LDO asks a simple yes or no question:
Thank you so much for your teachings, from which I received everlasting life! PTL!
Do you think I will be with my husband again on the new earth, in a union like marriage?
A yes or no response would be sufficient!!
I’m thrilled that you have received the free gift of everlasting life and that our writings helped you come to faith! Praise the Lord is absolutely right!
Now to your question. The simple answer is yes. And no.
Hah.
I cannot answer that question as yes or no. Both are true, depending on how the answer is explained.
Yes, you will be “with” your spouse forever.
No, you will not “be” spouses forever.
Jesus was asked about a woman who had seven husbands. The Sadducees thought they had stumped Jesus. But His answer eliminated their conundrum: “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven” (Matt 22:30). None of those seven men would be her husband in the kingdom, whether on the millennial earth or the new earth.
But that does not mean that husbands and wives will be strangers, either.
Barbieri writes, “Jesus did not answer all the questions about the eternal state and the eternal relationship of those married in this life. But He did answer the immediate question raised by the Sadducees” (“Matthew” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 72).
The words “in the resurrection” refer to people in glorified bodies. We know that there will be people in natural bodies during the Millennium (and possibly forever on the new earth, but see here [pp. 49-62], here [pp. 33-56], and here [pp. 33-44] for a three-part article by Pastor Philippe Sterling on “The Two Modes of Humanity” for that discussion). But all OT believers and all church age believers will be raised and glorified before the Millennium starts (e.g., 1 Thess 4:13-18).
Resurrected people do not marry or procreate.
France wrote:
Those who have found some of the deepest joys of earthly life in the special bond of a married relationship may be dismayed to hear that that must be left behind. But note that what Jesus declares to be inappropriate in heaven is marriage, not love. So perhaps heavenly relationships are not something less than marriage, but something more. He does not say that the love between those who have been married on earth will vanish, but rather implies that it will be broadened so that no one is excluded. Our problem is that we, like the Sadducees, have only this life’s experience by which to measure what is to come (Matthew, p. 839).
I suspect, and this is just a guess, that in cases where there was one husband and one wife, they would live in dwellings next to each other. Maybe their children and grandchildren who are believers would have dwellings in their same neighborhood.
In complicated situations where someone was married multiple times, I cannot even guess how that will work out.
But in any case, you and your spouse will be “with” each other—if you both are born again—forever in Jesus’ kingdom. Most likely you will be in the same country and even the same city and neighborhood. You will surely see your former spouse in the kingdom. Most likely you will see him or her often.
Of course, we are only talking here of cases where both spouses are born again.
We do not know much about what life on the new earth will be like. We do know that there will be nations and cities within the nations (Revelation 21-22). It is reasonable to suspect that we will live on the new earth in the same countries as we lived most of our life in this life. Missionaries might have homes in two countries (plus a condo in the New Jerusalem for visits there).
The eternal kingdom will be great. It will far better than we can imagine (1 Cor 2:9). God has prepared a glorious future for us, including our believing spouses.
