Hope for the future

[Penny]

I have a quesion that was in Called to do a funeral topic

Hope for the future- You will see them again some day. 1Thess 4 etc

Will we know who people are in heaven?
If so can you support this with a verse in the Bible.

I have allways been lead to belive we will not.

[jdavis]

Penny most Christians believe that this is one aspect of Heaven that will make it so wonderful. below is a quote from Randy Alcorn who wrote a great book about heaven from a biblical perspective.

Will we be reunited with our loved ones in Heaven?
by Randy Alcorn

The greatest joy of Heaven will be uniting with Christ. The next greatest joy will be reuniting with our loves ones who have died. The certainty of the ultimate reunion is so sweet that it makes the parting bearable.

Scripture gives no indication of a "memory wipe" causing us not to recognize family and friends. In fact, if we wouldn't know our loved ones, the "comfort" of an afterlife reunion (taught in I Thessalonians 4:14-18) would be no comfort at all. Theologian J.C. Ryle said of this passage, "There would be no point in these words of consolation if they did not imply the mutual recognition of saints. The hope with which he cheers wearied Christians is the hope of meeting their beloved friends again…In the moment that we who are saved shall meet our several friends in heaven, we shall at once know them, and they will at once know us."1

The greatest adventure, one that will never end, will be inhabiting and exploring together, to Christ's glory, the New Earth and new universe.

1 J.C. Ryle, Heaven (Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2000), 35.