WILL YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED ON EARTH?
Yes. You will remember what happened on earth with greater clarity.
Yes. Although God will choose not to remember or see your past sins if you are a Christian (Isaiah 65:16-17), you will be able to remember what happened on earth. The Christian martyrs that requested God’s judgement on those that killed them remembered the great suffering they underwent on earth (Revelation 6:9-11). Therefore, in the present and future eternal heaven, you most likely will be able to remember what happened during your life on earth.
In addition, you probably will remember much more than you could remember when you were living on earth, because your level of memory, knowledge, and thinking will increase in heaven (Ephesians 2:6-7; 1 Peter 1:12) so that you be able to see how God and angels intervened on your behalf when you did not realize it during your life. In heaven, you will be comforted for any persecution and suffering you endured (Luke 16:25; Revelation 21:4). This comfort implies that that you will remember the persecution and suffering. In addition, after you die, you will give a detailed account of your life on earth all the way down to your specific actions and words (Matthew 12:36; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Accordingly, you will need and be able to remember, with your improved memory and mind, the things for which you will give an account.
However, if you are a Christian and recognize, admit, and repent of your sins during your life on earth, God will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1 :9). But this spiritual cleansing will not revise or extinguish your memory of your life. You most likely will remember God’s grace and mercy in your life as God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comforted, assured, sustained, and empowered you to your life for God. If you are not a Christian, your will be punished and tormented in hell based upon your sinful actions and words (Revelation 20:11-15).
In the new heaven and new earth, human history will be remembered, because there will be memorials to the 12 tribes of Israel and the apostles (Revelation 21:12-14). Most importantly, Jesus’ nailed scarred hands and feet and other wounds from the crucifixion to his eternal resurrected body establish that his suffering and redemption necessitated by your sins will not be forgotten (John 20:24-29).
Randy Alcorn, Heaven: Biblical Answers to Common Questions booklet (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2004), 32; Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2004), 330-332; Hank Hanegraaff, After Life: What You Need to Know About Heaven, the Hereafter & Near-Death Experiences (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2013), 31-33.