Animals in Heaven - More...

Monday Message addendum on Tuesday, October 15

Yesterday I discussed pets/animals going to heaven. I hope you read it. I fact-checked it with 3 other pastors before hitting “send.” My friend Laura disagrees and took the time to write back, and I have a lot of respect for Laura, so let’s dig deeper. As she pointed out, the Bible doesn’t specifically address the subject; it’s more church “tradition” that comes into question.

God made both mankind (Gen. 2:7) and the animals (Gen. 7:15, 22) with the “breath of life.” But mankind is special, the only breath-of-life creature, “made in the image of God.” (Gen. 1:26-27) Being “like God” means that we’re capable of spirituality, we have minds that think and reason, we have emotions and will, and most importantly, we have an eternal soul. Our spirit continues with God’s spirit into the next reality.

The Bible never speaks of animals having “souls.” In fairness, the Bible never speaks of animals NOT having souls. So if they do continue to exist after death, I believe it will be somewhat different from what happens to humans. For example, I can’t picture animals going to a place of judgment. But if God chooses to include them, it’s up to God. God saw all of his creation and said that it was good, (Gen. 1:25) and that includes all the animals.

As I wrote yesterday, there will most certainly be animals in heaven, a walking display of the creative genius of the Almighty God. We’ll have everything we need in heaven, and if we need a pet, one will be provided. Personally, I believe that we’ll be so caught up in God-worship that the pet/no pet question won’t even come up; but that’s just my 2¢. Those of us who follow the Lord know that He is fair and just, and when we arrive at heaven, we’ll be in complete agreement with his decision, either way. “Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?" (Gen. 18:25b)

Any day you get to worship the Lord is a good day!

Norton Lawellin, Worship Pastor

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Pets in Heaven?

Oct. 14, 2013 Monday Message:

We’ve been answering the top 10 questions about Christianity/heaven, and #7 is: “Do our pets go to heaven?” And a related question: “Are there animals in heaven?”

Several years ago, on the Friday before Father’s Day, my family asked me to sit down, and then placed a living, breathing creature onto my lap: love wrapped in yellow fur. It’s the best Father’s Day present I ever received. We made a special bed for the baby Labrador that night, but she cried and cried, so I got out of bed and held her, and in the process became her best friend for life.

She was never far from us – not underfoot, in an obnoxious way – but rather, nearby, so she’d always know where we were. She was just like a member of our family.

At her best in the water, the kids wanted to name her “Rio,” which means “river,” but that’s odd because Rio is a masculine word in Spanish and she was a female dog; but the name stuck. You could toss a ball into the water 100 times, and she’d still beg to go again. Turns out that labs have skin between their toes, like webbed feet, and she could out-swim any of us.

My daughter Melissa taught Rio to climb ladders, which came in handy for climbing out of the deep end of a pool. We’d walk to the park, and Rio would climb the ladder and go down the slide, to the amazement of many children!

Rio lived a good life and grew quite old. She had reached a point where she could barely walk and was in a lot of pain, so a few months ago it was time to say goodbye. For me, the hardest part was knowing that this really was the end. Animals aren’t spirit-beings; they don’t have souls.

When we get to heaven, the Bible says that we’ll have everything we need; so if we need a pet, one will be provided. The Bible also mentions animals, lots of animals. Lions, and calves, and leopards and bears and eagles, and 16 times horses are mentioned, including Jesus riding on a white horse. These animals will be a walking display of the creative genius of the Almighty God.  And all these animals will live in perfect harmony – Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the goat – perfect harmony, like it was in the Garden of Eden, the way God always intended it to be.

Perhaps you’ve heard people say, “This earth is not my home.” Well, heaven’s not necessarily your home either – it’s temporary. After the events of the end times, the current heaven and earth will be leveled, and God will give us the New Heaven and the New Earth. And the eternal dwelling place for believers will be the New Earth. Yes, the New Earth is where we’ll spend eternity, with pearly gates, streets of gold, and the city of New Jerusalem. We will dwell here with glorified, restored bodies. The concept that Heaven is in the clouds is unbiblical, as is the idea that we’ll be wispy spirits floating around in heaven. The New Earth will be the perfect planet for us, free from sin, evil, sickness, disease, suffering and death. That’s what the Bible says.

Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday at 10:30am in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This Sunday, Oct. 20, we get a glimpse inside heaven as the Rich Man checks out Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31. Don’t miss it!

NL