Will we have self-awareness in Heaven?

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Robert_Sock

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Or will we only be aware of God, who is truly our only essence. I think this will be hard to accept by people caught up in their own self, but I believe it will be true. There will be no human separateness in Heaven.
 
I think Heaven is beyond our comprehension. As the Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us…

I think we will have contact with our loved ones and all our questions will be answered.
 
Robert_Sock said:
Or will we only be aware of God, who is truly our only essence. I think this will be hard to accept by people caught up in their own self, but I believe it will be true. There will be no human separateness in Heaven.
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Perhaps we will have self-awareness but on a much higher level, which might mean the self-awareness will be divorced from self-absorption and selfishness. Do you mean no human separateness from G-d in a spiritual sense? Maybe, but I don’t think we are likely to ever be able to totally fathom the mystery of G-d despite our awareness of Him alone.
 
meltzerboy said:
Perhaps we will have self-awareness but on a much higher level, which might mean the self-awareness will be divorced from self-absorption and selfishness. Do you mean no human separateness from G-d in a spiritual sense? Maybe, but I don’t think we are likely to ever be able to totally fathom the mystery of G-d despite our awareness of Him alone.
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I was just wondering what it will be like to experience complete self-mortification. I feel as if I have accomplished this to a good degree. I tend to believe that all sense of self is an illusion and that there is something much greater than selfhood.
 
We do have some scriptural references that indicate we will have self awareness in heaven.

We have Lazarus, Abraham and the Rich Man. - Recognition, communication [here even between heaven and those not in heaven] concern for self and others.

We have the Martyrs in Revelation asking how long until they are vindicated and being told that their numbers were not yet complete.

We have Jesus meeting with Moses and Elijah on the mount - conversing with them [we are not told what they conversed about] but we are told that Peter James and John recognized them - even though they would never have laid eyes on them being separated from each other in time by hundreds of years.

All three passages would indicate that we will have self awareness
 
We will have a spiritual body, pneumatikon soma.

Therefore we will be aware of that body.

Indeed, it is through that body and our restored mind that we will experience he embrace of our LORD.

ICXC NIKA
 
If there is no separate sense of self in heaven, than that raises a few problematic things. For one, is my “reward” the same as some of the greatest saints? For the souls in hell do they all experience the exact same punishment for their sins, or does the penalty fit the crime? Furthermore if there is no separation between us, then that also implies that there would be no separation between angels. But from the Bible, we know that there are different angels with different names and with different functions. This is not an indication of a lack of self awareness.

Like the angels we all have our own names that are distinct and unique to us and God calls us by name. The hand cannot say to the finger I have no need of you. No, we all are individuals that make up the one body of Christ. We will be all that we possibly can be within the body of Christ as an individual. If we lose self-awareness, than we would lose love. You cannot love God only without loving the other members of the body. But in order to love the other members of the body, then we need to be aware of them as individuals each uniquely a member of the body so that we can love the whole and the individual. That is kind of the doctrine of the communion of saints.

To lose our identity after this life would pretty much make this life pointless.
 
Robert_Sock said:
**I was just wondering what it will be like to experience complete self-mortification. I feel as if I have accomplished this to a good degree. **I tend to believe that all sense of self is an illusion and that there is something much greater than selfhood.
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Can you tell me what you mean by this? I understand it to mean practicing acts of self-denial such as fasting, not sleeping too much, not giving in to comforts such as a soft pillow, comfortable clothing, not overeating etc. I’m curious if accomplishing this to a good degree means hair shirt (physical) mortification or just a spiritual mortification such as much praying, contemplation etc. Thank you.
 
Hodegetria said:
Can you tell me what you mean by this? I understand it to mean practicing acts of self-denial such as fasting, not sleeping too much, not giving in to comforts such as a soft pillow, comfortable clothing, not overeating etc. I’m curious if accomplishing this to a good degree means hair shirt mortification or just a spiritual mortification such as much praying, contemplation etc. Thank you.
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I do sometimes fast, but never wore a hair shirt. I feel I have lost much of my self, like self-esteem and pride. I envision Heaven as a place where our soul is perfectly united to God.
 
The reported apparitions of Mary to various humans over the century indicate that Mary is self conscious of her power to nurture our human needs.

Also, we are told it is fit and proper to pray to the saints for their intercession. Why would we do that if they are not conscious of our prayers?

Certainly Jesus, after his resurrection, was conscious of his purpose in appearing to the apostles and assuring them of the mission he was sending them on.
 
Robert_Sock said:
I do sometimes fast, but never wore a hair shirt. I feel I have lost much of my self, like self-esteem and pride. I envision Heaven as a place where our soul is perfectly united to God.
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What about your body? Will it be reunited with your soul?

In the creed we recite “…I believe in the resurrection of the body…”
 
davidv said:
What about your body? Will it be reunited with your soul?

