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...the Bible tells me so:
Will We Know Each Other in Heaven?
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For those of us Christians who have suffered the death of a loved one, the third verse of “Does Jesus Care?”—
Does Jesus care when I’ve said ‘Good-by’
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches Till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?
—reaches out to their broken hearts. It asks the question we all want answered.
Songs of heaven fill our hymn books. Most of those songs, however, focus on our being with Jesus or going with other saints to glory. The reason is self-evident. The New Testament teaching on our hope laid up in heaven (see Colossians 1:5; 1 Peter 1:4) predominately speaks in terms of being with Jesus in heaven or going to glory with other saints.
Being with Jesus in heaven is the principal basis of our hope. Christians wonder what life after death will be like. The apostle John comforts us by saying, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The apostle Paul was torn between life and death as a Roman prisoner. He knew that departing this life meant to “be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). When Christians depart, as citizens of heaven, Jesus “will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (3:20-21). Also, while Christians are “at home in the body,” we “are away from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6). Yet, “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (verse 8). Thus, being with Jesus in an angelic existence is a much greater blessing than even remaining married throughout eternity (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25). We become immortal and resurrected children of God (Luke 20:34-36).
Going to glory with other saints is the second-most important teaching of our hope. In one of the earliest books of the New Testament, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, the Christians there were very concerned with loved ones in Christ who had died before Jesus came again. “Had they missed the resurrection of the dead?” they asked. Paul’s answer remains full of comfort: “God will bring with [Jesus] those [Christians] who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14), and “the dead in Christ will rise first; then we... shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord” (verses 16-17).
A
few years later, the Christians from
Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (verses 51-57)
Today, our hearts burn with the question: “Will we know each other in heaven?” While we would prefer that the Bible clearly describe our existence in heaven, God still gave us snap-shots of the mystery of life after death.
· The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: The rich man in hades recognized Lazarus who was being comforted by Abraham (Luke 16:22-24). The rich man also remembered his five still-alive brothers (verse 28).
The remaining snap-shots clearly imply personal acquaintance in heaven:
· Names written in heaven (Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27)
· Expectations of Paul to be with his converts (1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 4:14; see Philippians 3:20-4:1)
· No mourning in heaven (Revelation 21:4)
· David to go to heaven to his newborn son (2 Samuel 12:23)
· Blessing with the fathers in the faith (Hebrews 11:13-16; 13:14; Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:28-29)
· The Jewish fathers being gathered with the fathers (Genesis 25:8,17; 35:29; 49:29,33; Deuteronomy 32:50)
The song, “Does Jesus Care?” answers the mournful question of our loved ones: “O yes, He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief.” So we sing these songs that express our comforting hope of remembrance and reunion–add to this list as you can:
· “Beyond the Sunset” verse 4—“Beyond the sunset, O glad reunion, With our dear loved ones who’ve gone before.”
· “Hallelujah, We Shall Rise” e.g., verse 2—“When our fathers and our mothers, and our loved ones we shall see.”
· “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story” verse 5—“Then He’ll bear me safely over, where the loved ones I shall meet.”
· “In the Morning of Joy” verse 3—“O the bliss of that morn when our loved ones we meet.”
· “No Tears in Heaven” verse 3—“All will be clearer, loved ones be dearer, in heav’n where all will be made new.”
· “Sing On” verse 3—“Where those we love are waiting To greet us on the shore: We’ll meet beyond the river, Where surges roll no more.”
· “The Night is Fast Passing” verse 4—“You’re nearing the strand, Where loved ones await you in Beulah land.”
· “Though the Way We Journey (We Shall See the King Some Day)” verse 4—“There with all the loved ones who have gone before, We shall see the King some day.”
· “O That Will Be Glory” verse 3—“Friends will be there I have loved long ago.”
· “O think of a Home Over There” verse 2—“O think of the friends over there”; verse 3—“Many dear to my heart, over there.”
· “O Think of the Home Over There” verse 2—“O think of the friends over there, who before us the journey have trod.”
· “The Unclouded Day” verse 2—“O they tell me of a home where my friends have gone.”
· “Sing to Me of Heaven” verse 2—“Dreaming of the comrades that so long have gone.”
· “There Are Loved Ones in the Glory (Will the Circle Be Unbroken?)” e.g., verse 4—“Here the circle has been broken—will it be complete one day?”
· “If We Never Meet Again” e.g., chorus—“I will meet you on that beautiful shore.”
· “I’ll Meet You in the Morning.”
· “When We All Get to Heaven.”
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