Will we remember our lives on earth when we’re in heaven? You may wonder why we would even want to remember this life with all its pain and strife and sin? What good could come of remembering our life on earth while we live in heaven?
I think there is reason to believe that we will have memories of our life on earth when we’re in heaven, but it must be said clearly that this remembering will not be with any pain or regret or tears because those things belong to this world, not the next world (Rev. 21:4).
Here are two theological reasons for memories in heaven. First, to properly worship God is to see him and all his attributes. Some of his attributes are only known because of sin and suffering, like grace, mercy, and compassion, so if all memories of our lives on earth are erased, we will not be able to celebrate God for these aspects of his character because we won’t understand our need for grace and mercy.
Second, if heaven is illuminated by the glory of God (Rev. 21:23, 22:5), then our life there will be about enjoying God’s glory, including his past glory revealed in his work on the earth. None of God’s glory will be forgotten or lost in the annals of time. It will all be revealed, recalled, and remembered, so that it can all be enjoyed and praised.
God’s glorious plan for the earth generates unique treasures every day, but most of them are hidden from our view. As Andrew Davis says in his book The Glory Now Revealed, “God is temporarily deprived of the glory he deserves for both his mighty and minute deeds.” God is constantly working for the redemption and sanctification of his people, but most of this work is unseen or unnoticed.
But God will not be robbed of his glory! Paul says that our present sufferings cannot compare with the “glory that is to be revealed to us (or in us)” (Rom. 8:18). We cannot fathom the glory that we will see in heaven, and much of that glory will be seen in our memories of God’s work in this life.
The Bible says, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years,” (2 Pet. 3:8). God sees every second of history in slow motion. He exists outside of time, so he sees the past, present, and future all at once, like an artist who completes their work and then stands back and takes it all in with delight.
God does not just see time, but the Bible says that he is acting decisively in time in the smallest and greatest events in order to complete his painting. He oversees the roll of the dice, the decisions of kings, the death of a sparrow, the time of our birth and death. I love the way Andrew Davis describes this:
“The daily actions of God are immeasurable and worthy of praise: secretly restraining tyrants, directing the complex flow of international commerce, answering the prayers of a child, protecting persecuted house church leaders, convicting Christians of secret sin, preparing the tribal leader of an unreached people group to come to Christ, orchestrating the initial meeting of a man and woman who will someday be married.”
God orders all things for his glory. The trouble is that we cannot see most of this glorious work right now. But one day we will. For all eternity, we will be shown new aspects of God’s glory. Heaven will not be boring. It will not be static. It will be a dynamic schoolhouse of infinite learning as God shows us his glory in the memories of our lives on earth.