05-04-08 #Disciple Bible Study titled: ‘Will We Know Each Other In Heaven’

[Disciple]

‘Heaven- A Travel Guide’
‘Will We Know Each Other In Heaven’
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
Intro
Probably one of the most frequently asked questions about heaven is the one we are looking at tonight. People want to know, ‘Will we know each other in heaven?’ The Bible does not directly discuss this question, so therefore we cannot find a direct Bible answer. The Bible does not directly answer a question it does not directly ask.
Jesus did not speak directly on this question of heavenly recognition but the bible certainly does shed some light on this matter of knowing one another in heaven.
We want to know that we will indeed have a time of reunion. We want to know for certain that we will see each other again and we will have some kind of relationship with each other once more. So, will we know each other in heaven?
I. Some Biblical Implications
We can draw some implications from Scripture to help us. There is a longing in the human heart for recognition when this life is over. Even those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ have expressed convictions that we will know each other in another world.
Would it be unthinkable that God has given man this kind of hope and then only to disappoint him? Consider that this life alone does not fulfill our ultimate purpose. We are created to be more than just physical beings in bodies of flesh and blood.
Do you really think that your ultimate purpose is to be buried in a black hole to obliterate completely and forever all memory, all intelligence, all imagination? God created us to be with him through all eternity.
How unthinkable it would be for us to be in heaven rubbing elbows with our loved ones and yet not to know them.
Matthew 22:30-32
Jesus said we will be like the angels in heaven when it comes to the marriage relationship. Have you noticed in Scripture that the angels are identified and are distinguished from one another? Gabriel is not Michael, Michael is not Gabriel.
If the angels are known, and if we are to be like the angels, will we not also be known? Heaven is far greater than our present life in this world. Heaven is not going to be a more limited existence than what we have known here. Heaven is far better.
Heaven does not abolish human personality, it perfects it in ways we can hardly imagine. In heaven we will know each other completely , far beyond our limited knowing in this life.
II. Some Biblical Incidents
We can look at some events in the Scriptures that give us information and insight about knowing each other in heaven. There are a couple of incidents that I want to mention especially but first I want you to consider a phrase that is often used to describe death and what happens immediately after death.
This phrase is used in the O.T. particularly for the great patriarchs. Consider just one example.
Genesis 25:8
This phrase, ‘gathered to his people’, is separate and distinguished from dying and being buried. It refers to the reunion between Abraham and his family and friends who also have died in this life. It presupposes a faith in the continued existence of life beyond the death of the body.
What is the point of mentioning he was ‘gathered to his people’ if there is no knowledge or recognition of his people? When a Christian dies today he is gathered to be with God’s people. We are members of God’s family and God’s children are our people.
Let’s look at the incident of David and the death of his son. The son born to David and Bathsheba after David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba died after 7 days of illness. Listen to David’s words.
2 Samuel 12:23
You can hear the heartbreak in David’s words. He gives a short sermon on the finality of the death of the body. ‘he shall not return to me’. But you also can see the comfort that David had in the knowledge that he would go to be with his son. How could there be much comfort if David would not recognize and know his son when he got there to be with him again? David believed and longed for the reunion in heaven.
A second incident finds Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. He has taken the inner circle of disciples, Peter, James, John with him and they witness the events that unfold there. When Jesus was transfigured in his appearance, Moses and Elijah appear and are speaking with Jesus. This is where Peter speaks up.
Matthew 17:4
Moses had been dead and buried for hundreds of years. Elijah had miraculously been taken into heaven without death. Yet Peter immediately recognized both of them without any formal introduction. If God could do that before the resurrection surely God is able to give us bodies that will be known and recognized after the resurrection.
Peter, James and John knew and recognized Moses and Elijah even though they had never seen them in this life. Perhaps that is an indication that we will not only know the people we are acquainted with now, but also those we do not know now.
III. Some Biblical Assertions
Consider just a few thoughts from Scripture that assert recognition and knowledge in heaven.
1 Thess. 2:19-20
You can see and feel the anti****tion on the part of the apostle Paul to see these from Thessalonica who had come to know Jesus through his efforts. How could Paul rejoice in them being in the presence of the Lord Jesus if he could not recognize and know them in heaven?
Soul winners and the souls won will be reunited in heaven at the second coming of Jesus. Will you have those who will be waiting for you, to welcome you to heaven to thank you for sharing with them the gospel of Jesus?
Are you looking with joy for the day of the Lord to see again those you have helped to know the Lord Jesus as Savior? Memory is one gift of God that death does not kill. Memory is the foundation of recognition. Beyond the grave all is changed but we will still remember, know and recognize each other.
Conc
Yes, we will certainly know each other in heaven, but what good does that information do you if your name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life? If you aren’t saved, if you aren’t in Christ, you have no promise, no hope of heaven.
Do you have some others there you are waiting and hoping for you to join them?