God's Word, speaks of our gender, once we step into eternity.
Matthew 22:30 speaks of people after the resurrection, not participating in marriage – they become "like the angels." However, this does not mean people are genderless. The masculine, not neuter, pronoun is used many times to describe angels (and HE was like...HIS appearance was like, etc.). So there is no real indication that angels are genderless beings.
There is nothing in the Bible, which indicates people will lose or change their gender in heaven. In the book of Revelation (chapters 21-22), God is shown as making things even better than they were in the beautiful Garden of Eden!! God created Eve, because Adam needed someone to complete him, start the human race, and help him. In the spiritual world, earthly marriage represents the model picture of Christ and the church. The church is the bride and Christ is the groom (Ephesians 5:25-32).
Will we recognize each other in heaven? Yes!! There are numerous verses that confirm this. My favorite is:
Mark 14:25 - "Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
This is so exciting! Jesus said we would recognize each other in heaven. Our genders are a part of who we are. Gender is more than physical – it is part of our very nature and part of the way we relate to God. In heaven, gender will be perfected and glorified in eternity. It is also noteworthy that Jesus retained His gender after His death and resurrection.
Jesus is coming back one day. Those who are in Christ Jesus, shall meet him in the air and return to heaven with him. Nothing in that verse says that our gender will change. How will we know each other if our gender changes?
Three days after Jesus died, his Father resurrected him from the dead, then later, Jesus ascended to His Father in Heaven, to sit on the right side of His throne. Why would he change gender? In his Resurrected body, over 500 witnesses saw him ascend into heaven. Nothing says his gender changed, and in fact, it says He sits on the right side of his Father in Heaven. Father! Not sister, not brother, not mother, not angels, but His Father, in heaven....masculine gender. Whom did Jesus pray to as He hung on the cross? His Father in heaven.
Nothing changed, except His glorious, new resurrected body. Jesus was showing us what we could expect. He was showing us there IS life after death. God promises that those who believe and trust Him to keep His Word to forgive us our sins and save us from the condemnation sin placed on us, shall have that same glorious, resurrected body. Our bodies will no more have pain, a sinful nature, death, heartache, troubles, cancer, you name it. We shall be made perfect, by Him, for eternity. What a blessed promise of HOPE! It is something we can be thankful for, not only on Thanksgiving, but all year around!
