Will Opal and I Know Each Other In Heaven
by Hugo McCord

    In 1994, when Rex Turner, Sr., was 82 years old, he buried Opal, a devoted companion for 63 years, and he knows he will never be the same again. In 2000, when Hugo was 89 years old, he had to give up Lois, a devoted companion for 67 years, and he will never be the same again. Rex's words, "I miss her so very much," tell only a little about his and Hugo's lonely days and nights.

    During Rex's 64 years of preaching he has brought comfort at funeral services to many bereaved people. He knows every verse in the Bible that describes heaven. And he knows that "what we shall be has not yet been made known" (1 John 3:2), but he would not be human if now he does not ask, "Will we know each other in heaven?"

    Rex knows that his specific question is not directly answered in Scripture. However, indirectly the Holy Book leaves no doubt that Rex and Hugo and will know Opal and Lois, along with "an uncountable multitude--from every nation and from every tribe, from all peoples and languages" (Revelation 7:9), though in different bodies: "If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:44).

    Marriage ends with the physical bodies (Luke 20:35), but Opal and Lois will still be Opal and Lois, as Jesus said about people of old: "I assure you that many will come from the east and west and sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 8:11).

    Paul looked forward to the second coming of Christ, among other reasons, because he would again see "a large number of the devout Greeks" (Acts 17:4) whom he had brought to Christ on his second missionary journey (51-53 A.D.) in Thessalonica: "What is our hope or joy or crown of exaltation before our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you? You are our glory and joy" (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 17). The significance of Paul's words, with converts becoming crowns for Paul, appears based on the assumption that Paul would know who those converts were.

    This significance means that those "devout Greeks," who, under Paul's preaching, had "turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God," and had obeyed "the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thessalonians 1:8), and were waiting "for his Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10), are now, since Paul's death in 68 A.D., his "crown of exaltation," his "glory and joy," even before the Lord's second coming.

    On Sunday, July 27, 1975, Scott Little and Hugo and Lois worshipped with the congregation in Thessalonica (now called both Thessaloniki and Salonica), on the second floor of a down town office building on the "Street of Philippi" (Hodos Philippou Ap. 49).

    We were greeted with smiles from modern day dedicated Christians. (Incidentally, as I started the sermon by an awkward reading to an audience of Greek-speaking listeners of the Greek of 1 Thessalonians chapter one, smiles of loving pity for the speaker were on every face.) Those friendly Christians we will not see again in this life, but someday we will see not only that small group, but also Paul and the "large number" who became Christians when Paul was preaching in Thessalonica.

    In heaven Rex and Opal, Hugo and Lois, will get acquainted with people whom they did not know on the earth. Among them they will "sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 8:11).

    Similarly, they will get acquainted with Moses in a different body than that which was buried in a valley in the land of Moab (Deuteronomy 34:6). In a different body, 1500 years later on a mountain in Palestine, Moses appeared in person (Luke 9:30). Although Peter had never seen Moses, somehow he knew who he was (Luke 9:33).

    Likewise, Elijah, 900 years after he left the earth, like Moses, appeared on the same mountain in Palestine. Peter, who had never seen Elijah, knew who he was (Luke 9:33).

    Since angels cannot die (Luke 20:36), Michael the archangel, who talked to Daniel (Daniel 10:13; Jude 9), is distinct from all other angels, and consequently will be recognizable by name when Rex and Opal, Hugo and Lois, and "an uncountable multitude" (Revelation 7:9) of others are all in heaven together.

    Likewise, Gabriel, who talked to Daniel (Daniel 8:16; 9:21) and to Mary (Luke 1:26-38), is distinct from Michael and from all the other angels, and so will be recognizable by name when Rex and Opal, Hugo and Lois, with the redeemed of every age, are all together in heaven (Hebrews 11:39-40). [12-7-2000]