Do Furry Friends Wait For Us?

Are There Animals in Heaven?

There is place of which nearly everyone believes exist, a place of which the beloved John wrote about. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” (Revelation 21:1)  Jesus spoke about the present heaven, the place were God resides and a place were there is much joy. (Luke 15:7)

How we feel about heaven, God and Jesus Christ determines how sensitive we are to the Holy Spirit. A heartfelt approach to studying the Biblical truth of heaven will set the focus of our thoughts and fill our hearts with anticipation. Understanding the truths of heaven not only breeds anticipation for the future, it lays down a foundation for us to find comfort when loved ones pass on. Heaven is a place of reunion. (2 Samuel 12:23) When Christians make it to heaven, they will receive a grand welcome. Is it possible there will be beloved pets in heaven? Lets look with anticipation what the Bible does tell us.

The Bible does not clearly state we will see specific pets or other animals we have been given stewardship over in heaven. The Bible does give us the character of God and His love for us. Jesus says that God gives “good gifts to those who ask….” (Matthew 7:11)  We know that God is aware of our love for our pets and how important they are. In 2 Samuel we read of the Lord sending the prophet Nathan to King David to give a divine message of correction. Nathan shares a parable of two men, one rich, one poor. The rich man has a large amount of sheep and cattle. The poor man had one ewe of which the parable says was very special to him, it had slept in his arms, the ewe lamb was like a daughter to him. When the rich man wanted to prepare a meal to entertain guest, instead of using one of his livestock for food, the rich man took the ewe from the poor man and prepared it for eating. King David burned with anger because of the disrespect the rich man had for the love the poor man had for his ewe. Although Nathan was dealing with David’s sin of adultery and murder. It is safe to say, God is aware of our love of the pets He has given us and their positive effect on our lives. What the New Testament does say is that God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17)

In Isaiah 11:6-10 we read of the Messiah’s kingdom to come, that place were the righteous will enjoy the Lord’s reign. (Commentary of the Old Testament; Isaiah 65:25; New Heaven and New Earth) “The wolf shall lay with the lamp, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow shall feed with the bear; their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child shall put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord…”   In Revelation we read of Jesus and His army riding white horses when they come to defeat Satan and the beast. (Revelation 19:11-16) The armies with Jesus are those whom the Bible says are the “chosen and faithful followers.” (Revelations 17:14; 19:8)

There will be animals on this earth during the thousand years reign of Christ and there will be animals in the new heavens and on the new earth. (Isaiah 65:25)  This may be a Terry Laughlin 10:99. The Bible says God gives everything for our enjoyment, it would not be out of line to have blessed belief that God gave us pets for our enjoyment here on this earth, then our pets could very well be in heaven awaiting us in the new heavens and on the new earth.

What we do have is the promise in Romans 8:20-21. First the fruit of sin; “For creation was subject to frustration.” At this present time, everything is subject to the consequences of Eve’s and Adam’s sin. Second, is the promise, “creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption [decay] and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”  Everything is going to be restored, us, this earth, heaven, animals, that could include our pets. Romans 8:22 tells us that “whole creation has been groaning… right up to the present time” for its future glory. This denotes a hope of new life for all creation. (The New American Commentary; Daily Study Bible Series; Matthew Henry Commentary; The Pulpit Commentary; Bible Knowledge Commentary; Willmington’s Bible Commentary)

One of God’s greatest gifts for our enjoyment are animals, this is especially true of pets. Too often theologians have worked aggressively to prove a point, thus causing many to live with the uncertainty of the eternal state of their pets and the animals they took care of for the Lord. Just as there are Biblical theologians who say we will not see animals on this earth in heaven, there are just as many born-again theologians who feel they have revelation of animals in heaven, and we can have a hope to see our pets.

Just because we can not find that one Scripture that clearly says our certain pets are in heaven is not evidence that animals down here vanish at death. Just as it is clear God created the moon, sun and stars and place each one in its proper order, (Psalm 8:3) we are not told specifically how He holds them in place. We as Christians often miss-handle the truths that are clear, how do we expect the Lord to give us all the details about everything. For example – consider Christmas, we do not know the exact time of Jesus’ birth. But we know that He was born of a virgin. Look at the mess of Christmas every year. There is no clear Scripture that says that animals on this earth do not go to heaven. However, there is clear Scripture that says Judas Iscariot is not in heaven. (Mark 14:21)  Consider this, if we believe that animals do not have a soul, it is easy to mistreat them, thinking there will be no accountability of our care of them.  That is the same basis the old slave traders taught about their black slaves. In fact, many of the slaves had more faith in God and Jesus, than the so called God fearing plantation owners. True Christians take the high road, realizing the whole of creation is moaning for its redemption and the further time of a new heaven and new earth, that time of perfection forever. (Isaiah 65:25)

There are people who have no problem with trusting the Lord to take charge of their pets and animals. There are people who still need His comfort. For those who are still seeking, put your trust in God who does all things well and He knows what is best for you for all eternity. In His time, He will reveal His truths to you in due season.

