“SO OFTEN PEOPLE ASK – ‘WILL WE HUMAN BEINGS BE THE ONLY LIFE LIVING IN ETERNITY?’ ‘WILL THERE BE ANY ANIMALS OR PETS AS WE HAVE NOW?’ THOSE ARE GREAT QUESTIONS FOR WHICH the BIBLE HAS AN ANSWER”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the afterlife and eternity and what Scripture says will accompany us in the perfect life that awaits all those who are followers of Jesus Christ…

…One of the most sought after questions that has plagued man down through the centuries is the question of the afterlife. Of course, there are many today who believe there is no afterlife at all. For them once we die, our bodies decompose and return to dust and we cease to exist, period. However to believe such an idea has no merit at all, for it is based on absolutely no proof but the conjecture and fantasy of a wanting mind. How convenient and comforting it is to believe this idea of non-existence beyond physical death, for it cancels what the Bible says about there being a  Heaven for the righteous and a Hell for the unrighteous who pass the portals of death. But laying all this aside comes a second question from many dear people. The question is --  “What happens to the animal kingdom when it dies, especially our pets that have become so dear to us in this life and have brought us great comfort and joy while they existed?” Well my friend, today on the broadcast I want to answer that question from a biblical perspective in my message  -- LIFE IN ETERNITY, but first let’s listen one more time to another musical moment…

…The Bible of Christianity is actually the only reliable revelation of what lies beyond the grave. There are all kinds of writings that tell us one thing or another, but none of them can be relied upon due to the fact such writings are filled with inaccuracies, errors, scientific blunders, and worse, deceitful words written often by delusional and dishonest men. Regardless of the sacred reverence given to them by millions of people, any book claiming revelation from God the Creator, that is filled with error and deceit, cannot be trusted for anything it would say about the afterlife. However the Bible, the holy Word of God, found exclusively in the Christian Bible of the Old and New Testaments can be found to be reliable for it contains no errors and no deceit at all. Men have tried to disprove its words but the “anvils” of time and the hammers that have pounded it to discover falsehood, have been worn out trying to do so. So, if the Bible can be relied upon, and no verifiable error is found in its pages, then what it says about the afterlife should be taken seriously.

Now the question most often asked is – “Will there be pets in heaven, will animals that we know and love be found in eternity with mankind which is promised to live on past the grave?” Well, honestly this is a very emotional question, and whatever answer is given will greatly affect our minds and heartfelt wishes. So let me try to be sensitive to the issue and yet absolutely truthful to the question at large. So let’s begin…

I like most others have had some wonderful loving pets in my lifetime. Having reared five children, we enjoyed a number of loyal, tender, kind and obedient pets from cats to dogs.

They brought great joy and comfort to me and my family, and wonderful memories exist of the times they spent with us until they died. I’m sure my audience can relate. Yet I’ve searched the Scriptures and honestly must tell you the Bible is silent as to whether our beloved pets will be restored to those who in the afterlife will enter the realm of Heaven and eternal life. However, saying all that, the silence of Scriptures is not a definite answer either to say that there will be no pets or animals in Heaven, or the glorious afterlife promised to those who love and trust in the one true God, revealed in Jesus Christ.

Now saying all that, I do believe that although our particular pets we so loved here on earth will not be resurrected unto life, the Scriptures seem to confirm that the animal kingdom itself will play a role in eternity, especially in the coming afterlife and restored earth and universe. Let me share with you, the reason why…

1.  GOD IS GOD OF GREAT CREATIVE DIVERSITY (Psa 8:1-4)

We discover in Scripture that when God decided to created the heavens and earth, He did so with great diversity of design and matter. From the various stars and planets to the wonders of the earth itself, we discover nothing that exists is the same as another. From the beautiful snowflake to the variety of plants, animals, to the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, diversity of design and purpose is God’s way of greatness.

Psa 8:1-4 ( NIV )  “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens… 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

In fact, for mankind made in the image of God, we discover no human being is alike. Regardless of how many children one has, they are all so unique and different. This includes of course, the animal kingdom as well, even the ones we choose as our pets. The Bible describes this pleasure of diversity and design in one word -- “beautiful…”

Job 38:31 ( NIV )  "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?

