Explanation of page numbers: As you read this post, you will find page numbers beside the references to the Scripture passages that I ask you to read. These page numbers refer to the pew Bibles at my church. I have chosen not to comb through the manuscript and remove them simply to save time on my end.
In my
seminary preaching classes, I was taught that the goal of a sermon introduction
is to grab the congregation’s attention and convince them that they should put
forth the effort to pay attention to you. Today, I think I can do that very
easily by simply telling you that we’re going to talk about our relationships
with our loved ones in Heaven. This is perhaps the most common question that
people have about Heaven—will we recognize our loved ones, and will we live
with them? We’ll talk specifically about the relationship of marriage, but
these details will apply to all of our loved ones. We have much to discuss
today, and I don’t want to waste any time, so let’s get right into these
questions.
Will we live with our
spouse in Heaven? Will we live in family units?
I want to
answer these questions carefully and thoroughly by walking through a few
thoughts that should bring some clarity for us.
1. Our marriage
relationships from this life will be superseded by our relationship with Jesus.
Thus, marriage relationships will no longer be needed and we will no longer
have them.
Jesus gives
us a fairly clear answer about marriage in Heaven in a discussion that He had
with the Sadducees in Matthew 22. The Sadducees were the “liberal” Jewish group
who denied some of the traditional beliefs of the Jewish people, and one day
they tried to stump Jesus with a question about the resurrection, which they
did not believe in [READ Matt. 22:23-28; p. 537].
The point
of the Sadducees question, of course, was to try and show that the whole idea
of a resurrection and life after death was ridiculous. But Jesus used the
situation to correct their mistaken beliefs [READ 22:29-30]. Notice that Jesus
does not say we BECOME angels; He says that we will be like them in this one
sense—that we will not be married to each other.
So Jesus
corrects the Sadducees by teaching them that their hypothetical situation does
not apply to what our relationships will be like in Heaven. This is why its
fine to get remarried if your spouse passes away. You are not breaking the vow
you made to your spouse, and you are not creating any complications for your
future life in Heaven.
It seems
that the reason we will not be married in Heaven is that marriage today is
supposed to be like a living prophecy that teaches us about something that will
finally come true in Heaven. It seems that marriage today is meant to teach us
about the emotional and spiritual unity that we will enjoy with God, and once
that unity becomes a full reality in Heaven, we will no longer need the
relationship that was merely a picture of it in this life.
The Apostle Paul alludes to this
thought in Ephesians 5. In this passage, Paul is discussing how husbands and
wives should treat each other, and in v. 31, he quotes the famous statement
about marriage from Genesis 2:24 [READ Eph. 5:31-32; p. 635]. Paul is saying
that marriage, in its fullest purpose and intent, is a picture of Christ’s
relationship with those whom He has saved. When that relationship reaches its
greatest and fullest reality in Heaven, we will no longer need this earthly
relationship which was—at best—an imperfect picture of our relationship with
Christ.
C.
S. Lewis once used the illustration of a child who was told about the pleasures
of the physical relationship in marriage, and the child responds by saying,
“Yes, but will we eat chocolate, too?” The child can’t imagine a greater
pleasure than eating chocolate, so he thinks that any other pleasure would
surely be diminished if he weren’t also eating chocolate, too.
I think our thoughts about Heaven
may be similar. We are told that we will live with God and we will see His
face, and our very natural response is to say, “Yes, but…” I think we can
barely imagine how wonderful our relationship with God will be, so we are tempted
to think that our joy will be diminished if our relationship with our spouse is
not the same as it is here. I don’t think God holds that thought against us any
more than we would rebuke the child who asks about chocolate. I would simply
encourage you to ponder the satisfaction that you will enjoy in your
relationship with God.
But there is more that we should keep in mind as we think
about our spouse and our loved ones…
2. We will recognize
our spouse and loved ones in Heaven, and we may remember many of our
experiences with them.
I think we
can have the utmost confidence that we will recognize our loved ones in Heaven.
After Jesus rose from the grave, He was perfectly recognizable to His
disciples. There was one situation in the Gospel of Luke where a couple of
disciples did not recognize Him, but Luke 24:16 specifically says that they
were prevented from recognizing Him—apparently because God wanted to teach them
something. Otherwise, people always recognized Jesus when they saw him.
I also want
to point you to a fascinating parable that Jesus told in Luke 16. This parable
raises a lot of questions, and unfortunately we just don’t have time to answer
them today, but I want to point out some details that we learn about the
afterlife from this parable [READ Luke 16:19-25; p. 569; “Abraham’s side” seems
to be a round-about way of referring to Heaven. Jewish people were almost
superstitious about using the words “God” or “Heaven,” so they would often
refer to them in round-about ways]. I’m going to stop here because we’ve read
all we need for today.
Notice a
couple of details in this parable. First, the rich man recognized Lazarus when he saw him. He had known Lazarus in this
life, and he recognized him in the afterlife. Second, notice that Abraham’s
command to the rich man assumes that
the rich man was able to remember his life. Abraham told him to remember his
life, which obviously tells us that he could!
These
details lead me to believe that in Heaven, we will recognize people that we
knew in this life, and we will remember experiences that we had with them. If
that’s the case, then we may have a unique bond with our loved ones because of all
the memories that we share.
3. We may live with
them in some manner.
The Bible
honestly doesn’t say much about what our living arrangements will be in Heaven.
Jesus did say in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many rooms,” but He
didn’t elaborate on that thought for us. With the way that Scripture exalts
relationships and community, it would be an unexpected development if we lived
by ourselves, so I anticipate that we will live with each other in some
fashion. If we are going to live with other people, I can’t think of any reason
why those other people couldn’t be our loved ones. We apparently will not be
living in a marriage relationship, but that doesn’t mean we won’t live together
at all.
