I heard a preacher say that when Jesus comes back, dead Christian's bodies would have life again. But this isn't true.

Great question you raise! That preacher was not confused or mixed up. He was actually quoting 1 Thessalonians 4:16-16, which reads, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

When Jesus returns, all who died prior to Jesus’ Second Coming, who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, their physical bodies will be resurrected. Remember, we have a spiritual body (our souls) and a physical body. When we die, our spiritual bodies instantly go to Heaven but our physical bodies are still here. Anytime the Bible speaks of a resurrection, it is a physical event involving a physical body. So, those who area dead in Christ will receive resurrected bodies.

Don’t ask me how this works because it is one of the mysteries God chose not to reveal. However, we can be assured that those who died before Christ’s return will be first to ascend then those who are alive will go up to meet them. All of the believers will receive resurrected, “glorified” bodies.

I heard something about God setting up a kingdom on earth … but we go to heaven! Revelation is confusing!!!

So, let’s talk about God setting up His kingdom on earth .... Okay, so this is another very difficult and often debated part of the Bible. I mean, what exactly does John mean when he says that in Revelation 21:1?!?!

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1)

Here’s what that means, and this gets a little confusing because the Book of Revelation was written in Greek. In Greek, the term “new earth” is kainos gae, which is primarily means a different kind than the present earth. Our English-speaking ears hears second earth and second heaven, which makes it sound like an earth and heaven created subsequent to the first one. But, John is making a distinction between two radically different orders of things based on “this age” and “the age to come.”

The current earth and heaven belong to this present evil age, where sin exists. But, this present heaven and earth are temporary and destined to perish. But, the new heaven and earth, on the other hand, belong to the age to come and are, therefore, eternal. They will never perish (have I confused you yet?).

Let me try and explain it this way: when we physically die our bodies are destined to perish. BUT, because of Jesus’ bodily resurrection, one day we will also be raised imperishable in glorified bodies. And just as our bodies will be raised without the loss of our personal identities (we’re going to know each other) the new heaven and earth will be completely re-created while maintaining some continuity to present heaven and earth. In the easiest way to explain this as possible, although the new heaven and earth will be completely recreated with every trace of human sin purged from them, the new heaven and earth will be recognizable in the same way as our resurrected bodies will be.

In heaven the souls look different so how do you know who's who?

Wow!! That is an amazing question! This is also a question that has been debated between biblical scholars. The Holy Bible makes it pretty clear that we are able to recognize people even in their glorified bodies. Remember when Jesus reappeared to His disciples after He was crucified? Look at what the Bible has to say about that:

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” (John 20-19-20)

It appears, by this passage, that the disciples recognized Jesus and were overjoyed. Next, look at what it says in the Book of Acts:

“After his suffering, He (Jesus) showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3)

Obviously, Jesus was recognizable to everyone He came into contact with after He had risen.

There is also the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Book of Luke, Chapter 16. Look at these passages:

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire. But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” (Luke 16:22-25)

It appears that the rich man, while in Hell can see and recognize Abraham and Lazarus, the poor beggar, in Heaven. It also implies that Abraham can recognize the rich man in Hell. Also, Abraham tells the rich man to “remember” the things in his lifetime which tells me that the rich man will have the memories of his life.

In Mark 9:4, the disciples somehow recognize Moses and Elijah when they were with Jesus on the mountain. Moses and Elijah presumably were in their “glorified” forms.

But, according to scripture, we also get “glorified bodies.” These are new bodies and are called “Heavenly bodies” according to 1 Corinthians 15:40 which says, “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.”

After Jesus died on the cross many of the saints of God who had died before his crucifixion, rose in their bodies from their graves and were seen and recognized, presumably before they were taken up into heaven. They arose because their graves had been disturbed by what seems like an earthquake at the moment of Jesus’ death.

Jesus also said that we would be like the angels of heaven; well, what did they look like??? For one, they appeared and disappeared like Jesus. They appeared in human form like us; they ate, drank and talked like mankind. (Genesis 18 & 19) Sometimes they appeared in radiant garment like Jesus when He appeared on the mount of transfiguration. In the book of Revelation angels some times appear as giants standing astride great masses of land. (Am I confusing you yet?)

The Bible only gives us glimpses of what is to come and what our heavenly bodies will be like, and it remains one of the mysteries of our faith. But it seems to me from the little evidence we have in the Bible, we can rest assured we will know each other in heaven!