Q & A about the Afterlife (Part 5) What will we look like in Heaven?

 

Last time we considered the question, how old will we be in heaven?  The next question to naturally follow would be – What will we look like in Heaven?  Will you always look the age you were when you died?  And what about babies or children; are they destined to be infants of children throughout eternity?

We can speculate as to how old people are in Heaven, but nobody knows for sure.  We do know people will be healthy and whole on every level.  That fact alone is cause for celebration.  When we get our glorified bodies in Heaven all imperfections will all be gone.  We will be complete and whole in every way for the very first time in our lives.

Jonathan Edwards once commented that heaven will be full of children, even if we all look like adults.  I like that.  Perhaps all of the things we love about children; their innocence, their joy and their laughter will be a vital part of who we are in heaven.

Some have asked, will we know each other in Heaven?  I have no doubt we will recognize each other.  One day those who are in Christ will receive a new body that will never grow old or tired, nor will they ever experience pain, or suffering, or death.  In First Corinthians 15:52 Paul says, “The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”  Even though we are changed, the scripture seems to affirm the fact that we will still know each other in our resurrected/glorified bodies.

In Matthew 17:2 we read about the Transfiguration of Christ.  Moses and Elijah appeared there with him on the mountain.  Peter, James, and John knew who they were.  We know that Jesus was recognized after His resurrection.  It would seem that the essential core of our personality and even our appearance will remain intact in heaven.  We will simply shed all of our human weaknesses and limitations when we receive our glorified bodies.

How could heaven be heaven if we wandered throughout eternity not recognizing those we have loved in this life?  I think that’s one of the things that will make heaven-heaven.

In heaven, I believe we will know and be known.  In some ways, we will be the same, yet in other ways we will be wonderfully different…transformed by the grace of God.