In Heaven Will We Recognize and Be with Those We Love?

Question: My big sister just passed away a month ago. I know she is with Jesus, but I wanted to know if I will see her again in heaven. Everyone says I will, but I don’t believe. Is there any Bible verse that I can use to support this.

Answer: Consider Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 where he is comparing spiritual gifts and love as to their completeness and lasting nature. He says that when the perfect (or mature) comes, then the partial will be done away with. Then, he says, we will know fully even as we are fully known. This marks a change in our level of knowledge that is so incomplete at present, and others’ knowledge of us is incomplete as well. But then it will be complete. We will not lose our individuality and identity, but will be even more completely identifiable.

We see this when, for example, Saul consults a medium to talk to Samuel (1 Samuel 28) and the medium recognizes him. When Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus and his three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17) they are recognized. When John has a vision of heaven (Revelation 4,5) he recognizes identifiable groups of people, the “elders,” for example. We will never lose our identity and so we will be recognized and known in heaven. Heaven is to be that place where all the perfection we have longed for will come true. Our relationships will be at the level we always dreamed relationships could be. Our selfishness will be eradicated. We will love unconditionally. Your relationship with your sister will be even more wonderful than it was in this life.

For further reading:

Will There Be Personal Recognition in Heaven?
Will We Recognize and Be Reunited with Our Loved Ones in Heaven?