In my last post, I mentioned three divine powers that Scripture and my personal experiences attribute to the saints in heaven: holiness, eternality (being present in all times, and beyond time), and omnipresence (being in all places at once).

If the resurrected saints are truly omnipresent, it would naturally follow that they are also omniscient, knowing all things. After all, if they’re everywhere and can see everything, what knowledge could possibly be hidden from them?

There are many places in Scripture where Jesus is said to be omniscient. He is said to have known ahead of time who would betray Him (John 13:11), and indeed to “know all things” (John 16:30), including people’s thoughts (Matt 12:25, Luke 6:8).

Saint Paul hints at human omniscience when he says that “those who are spiritual discern all things,” and that “we (the church) have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:15-16).

If people can have the mind of Christ, does this mean they can share in His omniscience? While we can’t know for sure what Paul meant, the possibilities are intriguing to say the least!

So it seems that the saints in heaven could be eternal, omnipresent and omniscient as well as holy and merciful. Could they be omnipotent as well? Are there any limits to their power? This is hard to say.

Scripture attributes many amazing powers to mortal followers of Jesus, including intuitive “words of knowledge” that come straight from God (1 Cor 12:8), miraculous healings (1 Cor 12:9-10), speaking in and interpreting unknown tongues (1 Cor 12:10), and power over evil spirits (Luke 10:17-20).

Furthermore, the book of Revelation says that those who stay firm in their faith will be given the power to rule over nations (Rev 2:27), and in fact will rule on the same throne as Jesus and God the Father (Rev 3:21)!

So while we cannot say whether the saints in heaven are omnipotent, we can safely say that they’re very powerful indeed – probably more than we can imagine.

Finally, it seems to me that the saints in heaven love us with the same perfect love that God has for us!

In my encounters with Christina, my grandparents, and others who have passed on, the love I felt was totally unconditional – more so than any earthly love I had ever experienced. They seem to know everything about me, but don’t pass judgment. They just watch over me with love.

Since Jesus teaches us to be perfect in our love for others (Matt 5:43-48), this makes sense. While few people achieve this perfect love while mortals, there’s good reason to believe the resurrected dead have in fact perfected their love. As I said before, Jesus wouldn’t command something that’s impossible to achieve!

What does this all mean? If the saints in heaven are holy, eternal, omnipresent, and omniscient, having superhuman powers and perfect love, are they in any sense different from God? Could it be that they become part of the godhead, just like Jesus?

While Christianity has traditionally deemed such an idea heretical, there are religious groups that believe just that. At the very least, I would say it’s an idea worth considering.

(Coming Next: When We All Get to Heaven, Part Three: Becoming God?)