Q & A about the Afterlife (Part 4) How old will we be?

We’ve been wading through a number of questions about the afterlife.  We are looking for biblical answers to common questions people ask about life, death, and eternity.  Whenever the Bible speaks clearly to a subject, we accept what it says as the Truth.  If the Bible doesn’t speak clearly about a subject, we look for biblical principles to apply.  If the Bible is silent, then we admit that we don’t know or we’re not sure.

How old will we be in Heaven?  In an eternal place will the passage of time matter at all?  I doubt it.  But this is a good question.  I am convinced that for the true child of God, heaven will be the ultimate family reunion, a place where we will have no difficulty recognizing our loved ones who have gone on before us, no matter how young or old they look.

This is where it becomes easy to speculate.  Since the Bible does not provide a clear answer, we have to be honest and admit that we are kind of in a fog when it comes to answering questions like this.  That’s what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 13:12 when he said, “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!”  (The Message)

This is one of those questions that cannot be answered with certainty until we get to Heaven.  Some have suggested that children enter heaven and grow up to their “optimum age” whatever that is.  On the other hand, author Randy Alcorn speculates that every parent who has had their heart broken by the loss of a child will have the opportunity to watch their child grow up in a perfect world.

Some think the people in heaven will appear ageless.  While aging is a part of the earthly realm, it is not necessarily a part of the heavenly realm.  Aging is one more negative result of the fall of man.  Things start falling apart as we get older.  I think everyone 21 years of age and older would agree that the process of aging, and all that goes along with it, are issues that we look forward to setting aside in heaven.  While issues like this are not essentials of the faith, they are interesting nonetheless.