Jesus said, "Marriage is a major preoccupation here, but not there. Those who are included in the resurrection of the dead will no longer be concerned with marriage nor, of course, with death. They will have better things to think about, if you can believe it. All ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. Even Moses exclaimed about resurrection at the burning bush, saying, 'God: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob!' God isn't the God of dead men, but of the living. To him all are alive."
- Luke 20:34-38
This was Jesus' answer to the Sadducees who were trying to say there was no Resurrection and trap Him with a question about a woman who had been married and widowed repeatedly, asking whose wife she would be in Heaven. I've emphacised the parts that just jumped off the page to me though, that death, something that's certainly been a "major preoccupation" for me, won't even be something I take time out to think about in Heaven. How amazing is that!? Praising the Lord that He will wipe away every tear when death is swallowed up in ultimate Victory!
3 comments:
I believe, though I can't base this belief on anything yet, but in my fancies, I believe we will know each other in Heaven while worshipping God. At least, this is my hope. I can't see how a God who invented marriage, a life partner, would have us not know each other by face though love is truly redefined up there and not by any human standard. What do you think?
Nikole, yes, absolutely I think we will know one another. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV) says, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
I think our relationships and fellowship with one another there will be more full, more rich, than anything we can imagine here, perfected in the glory of Christ. Human marriage is simply a reflection of what God intends for our ultimate relationship with Him, the church being the Bride of Christ. But I do think our relationships with each other will not only continue to exist, but be beautiful, healthy and thriving, more intimate than anything this life can offer.
I often think of Heaven and earth like the difference between a baby during pregnancy and a it's early months outside the womb, and an adult. The adult could never have built the memories, experienced physical growth and ability, become who he is today, without those early months in the womb and first years of life. But even though those earliest experiences were vital to bringing him to adulthood, he remembers little or none of it.
I'm not saying we will remember "none" of earthly life, but I really think Heaven will be so much farther beyond anything we can grasp right now that when we get there we will discover it to be our true place of maturity and fulfillment. I imagine we will look back on our lives here as simply a distant memory that fades dimly in the light of the wonder and glory of Heaven. elationships with one another will flourish, be rebuilt, strengthened and be on a whole new level that we cannot comprehend here, but we will each find our ultimate "ecstasies and intimacies" in Christ alone.
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