Will We Remember the Old Earth When We Get to Heaven?

A couple of weeks ago I was having a question and answer session with a 7th grade Bible class at a nearby Adventist school. Someone asked if we will remember this earth when we get to heaven? More importantly will we remember our loved ones? Here is what I shared from the Bible.

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First, it would not make sense to me for Jesus to die to save us here on earth and then turn around in heaven and totally delete all the data from our brains as if we were no longer the same people He died for. But then again my own ideas on the subject aren’t worth a morsel of old moldy manna. So let’s see what the Bible has to say: “ For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or [f]come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17 NKV

Some take the above passage to literally read that our minds will be wiped totally clean of any recollections of earth. Here again is where we need to allow God to use figure of speech. Notice there is a footnote on this verse. the footnote reads “come upon the heart.” In other words the past will not weigh on our heart and minds. For example many times in the Bible it says God’s people forgot about Him. Well it wasn’t like they had no recollection of God and forgot He existed, they just did not take His love to heart or let it impress their hearts. So in the same way rebels “forget” about God and do not take His love to heart, when we get to heaven we will “forget” all the problems we had on earth and no longer take them to heart.

Revelation 20 tells us in heaven

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Revelation 20:4 NKJV

Here we see those who died for their faith here on earth are judging the world as Paul predicted in 1 Corinthians 6:3. If we are judging the things of this world up in heaven then we will obviously have memories of this life. After all, as I said before, Jesus did not die for us here on earth just to turn us into new robots up in heaven. If that were the case He might as well have just wiped us all out and made brand new robots to begin with. In Revelation 21 we see what seems like unmistakable evidence that we will still have earthly memories in heaven.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;…. Revelation 21:4 NKJV

People say there will be no crying in heaven, but if that is so, then why does God have to wipe the tears from our eyes? Again God will never turn us into robots. We will have emotions, and our memories of lost loved ones will surely bring us to tears. God will not turn us into careless robots but will wipe the tears from our eyes as we cry for those who have chosen to reject their mansions that God prepared for them from the foundation of the world (See Matthew 25:34) and chose to be in the fire that was never prepared or intended for them. (See Matthew 25:41).

God’s plan is for us to be in the new earth with our families. We see this as we go back to the book of Isaiah where we began.

For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. Isaiah 66:22 NKJV

I choose to be in the new earth with God so that He will not have to wipe the tears from the eyes of my family, but, even more importantly, so no one will have to wipe the tears from God’s eyes. By God’s grace we will be united with friends and family around the throne of God as we praise Him, remembering how Jesus redeemed us from the sins of the old earth.

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Comments

Will We Remember the Old Earth When We Get to Heaven? — 12 Comments

John Herscher on March 24, 2021 at 4:14 am said:

Great explanation. The 1st of your paper I thought no not right we can take some things literally. We do not want to remember the sins of the past, nor the atrocities we have witnessed on this earth. Then I read on and like your explanation. "The past will not weigh up on your heart." It then reminded me of Isaiah 26:3. Yes I believe He will keep us in perfect peace in heaven also and the new earth which I believe will be the new earth, because our minds will be stayed on Him. I too by the grace of God will be in heaven yes also so my family will not have any tears for me. Also in this case means like you, and to see Jesus face to face. By no means am I expressing spiritual elitism or superiority. By the grace of God He has humbled me and given me the power to pray, seek His face, and turn away from my wicked ways, He has healed me and family, also all who turn to Him as promised. 2 Chronicles 2:14.

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John Herscher on March 24, 2021 at 4:55 am said:

Another thought is that the statement of wipe away all tears is just after John said he saw a new heaven and new earth, and the old heaven and old earth has passed away. Maybe the reference to the old heaven is the heaven that we see as we look up from this earth. But not the heaven and Holy City, we shall reside in for a thousand years, which is in or through the Orion. What are your thoughts?

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- R. G. White on March 26, 2021 at 9:14 pm said:
  
  Hi, John. Paul said that someone he knew (obviously himself) had been caught up into the "Third Heaven," likely in vision. The explanation I've heard is that the first heaven is Earth's atmosphere, or firmament. The second heaven is the starry heavens, or outer space, and the Third Heaven is where God and the angels dwell. I expect that the heaven which, along with the earth, is to be made new, would be the first heaven.
  
