Will We Know Our Loved Ones in Heaven? Kathryn Kuhlman

I wish I could answer all of your questions. But if I were able to answer all of your questions, then I would be God. You must remember that I have questions that I'm waiting to receive the answer to. And it's just like that. Oh, sure. you'd be amazed how many questions that i'm waiting for the mastery himself to answer for me you see i'm human too but that's where real faith and trust and confidence comes in I think so very often whenever we think of faith, we always think of it in connection with the healing of a physical body. Divine healing. Oh, that's such a small part of faith. When I think of faith, I think of faith in my relationship to Him. Guarding his wisdom and his knowledge and his absolute perfection. When I think about my faith, I always think about my complete confidence. In his perfect knowledge, even though I do not understand. His perfect wisdom. If I have faith in the perfect wisdom of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, then I'll never question anything he does. Never. Never. Let me ask you, do you have that kind of confidence in him? Do you have that kind of faith in him? Do you have perfect faith and confidence in his absolute judgment and wisdom? Then you'll never go around bawling around and... Feeling sorry for yourself and whining and saying, why did he allow this to happen? Why did this happen to me? Every time you ask that question, you prove that you do not have complete trust and confidence in his perfect wisdom and his perfect judgment. Well, I just threw it in for good measure. Because... We've been talking about... Well, in fact, I started out yesterday to answer the question that a lady from Long Beach asked. Will we know our loved ones over there? And I just got started when I looked up and... Pleasure, it was time for me to leave your house. I never had 30 minutes go so quickly in my life. I just looked up. I couldn't believe my own eyes. I thought for a minute there was something wrong with the clock, but nothing has ever gone wrong with this clock. So I knew it just had gone so quickly because we were talking about something that was most interesting to all of us because it will affect... all of us. We're all involved. And we're talking about the resurrection of the physical body. And that's one thing. I don't care who you are, whether you're rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, regardless of your race, your color, your nationality. If you are a part of humanity, the very thing that I'm talking about will affect you. You marvel not at this, Jesus said, very clearly, very distinctly. For the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life. They that have done evil unto the resurrection of... Damnation. Some claim that the departure of the soul and the spirit from the body is what is meant by the resurrection. But that cannot be so. For as we have seen, the dead are to arise from their graves and only that can come out of the grave that went into it. and the only thing that is put into the grave is the body i repeat all that goes into the grave is the body and all that can come out of the grave is the body then there are those who believe in what they call the germ theory and this is what they believe that in every human body there's a living germ that is indestructible and though the body turn to dust that living germ will exist in the grave until after resurrection a new body shall spring from it this theory explains how the body may be eaten by animals destroyed by Lime are grown to atoms, are mutilated by the loss of limbs, and so on and so forth, and still the life germ exists from which shall come the resurrection body. And those who are advocates of this theory claim that Paul teaches it in 1 Corinthians 15. 14th chapter, where he compares the resurrection of the body with the plant that comes up from the seed. Now watch something. We know that the seed is different from the plant that bore it, just as the acorn is different from the oak tree. But the plant that springs from the seed will be like... The plant that bore it. And so the body that comes from the indestructible life germ should be alike in kind to the body that produced the germ. While the resurrection body shall be alike in kind, it'll be different in character. and possess different qualities. This Paul declares when he says, all flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another fishes, another birds. And this is what he's saying, the flesh of God's creatures is adapted to their environment. Fish flesh cannot fly in the air, nor bird flesh swim in the sea. And so there are bodies that are terrestrial, bodies that are celestial, and the human body as it is now. as our bodies are constituted now, could not exist in heaven. Our physical bodies are not geared for heaven. This old physical body of mine, even though I'm talking to you right now, is not geared for heaven. There must be a change. There's got to be a change. And this change is brought about by the resurrection. This is exactly what Paul is talking about when he says, So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. But it is raised in power. It is sown a natural birth. body. It is raised a spiritual body. This does not mean that it will have no substance. We cannot conceive of a body that is to have the faculties of the spirit body not having form and