“Do our loved ones in heaven remember us?”

We know that people in heaven remember their past lives from Revelation 6:10. Here John sees a vision of heaven wherein martyred saints cry for vengeance on those who caused them to be “slain” (v. 9). It would be hard to believe that God would allow people in heaven to have memories of people like this (cf. Rev. 18:20) and not memories of loved ones.

In addition, Abraham called upon the rich man in hell to “remember” Lazarus (Luke 16:25). If God allows people in hell to be tormented by memories of the people they knew during life, it would be difficult to believe He would not allow people in heaven to be comforted by the memories of their loved ones.

Finally, we know there is recognition in heaven since our bodies will be fashioned like unto the Lord’s resurrection body (Phil. 3:21), and He was only not recognizable to His loved ones when “their eyes were holden” (Luke 24:16). Additionally, Paul knew he’d be comforted by seeing the Thessalonians in heaven (I Thes. 2:19). Well, if our loved ones in heaven don’t remember us now, will they suddenly recognize and remember us when we ourselves arrive in heaven? It seems more natural to believe that our deceased friends, family, and spouses remember us now and already love us with the perfect love that we will have for one another throughout eternity

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

“It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles.”

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you’ll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.