  As for the former things not being worth bothering to remember, nor coming upon the heart, I think we need to bear in mind the kind of conditions in which we the redeemed shall find ourselves. We may not be able to conceive of the glories of heaven and the new earth, but I think we can understand that it's going to be good -- too good for us to want to shift our attention away from those things, to our past sorrows or trials.
  
  "Hallelujah! Heaven is cheap enough!"
  
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  - John Herscher on March 28, 2021 at 4:04 am said:
    
    Thank-you R.G. great addition.
    
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George Anthony Goins on March 25, 2021 at 1:47 am said:

I trust God's words 100%..I cannot wate to get my new apt,in the Holy City.

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Richard Ferguson on March 26, 2021 at 8:26 pm said:

While Jesus is wiping away our tears in loving sympathy, who is wiping his? While we weep for joyous relief in God's loving presence and in sorrow for all who lost what could have been, who will comfort God who gave his all to buy a pearl of great price, that is, each one of us? The sum of God's intense emotional response (his "wrath", οργης) are those who chose to accept his invitation to the wedding feast and those who did not.

How will the past weigh on the heart of the One who inhabits eternity?

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- R. G. White on March 27, 2021 at 7:53 am said:
  
  Good question, Richard. Obviously, having Someone physically wipe your tears away could never be enough to remove your sorrow. There will have to some kind of resolution. From what I can gather, an examination of the case of each lost soul, sufficient to form a basis for sentencing, will reveal that person's stubborn resistance to truth and righteousness, and his or her ultimate hatred of God -- to the point where our sympathies will be thoroughly weaned from that person and placed on God.
  
  As for God, He is obviously far beyond our understanding. Nevertheless, I can think of two possible ideas.
  
  1) The lost are the object of God's wrath because of their attitude toward, and persecution of, His faithful children. So, however sad He might be at losing them forever, perhaps even He could find some resolution in the fact that He did everything He could to save them, but they themselves ultimately chose sin and evil.
  
  2) As unwilling as God is to let anyone be lost, in His foreknowledge He never ultimately planned on saving those who He knew would refuse the offer of salvation. So, in the end, the lost will not have been indispensable, either to God or to the universe.
  
  Isaiah 53 says that Jesus (i.e. God) will see the travail of His soul (i.e. the redeemed) and be satisfied.
  
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William Earnhardt on March 27, 2021 at 6:23 am said:

Thank you all for your heartfelt comments. Happy Sabbath to all!

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milvio r martinez on March 27, 2021 at 7:40 am said:

I believe, and I can be wrong, that the text Rev 21:4 clearly states that there will be no tears to wipe. For there is no pain no sorrows no crying no death or anything else that will generate in a person's body the need to create tears. No sin, no problem.
In regards to what we'll remember and not, we need to look at purpose or need of it. The following may be shocking or cruel. In Mat 22:28-30, when the Lord was asked about living on heaven as a couple, His reply was there is no need of it, like an Angel. Let's look at who an Angel is and how they live so then...
I recall being in a funeral home. A young pastor friend of mine, married with children, while assisting someone in time of needs being asked, very demandingly, by his father to take him home. He had to stop what he was doing and take him out of love and respect to him. It's the 5 commandment. Could that be in heaven in the new Earth as well?
Lastly, just living with the expectation that we are going to see someone that glorious day, in that beautiful place and it then doesn't happens, we will have pain, or be under stress until we see, find, that person.
Therefore, who and how we will be it's the quest now so then it will be

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Kaboggoza Isaac on March 28, 2021 at 12:43 pm said:

We shall be remembering for sure but not burdened at all. This is explained by the fact that Jesus' palms will always have the scars of the nails from Gologotha for some reasons. That the children will ask always why does He have them then the redeemed will explain to the heavenly children who did not understand the things well.

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Megan Garcia on May 7, 2021 at 10:41 pm said:

I don't believe we will be crying any longer after the thousand years. I think the wiping of our tears and crying will happen during the thousand years when we are reviewing the sin of the world and realizing people we love, albeit justly judged, aren't there. I think after the thousand years we will remember, but no longer weep or mourn for the rest of eternity. And it is vital that we remember, lest we make the same mistakes again and sin. But our memories will be refreshed of how much we hate sin and how bad it is that we never, ever, for all of eternity choose to go that direction again.

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Stephen Wilcox on May 8, 2021 at 8:15 am said:

Some memories will remain-the scars in the hands of Jesus and what put them there; that sin was responsible for them; and that we are with Him because He gave His life to save us.

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