Q: Dr. Mike, can you explain whether our loved ones are in Heaven looking down on us to encourage us, to finish this ‘faith’ race?
Q: Dr. Mike, can you explain whether our loved ones are in Heaven looking down on us to encourage us, to finish this ‘faith’ race?
A: Funny you should ask this particular question: I recently conducted a couple of funeral/memorial services, and each time, I mentioned that particular reference found in Hebrews 12:1, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
I either get questions/statements after the services or shortly thereafter, via email or phone call, stating that people aren’t sure what happens after death and before Christ’s return for His glorious church. But one thing most of them have heard, is that ‘our’ loved ones are sitting in Heaven, in this big arena, looking down on earth, encouraging us along in our ‘good fight of faith!’
Of course, this is theologically incorrect: this was no more than a ‘folklore’ that has been passed down through time, to make people feel as though, loved ones in Heaven are watching over them (from above).
Remember, the original scrolls weren’t written in chapters and verses; therefore, with that in mind, see chapter 12 as a continuation from Hebrews chapter 11, which is a record of many people whom God commended for their faith. It is these people who are the “cloud of witnesses.” They are “witnesses” in the sense that they have set an example for us of being faithful unto death, knowing that there are eternal rewards awaiting them, at the throne of God.
The main reason they aren’t looking down on us, is because, they’re standing in the presence of almighty God, worshipping Him and enjoying the ‘awe’ of Heaven, as expressed in the Book of Revelation. They truly have no desire to look back on earth, in the midst of its SIN, sickness, diseases, grief, pain, etc. They will simply await us for a great fellowship, either in death, if the Lord delays His coming, or after the rapture of the New Testament Church.
Note: That leads to the next questions that normally is asked: “Will our loved ones know us in Heaven?” Emphatically YES! 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”