Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Will there be Animals in Heaven? And Will My Pet be in Heaven?

The Bible says that there will be animals on the New Earth. But will there be animals in Heaven?
 
From the description of the creatures in Heaven, we know that God certainly honors the animals.

Revelation 4:6-8 – In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings.

Whereas the Bible doesn’t tell us for sure that there are actual animals in Heaven, we can draw some reasonable conclusions from the passages we’ve looked at.

First, God likes animals. He made them. Why would He not like them enough to bring them to Heaven?

The Bible never says that animals have a soul like humans do, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t. It simply means that the Bible doesn’t address the issue.

Animals are victims of the Fall. It wasn’t their fault humans sinned and brought death into this world. So. why would God not give them the chance to live on in Heaven?

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (Romans 8:18-22).

But does that mean that an exact animal from Earth will be in Heaven or the New Earth, or will there simply be animals in general?

I think the answer to that lies in what we see happening with humans. The human from Earth is the same one that goes to Heaven or the New Earth. God doesn’t create a new person to be in Heaven or the new world with Him. He uses the ones He already has.

It would most likely be the same with the animals. Why would God create new animals when He already has plenty on earth? He only needs to bring the souls of those same ones to Heaven and the new creation.

I fully believe that God loves each of His creations as individuals, whether they be human or animal, and that if there are animals in Heaven and on the remade earth, they will be the same individual animals that have already been created here and now.





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