Question from a Reader:
Though there is no marriage between man and woman in Heaven, is it possible for a woman to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, as Mary was, and give birth in Heaven? I think of all the women here on Earth who are unable to conceive, and I love babies so much that I can’t image a Heaven where there aren’t newborns.
Answer from Julia (Stager) Mayo:
Heaven is our ultimate home, where all our deepest and truest desires will be met. These desires are for an intimate relationship with our Creator and also relationships with other redeemed people. There is no evidence in the Bible that there will be new babies in Heaven, and it seems unlikely that anyone will bear offspring in Heaven. The thinking is that since there is no marriage in Heaven (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25), there will be no procreation and the human race will be fulfilled in number.
One of the things that makes a human a human is having the genetic code of two parents which would not be the case if the Holy Spirit overshadowed women in Heaven. Also, the overshadowing was for the purpose of incarnation of God into humanity. This was a very specific circumstance that was a one-time thing. So, according to Scripture, when the Holy Spirit overshadows a woman it is not for the begetting of simply a human, but of the God-man, Jesus.
However, there is no need to feel discouraged or mourn this loss, because that feeling that you experience around babies, the love and joy and beauty and innocence of an infant, will be fulfilled in truer and greater ways in Heaven, even if not fulfilled specifically through babies. There will be more satisfying joys in Heaven than we can now conceive. We don’t know how people’s age at death will affect their resurrected life on the New Earth or, if they have already died, their existence in the present Heaven. We’ll just have to wait and find out!
In Randy’s book Heaven he wrote:
The New Earth will be a place of both maturity and perfection. Regardless of what age we appear, I believe that our bodies will demonstrate the qualities of youthfulness that Jesus so valued in children. God could easily have made a way for people to come into the world fully developed, not as maturing children. But he didn’t. He put special qualities into children, ones we—and he—delight in. I fully expect all of us to have such qualities as curiosity, gratefulness, longing to learn and explore, and eagerness to hear stories and gather close to loved ones.
Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books.
Photo by Nynne Schrøder on Unsplash
