Seen in Heaven

Dear Victorious,

My uncle died last year, and my aunt keeps talking about how much she's looking forward to seeing him in heaven. Will she really know him in heaven? If so, will he still be her husband? What if she remarries?

Ursula T. - McKees Rocks, PA

Dear Ursula,

People often talk about seeing all their friends and loved ones who have passed on before them when they get to heaven. That may be the case too. But that will not be our primary focus in heaven. We will be worshipping God full time then. So reunions with loved ones are more likely to be focused on the grace and glory of God, His wondrous love, and His mighty works.

What does the Bible say about whether we will be able to recognize people in the afterlife?

King Saul recognized Samuel when the witch of Endor summoned Samuel from the realm of the dead (1 Samuel 28:8-17).

When David’s infant son died, David declared, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). David assumed that he would be able to recognize his son in heaven, despite the fact that he died as a baby.

In Luke 16:19-31, Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man were all recognizable after death.

At the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were recognizable (Matthew 17:3-4).

In these examples, the Bible does seem to indicate that we will be recognizable after death. The Bible declares that when we arrive in heaven, we will “be like him [Jesus]; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Just as our earthly bodies were of the first man Adam, so will our resurrection bodies be just like Christ’s (1 Corinthians 15:47).

“And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:49, 53).

Many people recognized Jesus after His resurrection (John 20:16, 20; 21:12; 1 Corinthians 15:4-7). If Jesus was recognizable in His glorified body, my guess is that we also will be recognizable in our glorified bodies.

As for the last part of your question, I suspect that all relationships will be vastly different than we know them here on earth. God will truly be the center of our focus there. So the significance of our other relationships is likely to be different. Consequently, the individual who has been widowed and remarried will likely find no conflict at all in heaven - because the context of those relationships will be so vastly different from anything we know today.