Can mourners find comfort in knowing they will see their loved ones again?

Will We Know Each Other in Heaven?

by Hugo McCord

An 82 year old buried part of himself. For 63 years, she was a devoted daily helper. He mourns because he knows he will never be the same. His words, "I miss her very much," tell only a little about his lonely days and nights.

During his 64 years of preaching, he has brought comfort at funeral services to many bereaved people. He knows every verse in the Bible that describes heaven. Also, he knows that "what we shall be has not yet been made known" (I John 3:2 NIV). But he would not be human if he did not ask, "Will we know each other in heaven?"

He knows that his specific question is not directly addressed in Scripture. However, we rejoice that indirectly the Holy Book leaves no doubt that he and she will know each other in heaven, although in different bodies. "If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body" (I Corinthians 15:44 RSV).

They will not continue their happy marriage relationship in heaven (Luke 20:35), but they will be the same two people in heaven that they were on Earth, for "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:32).

God spoke to Moses at the burning bush, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (Exodus 3:6, Matthew 22:32). He did not say, "I was the God of Abraham before he was buried". Nor did he say, "I was the God of Isaac before he was buried." Nor did he say, "I was the God of Jacob before he was buried."

Instead of God's using the past tense "was", Jesus pointed out that He used the present tense "am" and so concluded that "God is not the God of the dead but of the living." This proves that some thing in human beings never dies, and it demonstrates personal recognition in heaven. For Abraham will still be Abraham, Isaac will still be Isaac, and Jacob will still be Jacob.

Jesus said, in the kingdom of heaven, "[M]any shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob" (Matthew 8:11 ASV). Although our bereaved friend has never seen Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, in heaven, they will somehow know each other.

Personal recognition beyond this world is also true about wicked people. After the rich man had died and was buried (Luke 16:22), something about him was not in the cemetery, but in a place called hades (v. 23). Something about him still had a memory of his five brothers back on earth (vv. 27-28).

Now hades (a place of flaming torment, v. 24) is not heaven. People in Hades remember the people that they had known on Earth, so people in heaven will know people that they had known on the Earth.

Paul wrote, "What is our hope or joy or crown of exultation before our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is in not you? You are our glory and joy" (I Thessalonians 2:19 RSV).

Paul looked forward to the Lord's coming, among other reasons, because he would see the beloved Thessalonians (I Thessalonians 2:17). An anticipation that filled him with gladness was the assurance that he would be reunited with the people who he had turned from idols to the true God. Just as a winner of an Olympic race receives a garland of flowers, Paul pictured the Thessalonians as his diadem of glory at the day of the Lord.

The significance of I Thessalonians 2:19 with converts becoming crowns for Paul, appears to be based on the assumption that Paul would know who the converts were. Recognition beyond the grave is, therefore, an indirect Bible teaching. One's physical body does not survive, but his undying part, with the ability to remember people known on Earth, does survive. The fact this teaching also has a negative implication does not remove the truthfulness of it.

Similarly, people in heaven will know people in heaven whom they had not know on Earth. They will know and visit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as others. Moses, whose physical body of 120 years was buried in a valley in the land of Moab (Deut. 34:6), appeared in a different body 1,500 years later on a mountain in Palestine (Luke 9:28-36). Although Peter had never seen Moses, somehow he knew who he was.

Likewise, 900 years after Elijah left Earth, he, like Moses, appeared on a mountain in Palestine. Again, although Peter had never seen Elijah, he knew who he was (vv. 28-36).

Similarly, since angels cannot die (20:36), Michael, the archangel who talked to Daniel (Daniel 10:13, 21), is distinct from all the other angels and, consequently, will be recognizable by name when our brother and his wife are together in heaven. Likewise, Gabriel, who talked with Daniel (8:16; 9:21) and with Mary (Luke 1:26) is distinct from Michael and from all other angels, and so will be recognizable by name when we are together in heaven.