From time to time in my life I’ve thought about heaven. Many of us have sung songs about it, watched films dipicting angels and heard people talk about their near-death experiences. We hear parents tell their children that their pets or grandma are in heaven.
I’ve listened to what people have shared, read the Bible and since Marc is in that place, I’m sharing what I think his personality is like there.
Memory in the Afterlife
‘Believers will remember their life on earth and will continue their relationships with family and friends in heaven. But the relationships will all be much better, even if they were already good on earth.
“Should we think that God would give us a wonderful, loving relationship with family and friends for forty or fifty years, only to be terminated, never to be enjoyed again? Impossible, writes Dr Paul Enns, who pointed to the recurring phrase “he was gathered to his people” in the Old Testament as meaning believers will be reunited with their loved ones. Also, there’s the famous story in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man retained memory of his father and five brothers while in hell.
“Death is not cessation of existence; death is separation of the body from the soul and spirit (James 2:26),” writes Enns. “The body temporarily goes into the grave, awaiting the resurrection, but the person – complete with all thoughts, memory, and personality – continues.”
“If the people in hell will remember their past lives on this earth, surely believers in heaven will remember their lives on earth. Abilities in heaven will not be inferior to abilities in hell. We will know everything we know now, but much clearer and much more.”
Dr. Paul Enns, professor and director of the Tampa extension of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, from his book, “Heaven Revisited”
I hope this is a comfort to some of you who are wrestling with the reality and hope of heaven ~