Spousal Relationships in Heaven
Question: You (and Joe) make statements about us retaining our personalities and memories in Heaven. What about spousal relationships? I understand there is no pro-creation in Heaven, but what about the husband/wife marriage relationship, dependancy, friendship, etc?
My wife says that if we can't share a 'mansion right over the hilltop'
can we at least get ones next door to each other...
Joe and Lee's Answer: Acts 3:21 says God is going to restore everything and Romans 8 talks about not just the "redemption of our bodies," but of creation as well.
The original intent that God had for man will be restored. So we will go back to the Garden of Eden in many ways which would likely include a restoration of the God-designed male and female relationship.
The Bible tells us that we will not "marry or be given in marriage" (Luke
20:36) in Heaven. We think it's interesting to point out that the Bible never tells us Adam and Eve were married. It appears that marriage came along later, after the fall as a means of protection from the evils and dangers of the post-Eden fallen world. Women in the past needed to have some legal protection so that they would not be unfairly tossed out on the street without some responsibility from the man. Also, when it came to heirs, a man was commanded by God in the Old Law to impregnate his brother's wife if that man died before they had a child. So again, to protect her in terms of providing some "family" for her and to continue the Jewish lineage for that man. It was marriage that placed that responsibility on the brother.
So marriage has had many purposes that would have been unnecessary in the perfect world of the Garden of Eden.
In our opinion, because the Bible tells us God will be restoring, not deleting us, the male + female relationship of God's original intent will be brought back, redeemed and restored rather than being destroyed as some suggest. Clearly that relationship involved romance. To what extent I will leave to your own study and thought.
It appears, however, that the "new" humans will have a choice in Heaven on the New Earth in terms of whether or not they are romantically involved and with whom because all bets are off on the New Earth and in the Heavenly city. Some people will want to be romantic with the spouse they spent their first life with. Others might want to go their separate ways. The bottom line is that it was God's idea to create romantic capabilities for human beings. Heaven is a restoration of God's original intent (Acts 3:21, Romans 8) and, therefore, that capacity will likely be restored and perhaps even stronger than in the present life.
Become a fan of this book on Facebook. For a far more detailed explanation on this and other topics related to Heaven, order the book below:
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The True Heaven
by Joe Beam and Lee Wilson
What does the Bible mean when it talks about "the New Earth"? Will we have relationships there? Will we have bodies or just be spirits? Will we have free will and if so, what will keep us from sinning again? Will animals be in the next life? If these questions intrigue you then you'll want to order this book!
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