Q. Will we recognize loved ones in heaven?
A. Although Matthew 22:30 indicates that earthly relationships like
marriage will not be the same in heaven - we will definitely recognize those we knew on earth.
The story of Lazarus and the rich man, in Luke 16:20, shows we will still retain our identity and relationships in heaven. The rich man
still remembered his siblings - and Lazarus, whom he knew on earth.
Jesus' heavenly state did not conceal his identity, either. Mary, Peter and others who knew Him before He died all recognized him after
he was raised. (Luke 24, John 20 and John 21) Paul recognized him even though he had never seen him before. (I Corinthians 15:8)
Our earthly bodies will be "transformed" (or "changed," 1 Corinthians 15:51-53) when Jesus returns - even as Jesus' body was, says
Philippians 3:20-21, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, by
the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His
glorious body."
Much about heaven will only be revealed when we arrive there. "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not
entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) But the Bible does reveal some about
it. (See http://www.dianedew.com/heaven.htm)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 exhorts us not to grieve for believers who have passed on, but to be comforted: "But we do not want you to be
uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the
Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall
rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another
with these words."
God is the God of the living, not of the dead. (Mark 12:27)