So to sum
up this discussion, we will not be united in marriage in Heaven because we will
have the unity with God that marriage is meant to portray. But we will
recognize each other and remember our lives together, and we may live together
in some fashion. Whatever our living arrangements, we could apparently choose to
spend time together whenever we have the freedom to do so.
What will we know?
Will we learn about God’s purposes for various events in our lives?
Many DVD’s today offer a special feature
that allows you to watch the movie while listening to a commentary from the
director or actors in the movie. They normally share some background
information about the making of the film. Will we have an opportunity to do
something similar with God? Will we get to watch something like a movie of our
life and listen to God explain what was going on?
That’s
difficult to say, but it does seem clear that we will know more about God, and
perhaps more about our own lives. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul is discussing
the indirect, piece-by-piece manner in which God used to communicate to people
through methods like the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy, and he
highlights the direct way that we will learn from God in Heaven: “For now we
see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall
know fully, even as I have been fully known (1 Cor 13:12).”
Now don’t
get the idea that we will come to know absolutely
everything the way that God does. The biblical illustration for what Paul
was talking about comes from Numbers 12. In this chapter, Moses’ siblings,
Miriam and Aaron, were throwing a fit because they wanted people to recognize
that God had spoken to them, too, and not just Moses. But the Lord reminded
them that He spoke to Moses in a unique way [READ Num. 12:6-8; p. 78].
If the Lord
spoke to a prophet at that time, He gave them a dream or a vision—something
that was indirect, that had to be interpreted and which may have been difficult
to interpret. But Moses spoke to God and learned from Him directly in clear
statements.
That’s a
description of the kind of access we will have to God in Heaven! Today, you and
I learn from God by studying the writings that He inspired men to write
thousands of years ago. But in Heaven, we will speak to God directly, and He
will speak to us directly. We will apparently have the freedom to ask God
questions, and in His grace He may choose to answer them.
Also, our
ability to learn and think will not be hindered by sinful biases. Our knowledge
about other people will not be clouded by gossip or envy; our memory will not
fade from the effects of aging; our time in which to learn will be endless.
So it seems
that we will know far more about God, and perhaps about our own lives. It also
seems reasonable that we will get to know other people as well. We could apparently ask Jonah what it was
like inside that fish, or ask Noah what it was like inside the Ark. There
would be a lot of people in Heaven to get to know, and we may spend quite a bit
of time doing just that!
Will there be animals
in Heaven?
I think the
answer to this question is “yes.” In fact, I’ll say I’m 95% certain. Here is
why I say that—animals have always occupied a special role in God’s creation,
and He cares about their well-being. Proverbs 12:10 says, “A righteous man
cares about his animal’s health.” A righteous person reflects the character of
God in his actions, so this verse tells us that God cares about the health of
animals as well.
Consider
this—when God decided to cause the worldwide flood of Noah’s day, He made
provisions to see to it that two of every kind of animal He made would be saved
from that disaster. And in Genesis 9, when God made a promise to Noah that He
would never again destroy the Earth with a flood, the Lord specifically named
the animals as recipients of that promise as well. The rainbow is just as much
a sign to them as it is to us.
Moreover,
consider this—various angels who are described in the Bible are said to have
animal-like features. In Ezekiel 1, for instance, we read about angels who have
wings like birds, feet like calves, and faces like a lion, an ox, and an eagle.
But rather than say that these angels have animal-like features, it may be more
accurate to say that the animals have angel-like features.
The Bible
gives us an indication that angels existed first—before the animals! Job 38:7
says that when God laid the foundation of the earth, “the sons of God shouted
for joy.” That phrase “sons of God” is a clear reference to angels in other
verses, so it probably is in that verse as well. It could be that in the same way
that God made us in His image, He made animals in the image of angels. If that
is true, then animals would seem to occupy an even greater place in God’s
creation.
Perhaps the
bottom line is simply this—God created animals for this Earth, so why not for the
New Earth? God cares about animals and has even made a promise to them, so its
very reasonable to think that He will include animals in Heaven.
But there’s
another interesting question that surrounds this discussion—will those animals
be the same animals that we loved in this life (our pets)? Might we also be
reunited with pets that we have loved? I am going to answer this question with
a hesitant “yes.” I’ll say I’m 65% certain about this one.
Let me show
you why I say this. In Romans 8, Paul discusses the terrible effects that our
sin has had on the creation around us, but he states that one day creation will
be set free from these effects [READ Rom. 8:18-21; p. 613]. In vv. 20-21, Paul
seems to be saying that the same creation which is suffering under the Curse
right now will be the creation that is set free from the Curse when we are set
free from it as well. Since animals are part of the creation, this could
indicate that the same animals who suffer today because of our sin will be the
animals that will receive the blessings of our completed redemption. That would
mean that the animals in Heaven will not be completely new creatures but will
be animals from this world restored to life.
I’m not
certain about that, but I do think it’s a bit more likely than not. I like what Joni Eareckson Tada had to say
about this question: “If God brings our pets back to life…It would be just like
Him…Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and
ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy
would be pure whimsy—utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous….Heaven is
going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible
the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His
children.”1
What a
great description of the God with whom we will spend eternity—a God who takes
joy in our joy and delights in our delight. We will see Him and live with Him
forever, and that would be enough. But He is the God who does far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20), so we’ll get even more. We won’t
just get to see Him, but we’ll get to see our loved ones, too, and maybe we’ll
even see that mangy old dog who used to follow us everywhere we went.
Look
forward to that place, my friends! When your path turns dark, look forward!
When dangers threaten, look forward! When your traveling companions go on
ahead, look forward, and let the light of the God who lives in that place fill
your eyes and thrill your soul, to keep your chin up until you are there.
Notes:
1. As quoted in Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2004), 401.
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