Will my pet be in heaven?
That is a question many people have asked for centuries.
What they really want to know is:
Will I get to see the pet I love so dearly again at some point?
After all, one might think
God created human beings, God created animals.
So why wouldn't Heaven be filled with all living creatures made by God?
That's a fair question.
Often the question, though, is not asked with a shark or a mosquito in mind, right?
Now, the question typically comes from a person that owns and loves a dog or a cat
or maybe some other animal that we see people bond with, like maybe a horse.
Our pets often live in our homes; they protect our families.
We've all seen those beautiful and obedient service animals
provide wonderful support in a variety of circumstances.
Our pets even have unique personalities, don't they?
And they easily endear themselves to us by the affection they show every time we walk in the door.
It's not uncommon for people to pay large sums of money to care for their pets.
You can even buy a pet medical insurance today.
People often pay a lot of money for their pet to have surgery
if they think it will prolong the animal's life.
It's not even uncommon for someone to purchase a plot
at a pet cemetery to bury the animal they love so much.
If you're watching this video and you have a pet at home, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
In fact, you may even feel closer to your pet than you do to other human beings.
After all, a dog is sometimes referred to as man's best friend.
It's very common for someone who lives alone to have a pet
that they eat with, they walk with, it sleeps at the foot of their bed.
When it comes to how people view and treat animals I think we would agree there are varying views.
But the source we want to appeal to today to answer this question
"Will my pet be in heaven?" is the Bible.
What has God revealed on this subject, and where is the Bible silent?
I think there are a lot of places we can go in the Bible
to learn information about God's view on animals.
But in those areas where the Bible is silent,
it's very important that we refrain from speculating.
It's okay to say, "I don't know."
What does the Bible say about how God views animals?
The first place we're going to start is at the very beginning
when God created all things in Genesis 1.
In that chapter we have a record of God speaking all things into existence.
He spoke and creatures of the sea and of the air came into being on day five.
Again, God spoke on day six and all creatures that would walk on land came into existence.
Genesis 1 wraps up the description of each day by telling us God made something that was good.
And the chapter ends in Genesis 1:31 saying this:
The very next chapter in Genesis 2:19, we're told the animals were brought to Adam to be named.
Now God could have named them, but God delegated this task to Adam.
Why would He do that?
Well, because God gave Adam dominion over the animal world.
That is explicitly stated in chapter 1 verse 28.
And He expected Adam to tend and keep the Garden of Eden,
which may have included the animals that lived in that garden as well.
So as you continue to read through the book of Genesis,
you see very quickly that things went horribly wrong with mankind.
The narrative moves rapidly from taking the forbidden fruit,
to Cain murdering his brother Abel, to the wickedness of mankind being so evil
that here's what the Bible says:
Genesis 7, 8, and 9 then tell of God's judgment and that great flood.
It tells us of Noah's Ark and the salvation given by
God's grace to that family and to all those animals.
But here's what I want us to focus on:
After the flood, we see God establishing a covenant
not just with Noah but the covenant is with the animals that were saved in that ark as well.
Listen to Genesis 9 beginning in verse 8. It says:
Now, later in the Old Testament when you get to the book of Psalms,
Psalm 36:6 gives us a little commentary, I think, on the covenant God made with Noah
and also life in general. Here's what it says:
Now what does all of this mean?
It tells me that the preservation of the life of animals was very important to God.
We cannot conclude that man and animals are on an equal plane in God's eyes from this,
because, remember, Noah is the one that built the ark.
Noah is the one that found grace in the eyes of the Lord,
and it was mankind that God created in His image.
That was in Genesis 1:26.
But it does speak quite clearly to the fact that God values all living things.
Listen to something Job said in Job 12 beginning in verse 7. He says:
We learn here that we can learn all kinds of things by observing the world around us,
and that includes animals.
And I think when you think about it, that shouldn't surprise us, should it?
That the God who made you is the same God that created all other living things.
Therefore, it shouldn't really surprise us, then, that the animals in this world,
they're beautiful in design; they do majestic things;
they can even teach us a thing or two.
In Proverbs 6:6 Solomon tells the lazy man, he says: Look at the ant.
I think we might even be able to argue that a close look at animals
will teach us a thing or two about God Himself.
In Romans 1, Paul tells us to look at the creation and see God more clearly
by examining the things that He made.
In addition to the creation, we also look at the law of Moses--the Old Testament--
and we see there God's care and concern for animals as well.
God gave us an interesting command in Deuteronomy 22:6, 7 where He said this:
Now why would God ask His people to be mindful of a situation like this?
