They… are like angels in heaven.
Mark 12:25
How so? In what ways will we be like the angels in heaven?
Angels are spirits without bodies, though they occasionally appeared to people in the Bible with a temporary body. But God has given us life in this world through the union of a body and a soul. And death is the separating of the soul from the body.
So, the activity of angels gives us a model for thinking about the kinds of things that believers can do in the presence of Jesus while they are waiting for the resurrection.
Angels see, and so do believers in heaven: “In heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).
Angels speak, and so do believers in heaven: “The voice of many angels… saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’” (Rev. 5:11-12).
Angels rejoice, and so do believers in heaven: “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).
Angels worship, and so do believers in heaven: “There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’” (Luke 2:13-14).
Angels inquire, and so do believers in heaven: “Things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12).
As you think about loved ones who have died in the Lord, take heart, take heart that they are actively engaged in the presence of Jesus.
