“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:25).
“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” (Romans 8:19-21).
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; the cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat strawlike the ox. . . They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9).
One of the questions that people ponder when they consider heaven is, “Will there be animals there?” My response is: It depends on what you mean by animals and heaven . If by animals, you mean Fluffy and Spike, your beloved pets from long ago, then my answer would be, no, you will not see Fluffy or Spike.
But if your question is more along the lines of generic animals, then my answer will be, I believe there will be animals in heaven. Probably. More than likely. I hope so.
Let’s Get Our Definitions in Sync
To see how and why I come by my answer, the first question we need to answer is, “What is heaven?” And it’s more difficult to answer that you might think.
Most of us think of heaven as some place way above us, beyond the stars. We see it as an ethereal place where angels live and serve God who sits on His golden throne in majesty and grandeur. Isaiah 6 paints a vivid picture of just such a place and appearance. There are other references in the Bible that lead us to believe that heaven is beyond our grasp and beyond our true understanding. It really is the dwelling place of God. Jesus refers to His Father in heaven, which is as strong an indication that heaven is the godly dwelling place.
But will we go to heaven? And here’s where I need you to follow me closely. I believe the Bible teaches that, whether we die or are translated into a glorified body because Christ returns before we die, we will be with Christ. I had a former preacher that liked to say, “Absent from the body means present with the Lord.” I accept that. Right now, the Bible says that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father (see Matthew 16:64; Mark 16:19; Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1-3; Hebrews 1:3), and all indications are that the Father is in heaven.
However, the Bible is also very clear that when Christ returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth—the old heaven and earth will be transformed by the removal of all sin and the consequences of sin. And when the new earth is in place, God will dwell with us: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He shall live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Revelation 21:3). There are other references of God dwelling in the New Jerusalem on the new earth in Revelation 21-22, not dwelling in heaven.
And it makes sense that, when Christ returns, we will live on earth. God created us to be earthly being. That’s what Genesis 1 was all about. God working in our world to create place specifically where we could live, and creating us specifically so we could live in His new creation.
When Jesus appeared in His glorified body following His resurrection, we know He was able to eat and do things that we do in our world, but He was also transformed into a body that transcended the earthly limitations we currently experience.
In other words, it is not inconceivable that eternity with God will be spent on the cleansed world He had originally given us in Genesis 1. And if that is the case, then it seems only reasonable to expect there to be animals in “heaven,” if we understand “heaven” to be the dwelling place of God here on earth. After all, when God created the world, He created the animals to be a part of it. The eating of meat did not occur in the Bible until after Noah and his family had left the ark (Genesis 9:3). That means, for quite some time after creation, the animals were not there for our food supply, but for other reasons, some of which had to be esthetics.
To me, a world without animals is not really the world as we know it. Granted, the new earth upon which we will live will not be anything like the world on which we currently reside—imagine a pollution free world, with clear waters everywhere, with no weeds; a pristine paradise—but I simply cannot imagine that God would create a new world and then tell us, “Oh, you don’t need the animals anymore. They’d just be a distraction.”
All of this is conjecture on my part. I can be proven completely wrong on this matter and that would be okay with me. My assurance is in the saving grace of Christ, and whatever plans He and the Father have for us is fine with me. But personally, I would miss the animals, and the Bible does seem to indicate, from past experience, that animals will be a part of the plan, as evidenced by the verses at the beginning of this blog.
But What About Fluffy and Spike?
Fluffy and Spike—or whatever names you used for your pets—have always been an important part of our lives. Those of us who have owned pets often find ourselves treating them like family members. Sometimes, we treat them better than family members, but that’s another story with separate issues.
The problem here is that there is no indication in any part of the Bible that God created animals with a spirit. Nowhere does the Bible say that He said, “Let us make Fido in Our own image.” As much as we may wish to have our favorite pets with us (how can it really be heaven if Fluffy isn’t with us?), the sad truth is that the likelihood of our faithful companions will just be a fond memory.
But, here’s something I can leave us with. I think it was Billy Graham that, when mentioning heaven, was asked a question similar to what we’ve been looking at in this paper. Dr. Graham’s response was something to the point of, “There are things in our present world that we believe we will miss if they are not in heaven. But heaven will so much better than what we currently have, that whatever we do in heaven will be that much better.
So, maybe no Fluffys or Spikes, but there has to be the assurance that something better is on the way.
© 2018 Glynn Beaty