Question: Ok, so you pricked my interest on Sunday. What do you think? Will our pets be with us in Heaven?
Answer: Let me say, first, this really isn’t a “dumb” question. Some people suggest that it is, but it really isn’t. I mean, after all, pets have (on many occasions) brought a spirit of love, loyalty, and affection into the hearts and minds of people.
That being said, let me respond using two different avenues. First, I think we can be certain there will be animals in heaven. Since they were a part of the first creation and have throughout history then participated in the “groaning” for redemption (Roman 8) I think it’s fairly safe to say animals will be a part of eternity. After all Revelation 21: 5 says, ” And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making all things new” (NLT emphasis added) Now, what the animals will look like, how they will behave, and how we will interact with them is still not a certainty. In much the same way that we don’t know exactly what kind of relationship Adam had with the animals prior to his and Eve’s fall. It could be also that some of the animals we now consider “extinct” will be a part of this renewing.
Second, while I think we can have a sense of knowing that animals, as a part of creation, will be present I don’t know if our actual “pets” will be present also. There’s certainly no scriptural precedent to point towards that teaching. There also is a fundamental difference in realizing that it is solely mankind who has been given the spirit of Christ and the promise of a resurrection. So, to try and answer this issue with an equal sense of knowing really isn’t possible.
August 19, 2008 at 9:50 pm
The whole pet thing got me wondering too, then I went on to more thoughts. If we all except Jesus as our savior and that is the only way into Heaven, then what about those of the Catholic & Jewish faith? Catholics pray to saints, and the Pope, however, we are to only worship one God, so where do they end up? They except Jesus? Jewish faith doesn’t believe Jesus is the Mesiah, but they do however believe in God, where do they go? Just a few thoughts.
August 20, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I have to admit that the first I heard about the heaven series, I thought about pets too. I remember asking my parents if the family dog was going to be in heaven, which they assured my 7 or 8 year old mind that she would be.
I’ll say that after giving it some thought, I don’t think it is a dumb question either. Rather, it is a venue to highlight one of the most forgotten things about heaven which you touched on in your sermon on Sunday: the fact that the main purpose of heaven will be reuniting believers with Christ and worshiping God continuously. Forever.
That changes the focus of the question from “Will Fido be in heaven?” to “Why will I care if Fido is in heaven when I will have so much else to preoccupy myself during the remainder of the infiniteness of time?”
My dog is an animal, a part of the original creation. But as a pet, isn’t Sammy the Beagle just another worldly possession? I mean, I love him and I will cry when he dies, but do I wanting him having accidents all over my part of the streets of gold? I suppose since creation will be restored, he will already be mansion-broken.
Never know, maybe Paul’s thorn in the flesh was his tabby Scipio.
August 21, 2008 at 3:15 am
This has been a series that I’ve looked forward to. There is much speculation about heaven by everyone. I’ve always thought that the description of heaven, streets of gold etc. was always just described that way so that our feeble minds can better grasp the idea that, “it’s gonna be a whole lot better than we can even imagine”. Are there gonna be pets there? I don’t know, but I know that with 2 Labs in the house, it’s a little bit of heaven on earth, even with the challenges they bring.
August 21, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could converse with our pets in heaven? Reminisce about the fun times we had and really thank them for being there for us. When I see that God turns caterpillars into butterflies and tadpoles into frogs, I cannot fathom what incredible transformation He has in mind for us (and maybe our pets).
August 22, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I couldn’t resist sharing this link:
http://www.ourrisingsound.com/2008/08/19/presbyterian-vs-catholic-church-sign-debate/