J. V. asks a very interesting question:

I read something the other day by a supposed Christian author that upset me. This author said that in heaven, there will be no women, but that God will turn all females into males. He bases that on the passage that says we will be like the angels and since all angels appear as males that must mean that women will no longer be women. He also bases it on the passage that says we will be conformed to the image of Christ. He says only men are in the image of God. The thought that I would lose my identity as a woman is upsetting. I realize that he is taking these passages out of context and twisting and distorting their meanings but it’s hard for my mind to reject these misinterpretations.

Will there be women in heaven?

Think back to the first chapters of Genesis. “He created them male and female” (Gen 1:27; 5:2; Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6). His original plan was for men and women to procreate and fill the earth. The Lord Jesus planned to live with them on earth (Gen 3:8). That plan will be fulfilled in Christ’s eternal kingdom, starting on this earth during the Millennium and then moving to the new earth.

After Adam and Eve sinned, they became mortal, and all their offspring inherited this mortality. But they retained their genders, as have their offspring.

Gender has existed in every dispensation. And it will exist on the new earth as well.

When God destroyed the world with a flood, He saved both men and women and also “male of female of all flesh [i.e., all land animals].” He restarted the world with Noah’s sons, daughters-in-law, and all male and female animals.

During the Millennium, the world population will grow. Billions of children will be born in those thousand years. Men and women born in the first few years will likely remain alive at the end (Isa 65:20).

Of course, our eternal destiny is not the third heaven. That is a temporary waiting place until the Lord Jesus returns. The eternal home of believers will be the new earth (Revelation 21-22).

Currently, there are untold millions of women in the third heaven. They, along with all the men there, long for the Rapture and the Millennium. All believers will be reunited at the time of the Rapture.

Revelation 14:4 indicates that there will be women in the Tribulation.

The word woman occurs fifteen times in Revelation, though never in the closing chapters.

The last two chapters of Revelation concern the eternal kingdom on the new earth. Neither men nor women are mentioned by name in those chapters. The word antrōpos, generic for mankind, occurs in Rev 21:3, “the tabernacle of God is with men…” It shows that women will be part of the eternal state. If only males would be present, then the word anēr would have been used (cf. 1 Tim 2:8).ⁱ

We know from Hebrews 11 that men and women will be in the eternal kingdom. Abraham, Sarah, Rahab, David, Samuel, and others are mentioned. Sarah and Rahab will still be Sarah and Rahab.

The word translated female occurs seventy-nine times in the OT and four times in the NT. The word translated mother occurs 336 times in the Bible, 239 times in the OT, and ninety-seven times in the NT. Wife occurs eighty-six times in the NT and 314 times in the OT. Women are exalted in the Bible as equal partners in God’s program.

Now let’s discuss the odd Biblical “proofs” J. V. heard.

First, while all angels appear to be males, we do not know that for sure. No verse indicates that all angels are male.ⁱⁱ

The four living creatures are angelic beings who worship God. They are referred to twice in Ezekiel and eleven times in Revelation. While they might be male or female, it is also possible they have no gender. We do not know enough about these angels with four faces.

Second, even if all angels are males, they are not humans. They were not designed to procreate. Believers in glorified bodies will be like them in the sense that we will no longer procreate. But glorified believers will still be human. Males will be males, and females will be females.

Third, being created in the image of God does not refer to His physical appearance. God the Father has no physical appearance.

There is much debate as to what the image of God is in humans. It certainly includes volition, emotion, reason, and moral character. It probably includes creativity. While the moral character of humans was marred by the fall, it was not destroyed.

When we are glorified, we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2). Of course, the Lord Jesus is Himself the exact image of God the Father (John 1:18; 14:9; 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15). We will no more all be males than we will all physically look like Jesus. We will look the way we look in this life but with all the handicaps removed. But we will be like Him morally. We will never sin again!

The idea that only men are in the image of God is ridiculous. That is against the Creation mandate. He made us male and female. Both are in the image of God.

Men and women in glorified bodies will glorify God forever.ⁱⁱⁱ That is something to look forward to.

__________

i The word anēr occurs 219 times in the NT.

ii Gotquestions.org says, “The question of whether angels are male or female is likely moot. Angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14), and therefore assigning them a gender is pointless. The most we can say is that Scripture depicts angels as if they were male” (see here). That is going too far. Genesis 6:1-2, 2 Pet 2:4-5, and Jude 6 tell us that fallen angels procreated with women and had offspring.

iii Women who overcome in this life will rule with Christ in the life to come. It should be noted that women rulers will have the authority of firstborn sons, even though they remain female. See Rom 8:14 and Rev 21:7.