Are you suggesting that I won’t know loved ones in heaven? And that they’ll not be important to me?
It is a question I’ve pondered long and hard, because it’s a question that parishoners are wont to ask of a pastor.
My sense is that just because they don’t give in marriage in heaven doesn’t mean my memory banks will be wiped clean. If that were the case, there’d be no point in having the Lamb crucified there. There’d be no point in wiping tears from our eyes.
Is Jesus yet resurrected? Is that resurrected body yet real or did it get done away with? Was it not the old body renewed? And did not Mary have somewhat to do with that?
This is not an issue of statues or beads. This is a real life bible question, and I’m on the side of our knowing each other, our memories being intact, and our salvation being a realized eternal gift.
Otherwise, what is the difference in terms of our identity between heaven and nirvana? Either way, you wouldn’t know who you had been.
Or anything else we might get up to? They are beyond that
Revelation 5:8 speaks of the prayers of the saints. While there are certainly saints on earth, it is also true that ALL of the saved in Heaven are also saints and if they pray that means they have wishes and desires and, as they are in Paradise, logic would dictate that their prayers are for those they love who are not yet with them.
“Are you suggesting that I won’t know loved ones in heaven? And that they’ll not be important to me?”
No, what I am suggesting is that the knowing of one another and the affections for one another is a reflection of the universal love that Christ has for his church. It is an inclusive love that brooks no exclusive, selfish love. We are one in the Lord.
“My sense is that just because they don’t give in marriage in heaven doesn’t mean my memory banks will be wiped clean.”
There will be no nostalgia in heaven. It is clear what Jesus said about “hating” mother and father or son and daughter. If that is the comparative standard we strive for here, what will be the relationship when we are perfected?
“If that were the case, there’d be no point in having the Lamb crucified there. There’d be no point in wiping tears from our eyes.”
That is the point of loving the Lord with all heart, soul, mind and strength. There is no room for a competing affection.
“Is Jesus yet resurrected? Is that resurrected body yet real or did it get done away with? Was it not the old body renewed? And did not Mary have somewhat to do with that?”
Mary’s contribution died when Jesus died and was buried when Jesus was buried. The Father by the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.
“Otherwise, what is the difference in terms of our identity between heaven and nirvana? Either way, you wouldn’t know who you had been.”
1Cr 15:35-38, “But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.”
1Cr 15:39-44, “All flesh [is] not the same flesh: …..So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Cr 15:45 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly.”
1Cr 15:49-54, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”