We might even ask, "Why would He attach a blessing to those who obey a command like this?
If animals are only created for the food chain,
then why would it matter if you eat the bird and the eggs?"
Perhaps this is about conservation,
and perhaps God is thinking about the bird living so that it can lay more eggs,
but no matter how you slice it, God is mindful of His creation.
We remember Jesus even said no sparrow falls to the ground
without God knowing about it.
Listen to Proverbs 12:10:
Proverbs 27:23 says:
From these inspired instructions, I think it is clear that God wants us
to share His care for the creation.
Now again, please note caring for the creation does not mean that all living things are equal.
Let's explore that a bit more. In Psalm 24:1 the Bible says:
There are many places in the Bible-- and this is just one of them--
where it is affirmed that this world belongs to God.
Literally, everything belongs to God because God made it all.
That means God gets to ascribe value.
God gets to determine the usefulness and purpose of a particular created thing.
You and I may give value to things God does not. The other side of that coin is that you and I
may fail to give value to things that God would ascribe high value.
In the book of Matthew chapter 6 verses 25 through the end of that chapter,
Jesus is addressing the topic of worry and anxiety.
And in that discussion, He points to the birds of the air
and He says your heavenly Father feeds them.
And then Jesus says this:
"More value than they."
Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater to make His point.
He does this exact same thing in Luke 15 where He tells three parables about things that get lost:
a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.
And if I can focus our attention just for a minute on the lost sheep, Jesus says this. He says:
What a tender picture painted by Jesus of a man seeking this lost sheep
and then placing it on his shoulders to carry it home
and rejoice with his friends over the matter.
While this speaks volumes to man's relationship with his animals,
Jesus is here speaking at this moment to an audience that is not
placing appropriate value on human life, on the value of the human soul.
He is arguing again from the lesser to the greater, and, so He moves on to talk about a lost child--
a lost son--a prodigal, wasteful, wayward child who later returns home.
And should we not rejoice all the more in that instance?
That's what Jesus is saying.
Jesus is not saying animals are of no value, but He is arguing that mankind is of greater value,
and this is something we see throughout the Bible.
I think we would agree that by observation
we can see that animals and human beings are very different.
God did not create them with the same capacity to think and to feel and to do.
The intellect of human beings is far superior to any animal on this Earth.
Animals don't solve math problems. They don't learn new languages.
They don't build new technologies. They don't fix my computer when it breaks.
Animals, they don't have a conscience like humans do,
meaning the lion is not sad because he ate the zebra.
And the the dog doesn't feel bad when he stole the other dog's bone, does he?
You say, "Well, my animal's pretty smart." Animals are smart.
They do feel and experience pain,
but there is a very distinct line in the sand between us and them.
That's just a fact.
The Bible allows humans to eat animals, but it does not allow humans to eat other humans.
This also implies that God gives greater value to mankind.
Remember under the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were to be offered
but human sacrifices were forbidden.
Now at this point you might be thinking,
"Jim, I already understand the Bible's teaching that God gave man dominion over the animal world.
I get it.
I understand that Jesus came and died to redeem human beings and not animals.
I understand all of that.
My question is whether or not there will be animals in heaven and frankly my question is:
Is there any indication in the Bible that I will see my pet again?"
The answer to that question is this:
We simply have no Bible verse that we can point to that gives us assurance of
our pets having a soul or a spirit that will be preserved for eternity in heaven.
Jesus tells us human beings will live beyond this life.
And He tells us there will be a resurrection of the human body
that will be changed and made fit for eternity.
But we do not have any indication that the body of our pets will be resurrected with us.
You might say, "Jim, I just can't imagine being happy in heaven without my pets."
And I get that. I understand that thought.
But consider this. In God's presence...
According to Psalm 16:11, in God's presence is the fullness, the completeness of joy.
That means in the presence of God, nothing will feel deficient or missing.
In other words, people aren't going to be walking around heaven saying,
"You know what's missing here? You know what would make this place better?
You know what God didn't think of when He planned this out?"
People aren't going to say that.
So in the absence of biblical confirmation,
I don't believe we can say we will see our pets later.
But, love and enjoy your pets in this life. God made them.
Keep their memory alive in your hearts and in your minds.
Enjoy looking at those old pictures of the pet you loved so much.
And know that God blesses the lives of many people
with animals like dogs and cats and horses and all kinds of animals.
They may fill some need you have.
They might even provide a presence that you very much enjoy.
God in His infinite wisdom decorated this planet with animals.
And perhaps He has blessed your life with one or several specific pets you have in mind.
Be sure you give thanks to God for them.