Psa 48:1-2 ( NIV )  “ Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. 2 It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth…”

Eccl 3:11 ( NIV )  He has made everything beautiful in its time…”

That last verse, tells us that God’s intent in Creation was to show mankind that God was a God of not only great power but great and wonderful beauty for the eye to behold. From the stars to the earth, to the creatures that inhabit it above and below – all are the wonderful and beautiful creation of an omnipotent Creator God, revealed to us in the Bible of Christianity. Thus, what God originally created as beautiful and good (Gen 1:31 ), is sure to be a part of His plans for life in eternity. This must obviously include the animal kingdom itself.

2. GOD’S PLAN FOR MANKIND’S HAPPINESS INCLUDES THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

When God created the Garden of Eden for man’s habitation, we discover it included a variety of domesticated animals, which apparently had the limited ability to communicate with Adam and eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1). Some of the animals may have originally been able to communicate on an elementary level with their human masters, an ability later removed by the Curse. I say that because only mankind was created by God uniquely in His own image.

Gen 1:26-27 ( NIV )  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Gen 9:6 ( NIV )  "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.

Man was, alone of all creatures, given God’s image which included the ability to think, reason and communicate with God on a level of fellowship and friend. God’s “image," therefore, implies human likeness to the triune Godhead. Plants possess a body and animals possess a body and consciousness; but man was not only to have a body (of the created "earth") and a consciousness (of the created "soul"), but man was also to possess a third created entity, the image of God, an eternal spirit capable of intimate communion and fellowship with his Creator. The animal kingdom was not given this ability, although they were given the ability to desire and enjoy the companionship of man. This is why some of our greatest joy received from the animal kingdom comes to us in the form of our pets. How loyal they are, how they enjoy our company and presence, and even desire to snuggle and be near us. God created that for our pleasure and enjoyment and we thank God for it. 

So before sin ever entered the world, God created the Garden of Eden filled with a variety of domesticated animals for Adam and Eve to enjoy. Now think, the Garden of Eden, without sin’s presence, then was really Heaven placed on earth. God was there too and enjoyed walking in the cool of the day and communing with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8). Unfortunately, when sin entered the Garden, via the corrupt angel named Lucifer or Satan the Devil, he tempted Adam and Eve to sin against God. Listening to the voice of evil, and desiring its fruit, Adam and eve sinned and lost their high state of communion and existence. Through their sin, the world and universe followed them and changed becoming corrupt and deteriorating and dying like them (Gen. 2:17).

This is our lot and portion to this day as children of the fallen originators of the human race. From the animal kingdom to mankind we all die. Genesis chapter five, tells us this and other Scripture confirms it.

1 Cor 15:21-22 ( NIV )  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Rom 8:21-22 ( NIV )  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

When Adam fell, the entire "creation" suffered the results of sin (Gen. 3:17, 18). Primitive domesticity among the animals was lost, and alienation came about.  Decadence became apparent in every aspect of the universe. All this creation of God, now groans and labors awaiting the day when it, too, shall be delivered from the bondage of its corruption, decay and death. Yet the glorious promises of God contain the fact that God is going to “restore” the earth and the universe to what it was before sin entered. This strongly reveals that what God originally created will again be a part of the world of humanity in the presence of God. This naturally will include domesticated animals that can become our pets.

In the Bible, we are told that when God brings in the millennial kingdom, the fallen world will be restored to the pristine beauty and perfection of the Garden of Eden. Included in this, will be domesticated animals and pets for mankind. In fact, some of the wild beasts of today will have been restored to this place and become the joy of even children’s hearts. Listen to the Word of God for here’s some biblical proof.

Isa 11:6-8 ( NIV )  The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

Isa 65:25 ( NIV )  The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

While the thousand year reign of Christ is not the final Heaven for the redeemed of the Lord, Heaven will be reigning on earth as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will be there for all people to love, worship and adore in the renewed state of creation, where sin’s killing effects are removed. Why even Satan and all the fallen sinful angels that rebelled against God, will be chained up in the Hell of Tartarus, and unable to destroy man’s happiness and joy as the animal kingdom’s companionship will again be in full force.

But the question still needs to be answered, whether in the final state of eternity following the millennium, that animals will be a part of eternal life in the presence of God. Here we must confess there is no Scripture that tells us specifically of this, but good biblical extrapolation does.

For instance, God made animals for man to enjoy and we discover that even in heaven there are ‘living creatures,’ that serve God which are created in the form and appearance of animals. In the book of Revelation, following the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ, and when all the redeemed of the earth are present when God pours out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world during the Tribulation period, we see this truth,

Rev 4:6-9 ( NIV ) “…In the center, around [God’s] throne, were four living creatures… 7 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…. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever.”