substance. I believe with every atom of my being that our spiritual bodies, our resurrected bodies, will absolutely have form and have substance. I believe there will be bone. I believe that we will recognize our loved ones. I believe with every atom of my being that I'll recognize Papa and Papa will know me. I'll recognize Mama and Mama will know me. You'll never, All of the forces of this earth could never change my mind on that. Now, I'll tell you the reason why. Christ's resurrected body is a sample of what ours is to be. And I have read everything. I have studied everything in the Word of God. regarding the body of Jesus after His resurrection. For the Bible teaches that our resurrected body shall be like unto His. Therefore, if you and I know what His body was like after His resurrection, then we'll know what our bodies will be like. While it is true that his body did not seek corruption, and he rose in the same body that was laid in the grave, while it was the same in identity, it was different in character. All right? Let me read you a personal word of God, as recorded in the 20th chapter of John. This now, is after his death, his burial, and his resurrection. And I'm beginning with the 19th verse. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst. and saith unto them peace be unto you the doors were closed they were shut never before had he appeared to them in this way before his death burial and resurrection but suddenly the doors being shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews i dare say they had them locked but suddenly came jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them peace be unto you He stood there. He's standing there in their midst in bodily form. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. They saw him. They rejoiced. They knew it was the Lord. They recognized him. His body had flesh. His body had bone. It had form. It had shape. There he stands in their midst. and jesus said unto them peace be unto you as my father hath sent me even so send i you and when he had said this he breathed on them saith unto them receive ye the holy ghost oh you know the rest of it but there was one thomas one of the twelve who was not with them when Jesus came. And the other disciples therefore said unto him, We've seen the Lord. They knew him. They recognized him. We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails. and thrust my hand into his side i will not believe i've got to be sure i can't just take your word for it and after eight days again his disciples were with him and thomas with them then came jesus the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said unto them peace be unto you then saith he to thomas reach thither thy finger behold my hands reach hither thy hand thrust thee into my side be not faithless but believing And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. And Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. But blessed are they that have not seen, and yet. have believed. He was talking about us, about you and me. They saw him after his resurrection. They conversed with him. They ate with him. They partook of the fish. Sure. Sure, Thomas. Thou hast seen me, and thou hast believed. But looking down through the telescope of time, he thought about you and he thought about me, those of us who did not look upon those nail -pierced hands. who have not seen him in bodily form. Blessed, Jesus said, all they that have not seen and yet have believed. Going back to the physical body of Jesus after his resurrection, I still contend that his resurrection body was a sample of what ours is to be like after our bodies are resurrected. While the nail prints and the spear wound were visible, it could pass through closed doors. It could appear and disappear at will. It had flesh. It had bones. Read it. The 24th chapter of Luke. The 39th verse. But not blood. There was no blood in that resurrected body. For flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God. For blood is that which causes corruption. To preserve a body, it must be drained of blood. Are the blood chemically preserved by an embalming fluid? As the sacrifice was to be bled, so Jesus left his blood on the earth. Our resurrected bodies will have visible form and shape. I believe that. It stands to reason that our physical bodies, after its resurrection, will have a framework of flesh and of bones. It will be the flesh and bones adapted to its new environment. And it's just like that. Go back again to that wonderful verse of scripture. The first chapter of Acts. It was not a spirit that they beheld. It was a body that was visible to the eye. Those last moments before the feet of Jesus left this old earth. and when he had spoken these things while they beheld he was taken up and the cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which said unto them Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus. Oh, I love those three words. This same Jesus. The same Jesus who challenged Thomas. The same... Jesus with the print of the nails in his hand, the wound in his side, the same Jesus whose physical body came through doors that remained locked and closed. This same Jesus was taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. in bodily form. And our bodies, our resurrected bodies, will be like unto His body. As He was recognized, so will we be recognized by our loved ones. God bless you.