Its a question I've been wrestling with a little, mostly just wracking my mind with, (not wrestling too much because i don't understand it enough to wrestle with it) this is because I don't understand all of the theories or references as much as I would like.
I keep thinking rationally that we are souls with bodies...then I ask more questions like, what about our personality, who we are, - are these things carried along in our souls, or are they just naturally a part of our souls originally? Or are they temporary? I tend to think that in going to Heaven our personalities will not be abolished, yet it is clear we are getting new bodies.
The Bible is not as clear as we would always like about these types of issues. Yet we can rest assured that (A.) God has told us everything he wants us to know about Heaven in the Bible and (B.) when we get to Heaven we will not be confused, it will all make sense and be natural. God is in control!
Other questions and theories got me thinking that maybe we don't "go" to Heaven...maybe Heaven comes to earth, in form of "New Earth?"
Other questions like , will we recognize our friends and family? come to mind.
When I have tough questions, the best source for me is always the Bible, while others draw conclusions that sound technical and nice - the Bible inspired:
" But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
" All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
" So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. "
( 1Corinthians 15:35-44, NIV)
