God is a loving and compassionate God. It is consistent with His character that spirit beings would be recognized by their loved ones in the heavens. There are several Scriptures that suggest that spirit beings have a recognizable identity.
Revelation 12:1, “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.” This Scripture describes the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly kingdom of God. The twelve apostles have individual identities and will be recognized in heaven.
Revelation 14:13, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord…and their works do follow them." We can infer that these individuals will
1) have a recognizable identity after being "changed," 1 Corinthians 15:51, and
2) continue their work for the Lord as spirit beings.
1 Corinthians 15:41, 42, "…one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead." This Scripture means that individuals will receive different heavenly rewards, and seems to indicate that in this way individuals could also be recognized in heaven.
John 17:5, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was”. Before Jesus came down to earth to provide a ransom for all mankind, he had a distinct spirit identity as the Logos. (John 1) He was known and recognized by the heavenly host.
Other spirit beings are individually recognized in heaven. There are two angels in the Bible who are named – Gabriel (Luke 1:6-38), and Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12). Since God created individual recognizable angelic beings, we would reason that we would also be able to identify our loved ones in heaven.
