.
Person - the inner being that constitutes who you are; your identity; your “self”; your “spirit”
Body - the dwelling place of the person; what the person inhabits
James 2:26
Death - a separation of the person and the body
Resurrection - the returning of a person to life after having experienced death
The Questions
There really may be more than one question at work here.
A question of change
If we will be changed, how will we be changed?
A question of identity
Will I be the same person in the afterlife that I am now?
Will we know each other in Heaven?
If we are the same person in the afterlife, we would expect to be able to recognize each other.
Change and Identity
If we will be changed at the resurrection, how will we be changed?
1 Corinthians 15:35-38
Paul states “So also is the resurrection of the dead.”
Therefore, Paul is making a comparison.
The resurrection of the dead is like what he was just talking about.
Let’s work backwards from this phrase and see what comparisons Paul is making between the resurrection of the dead and what he just wrote.
There are different kinds of flesh
Just as there are different types of flesh here on earth, there is a difference between the earthly body and the spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:39-49
The spiritual body received at the resurrection will not just be a recomposed version of the earthly body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
This should allay fears of body disposal such as not being buried, buried at sea, or cremation.
If we were to get a physical body at the resurrection, we would not be able to go to Heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
While the inner person of man might be referred to as his spirit, it does not appear that we will be resurrected as a spirit alone, but rather a spirit that will inhabit a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:44
The spiritual body we will have will be like Christ’s.
It will not be like the resurrected body of Christ which had flesh and bones.
Luke 24:39
But our earthly bodies will apparently be changed to be like the body Christ obtained after ascending to Heaven.
Philippians 3:20-21
1 Corinthians 15:49
1 John 3:2
What will our spiritual bodies be like?
We don’t exactly know, yet.
2. Will I be the same person in the afterlife that I am now?
Even if I receive a spiritual body, will I be the same person in the afterlife I am now.
Will I retain my identity?
While Paul and John write about the spiritual bodies we may receive, Paul compares the death, burial, and resurrection of humans to that of a plant seed.
We bury seeds, seeds die, and then they are made alive again, but in a different body than they were before.
1 Corinthians 15:35-38
Q: What do you call a seed of corn?
A: Corn
Q: What do you call a field of plants that grew from the corn seed?
A: Corn
Q: What do you call the fruit that comes from a plant that grew from the corn seed?
A: Corn
Q: Did the corn change its identity after it died, was buried, and resurrected to have a new body?
A: No. It’s still corn.
Q: Will the person change his/her identity after he/she dies, buries, and is resurrected to have a spiritual body?
A: No. It’s still the same person.
Will We Know Each Other in Heaven?
If our identity, our person, does not change after the resurrection, then there may be at least the possibility of recognition.
Despite the change in bodies, perhaps we would be able to recognize the inner person, the identity.
If we can find Scripture that indicates a recognition in the afterlife, then we could consider the possibility of knowing each other confirmed.
Exodus 3:6
Notice the time at which this was stated.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are dead.
But God referred to them by name, a symbol of a person’s identity.
Matthew 17:1-3
Notice at the time at which this occurred.
Moses and Elias are dead.
Remember what Paul said, a physical body cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:50
Matthew 8:11
When we are in our spiritual bodies, we will be able to sit down with the persons known as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Perhaps you could argue that I won’t recognize Abraham right away.
That might be correct.
It seems hard to think that I would immediately recognize someone in Heaven who I never saw or spoke to on Earth.
There are some verses that indicate, however, the ability of people in the afterlife to recognize people they knew on Earth.
2 Samuel 12:21-23
Philemon 15-16
Luke 16:22-25
The rich man saw Lazarus.
He asked for Lazarus by name to do him a favor.
Abraham told the rich man to remember what Lazarus received while alive on the Earth.
These verses do not make sense if recognition in the afterlife is impossible.
1 Thessalonians 2:19
Will those who walked with Him on the Earth recognize Him at the resurrection?
Will Jesus recognize them?
Will we know Jesus at His coming?
Or will He be the same person after His resurrection?
Revelation 22:3-4
An Objection Answered
One objection that is offered to the idea of recognition in Heaven is that of pain and suffering.
The basic premise is that I will not have the ability to be without pain and suffering in Heaven if I recognize others that are condemned to Hell.
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