It is obviously God’s pleasure for the beautiful faces of animals and birds, to be in His eternal presence. If so, I believe God will restore, in eternity and on the earth, the wonderful joy of the animal kingdom much like the millennial time period described in the Bible. In addition, we are told in the Bible that God is going to “restore” everything that was good.

Rom 8:21-22 ( NIV )  “that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

Acts 3:21 ( NIV ) “He [the resurrected and living Christ] must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets”.

Yes indeed, God is going to “restore” everything! That must include the wonderful world of the animal kingdom. So I feel confident that we can believe that animals will be in the heavenlies with us in eternity on the beautifully restored and perfect planet earth, that will house mankind forever and ever (Rev.21:1-5).

But now the BIG question – “Will our pets that we loved be resurrected unto life as we are who love Jesus Christ?” That answer, cannot be found in Scripture and most likely is no. God has given us in this fallen world of sin, the joys and pleasure of finding among the domesticated animals of the world, some who could and would be our “pets.” They bring us much joy, but they are only for a season, the season of our lives while we await our redemption. Only man is redeemed from death, for He alone has immortality given by the Creator Himself. I believe that since man alone has the Spirit and life of God, everything else turns to dust and remains as such. Yet new animals and pets will one day inhabit eternity, and bring joy and pleasure to mankind again, probably never to die so as to be with us forever. We experience this now --  I have fond memories of beloved pets that I had for decades, but when they died we got another who took their place and earned my love too.

God will replace the joy and happiness you have experienced during the life of your pet, and fond memories will last of them for eternity. How sweet and good God is.

But say friend, we’re talking about the joy of the afterlife and living in eternity, but this privilege and expectation is not for all. The Bible warns and encourages all mankind to be sure they have a ticket for Heaven and eternal life. You see, we are all born sinners and estranged from God and His glorious perfect Heaven. None of us, born of Adam and Eve, are in and of ourselves, going to Heaven when we die. In fact, the worst case scenario is ours. Unless God intervenes in our lives while we have breath, the entire human race is headed for destruction and everlasting suffering in the place called Hell. Listen to the Bible’s reasons and warnings concerning this.

Rom 5:12 ( NIV )  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—“

Rom 3:23 ( NIV )  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom 6:23 ( NIV )  “For the wages of sin is death..”

Eccl 7:20 ( NIV )  There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

Rev 21:8 ( NIV )  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Rev 20:15 ( NIV )  If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

All these Scriptures and more tell us that all of us face a bleak eternity, unless we can be redeemed from our sins, unless our sinful fallen nature that loves to sin against God, can be removed and replaced with a sinless nature that loves and cherishes God and His Word and ways. Well friends, thanks be to God, He paved a way for this and for our personal forgiveness. Listen to God’s glorious promises to those who confess their sins, who realize their sinfulness and seek redemption alone through the only means God has provided, that is the death, burial and resurrection of a substitute sin payment, made through the death of Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:22 ( NIV )  “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

Rom 3:22 ( NIV )  “The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe…”

Rom 10:10 ( NIV )  “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

John 6:47 ( NIV )  I [Jesus] tell you the truth, he who believes [in me] has everlasting life.

Friend, if you want to go to Heaven and not Hell for eternity, then you must confess your sin of rejecting God’s Word and His Son Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. You must ask God, from a contrite heart, to save you by applying Christ’s death on behalf of sinners to your sin account; and, confess Him not only as your supreme God and Savior but your Lord as well. When any of us do this, God saves and grants us a new life in Christ. This new life consist of a new nature that will live forever in God’s presence and enjoy Him the same. This new nature will assuredly be the avenue to enter the eternal kingdom of God , where we will enjoy God’s presence and also the animal kingdom once again in absolute perfection and sinlessness. Friend will you be there? Jesus has made it possible, nd awaits your acceptance of Him and His work. Now may God the Spirit’s love, mercy and grace open your eyes to see Jesus Christ clearly, and for you to fall down at His feet, and confess him as your Savior and Lord. That is the beginning of eternal life and all the joys it will bring when redemption of this world is final and full. May God add His blessings to these words for Jesus sake. Amen.

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·         Radio talk #1206

·         Broadcast date: March 19, 2006

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 60033 Grand Junction, CO 81506

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The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 25 years, and serves as General Director.

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