In the creed we recite “…I believe in the resurrection of the body…”
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I’ve never been clear on this, but right after we die does not just our soul go to Heaven, with the resurrection happening at the Second Coming?
 
Robert_Sock said:
I’ve never been clear on this, but right after we die does not just our soul go to Heaven, with the resurrection happening at the Second Coming?
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Well … in truth - how we are resurrected is a mystery …

We - humans -live and think in linear time … first this happens then this happens then this happens … and scripture often reads like that - after all - t is written by humans whose language is a function in our linear existence …

God though is outside of time - God Was, Is and Ever Shall Be …Alpha & Omega …

So - it is impossible to be united with our physical bodies until the Second Coming 🤷

Though I would say the scriptural evidence would say that people can be united to their Bodies before the Second Coming …

Peter, James and John saw Jesus meet with Moses and Elijah - this was even before Jesus’ death on the cross …

In the story of Lazarus, Abraham and the Rich Man - they have physical bodies - and the story seems to be taking place before the second coming because they discuss the Rich Man’s family still on earth …

In Revelation John sees physical beings - Martyrs - who ask how long before they will be vindicated and whom are told that their numbers are not yet completed … thus there are still people on earth and before the second coming …

At the death of Christ on the cross - the tombs were opened and people saw those who had died walking around … obviously not spirits - but in bodies

Its a mystery but I think we do a disservice to read the scriptures - especially those that discuss what happens between this world and the next - in a linear fashion …

I always think that the end of the world that concerns me - is the one that comes when I breath my last breath on this earth - for me that is when [the hour and time] Jesus comes again … I hope and pray that I am ready
 
YADA said:
Well … in truth - how we are resurrected is a mystery …

We - humans -live and think in linear time … first this happens then this happens then this happens … and scripture often reads like that - after all - t is written by humans whose language is a function in our linear existence …

God though is outside of time - God Was, Is and Ever Shall Be …Alpha & Omega …

So - it is impossible to be united with our physical bodies until the Second Coming 🤷

Though I would say the scriptural evidence would say that people can be united to their Bodies before the Second Coming …

Peter, James and John saw Jesus meet with Moses and Elijah - this was even before Jesus’ death on the cross …

In the story of Lazarus, Abraham and the Rich Man - they have physical bodies - and the story seems to be taking place before the second coming because they discuss the Rich Man’s family still on earth …

In Revelation John sees physical beings - Martyrs - who ask how long before they will be vindicated and whom are told that their numbers are not yet completed … thus there are still people on earth and before the second coming …

At the death of Christ on the cross - the tombs were opened and people saw those who had died walking around … obviously not spirits - but in bodies

Its a mystery but I think we do a disservice to read the scriptures - especially those that discuss what happens between this world and the next - in a linear fashion …

I always think that the end of the world that concerns me - is the one that comes when I breath my last breath on this earth - for me that is when [the hour and time] Jesus comes again … I hope and pray that I am ready
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Thanks!
 
Self-awareness in timeless state forever. Not a chance, I am out of it. 😃
 
Bahman said:
Self-awareness in timeless state forever. Not a chance, I am out of it. 😃
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No one gets a veto Bahman. It doesn’t matter whether you belive in it or not. No " pass goes. " Sorry.

Linus2nd
 
Bahman said:
Self-awareness in timeless state forever. Not a chance, I am out of it. 😃
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You don’t like that idea? Even in eternal bliss? (I can’t wait, but I’m counting on Jesus’ mercy and going to heaven, of course…)

Hearing people say things like this always worries me, like when people nonchalantly say “I know I’m going to hell.” My parents always taught us to NEVER say those words!

When my husband’s son, my stepson died on 2/2/13, the last thing his friend and I yelled to him as he walked out our front door, was “Go for the light! Remember T, go for the light!” We’d all just been reading a small article in our local newspaper about death and what happens when we die and T said he wasn’t buying it. That led his friend and me to say what we did, to this day I hope he remembered it, because he was gone within 12 hours…

When the time comes, Bahman, GO FOR THE LIGHT! (And say YES to Jesus.)
 
Hodegetria said:
You don’t like that idea? Even in eternal bliss? (I can’t wait, but I’m counting on Jesus’ mercy and going to heaven, of course…)

Hearing people say things like this always worries me, like when people nonchalantly say “I know I’m going to hell.” My parents always taught us to NEVER say those words!

When my husband’s son, my stepson died on 2/2/13, the last thing his friend and I yelled to him as he walked out our front door, was “Go for the light! Remember T, go for the light!” We’d all just been reading a small article in our local newspaper about death and what happens when we die and T said he wasn’t buying it. That led his friend and me to say what we did, to this day I hope he remembered it, because he was gone within 12 hours…

When the time comes, Bahman, GO FOR THE LIGHT! (And say YES to Jesus.)
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You are self-aware but nothing changes. Do you really like that?
 
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