DEAR DR. GRAHAM: Do you think we will recognize each other in Heaven? My husband died last year, and it would horrify me to think that we might not know each other because God had given us different appearances or something. -- Mrs. M.L.
DEAR MRS. M.L.: While the Bible doesn't answer all our questions about Heaven, I have no doubt we will recognize each other there. In fact, the Bible indicates we will know each other more fully than we do now. The Apostle Paul declared, "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
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It's true that our appearance will change, because God will give us new bodies, similar to Jesus' resurrection body. Those bodies will never grow old or tired, nor will they ever experience pain or suffering or death. As the Bible says, "For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52). What a glorious promise!
But we will still know each other. When Jesus was transformed into His heavenly glory before the eyes of some of His disciples, "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light" (Matthew 17:2). And yet His disciples still recognized Him, and so did Moses and Elijah who came from Heaven to speak with Him.
Thank God for our hope of eternal life -- a hope we have only because Jesus Christ died and rose again to take away our sins. This is your hope -- and it can be the hope of every person reading this column, as they turn to Christ and trust Him alone for their salvation.