A Real Place

A Real Place

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going…  I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-4, 6)

Sooner or later you are going to experience physical death.  You have a specific quantity of days to inhabit this earth and God alone knows their number.  God’s Word is clear, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)

Physical death is part of the curse that has come upon man since Adam and Eve.  God told them after their sin, “…you [will] return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Until Christ returns, all of mankind will experience physical death.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)  However, Jesus shares a powerful truth that is for all who have accepted Him as Savior and Lord.

Twice in today’s text, Jesus refers to heaven as being a “place.”  Heaven is not a surreal, fairy-tale kingdom.  It is literal and more real than the house you live in.  The New American Standard Bible has the best translation when saying “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places…”  “Places” (Greek topos) means places in which one dwells, an abode or a home.  These are permanent habitations of eternal rest and peace.

Revelation Chapter Seven records the beloved John’s vision of seeing a “…great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne of God and in front of the Lamb [Jesus Christ].”   Matthew Henry in his exposition of heaven in Revelation 7: 15-17 says, “[Christians will be] happy in their employment, for they serve God continually, and that without weakness, drowsiness, or weariness.  Heaven is a state of service, though not of suffering; it is a state of rest, but not of sloth, it is a praising delightful rest.”

Jesus is faithful.  When He says He is preparing a place for Christians that is what He means.  He also states another compelling fact that is a blessing to those who have lost loved ones who were born again Christians and for the children of God who are facing the trial of death.  Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die…” [spiritually, to be raised physically at the resurrection of believers].  After saying these words, the Lord asked a question of His listeners that is still relevant to us today,  “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

The Only Way

Jesus, the Only Way to Heaven

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going…  I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-4, 6)

The Holy Scriptures teach clearly that heaven is a real place, a permanent place, a personal place, a holy place, a place only for the born again and a place of reunion.   Jesus proclaims that He alone is the way to heaven.

The Holy Spirit moved the apostle Peter in his discourse about salvation to the Sanhedrin (the religious leaders of his day) to boldly proclaim, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  There was no compromise or accommodation in Peter’s preaching.  In this anointed declaration, Peter wholly commits to Christ the unique status of being the one and only Savior.  Peter and the other apostles never watered down the fact that apart from Jesus there is no salvation for anyone.

From the earliest beginnings of His earthly existence, Jesus was proclaimed to be the Savior.  An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that the child conceived in Mary was from the Holy Spirit. He also told Joseph, “She [Mary] will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).  (The name “Jesus” comes from the Greek form of “Joshua” which means “Yahweh [the Lord] saves.”)

Some may say that Jesus is a dogmatic and narrow-minded teacher when He says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  As Truth embodied however, the Lord alone can reveal truth to His people and unbelievers alike.  He is our guide to living an abundant and fruitful life.  His promise to the disciples who followed Him was that they should know the truth, and by the truth should be set free (John 8:32).  When the crisis of His ministry and the hour of His sacrifice arrived, he summed up the whole purpose of His mission in the declaration that He had come into the world in order to “testify to the truth” (John 18:37). Jesus’ own declaration is, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25).

Jesus is serious when He says, “…No one comes to the Father except through me.” No one is able to go to God and enjoy Him as their “Father who is in heaven” apart from having Christ as High Priest, Advocate and Mediator of their lives.  Unrepentant sinners will face God as Judge, but they will never enjoy the benefits that are available to the children of God, such as eternal salvation, regeneration, and sanctification.

Jesus gives an allegory to particularly represent His ministry that could be named “The Shepherd and His Flock.”  In this parable Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep…whoever enters through Me will be saved… I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me…” (John 10:7-8,14).  The Lord uses the word “know” (Greek ginosko) which refers to a relationship of trust and intimacy.

Do you know the Christ who is the only way into heaven?  Does He know you?

Inheritance

Inheritance

 

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going…  I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-4, 6)

The Holy Scriptures teach clearly that heaven is a real place, a permanent place, a personal place and a holy place.  It is also an inheritance for those who say “yes” to Jesus Christ.

In his gospel, the beloved John conveys a powerful truth of what one must become in order to inherit eternal salvation.  “…I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3) And once more, “…You must be born again.” (John 3:7) Twice Jesus tells Nicodemus, already a Pharisee and religious leader, “I tell you the truth…”

The truth for you is that a preacher saying nice things, nor beautiful hymns being sung at your funeral, nor the local paper announcing that you were a member of such and such church, nor even being in church nearly every Sunday will gain you entrance into heaven.  Being truly born again is a necessity.

Many Scripture passages tell what God will do for a person who through repentance accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Ezekiel 36: 26, 27 is one of the most clear.  It has been used frequently by Dr. Billy Graham to explain what God wants to do in the hearts and lives of those coming forward to receive the forgiveness found only in Christ. The verses say, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

A “heart of stone” is inflexible, unyielding and insensitive.  It is not apt to receive from or have any devoted affection toward its Creator.  A man with a heart of stone has no fellowship with the Lord.  He does not do the will of God, thus, he does what seems right in his own eyes which will lead to his own destruction. God alone gives physical life and He alone can give spiritual life in what Jesus says is being “born again.”

When God supernaturally gives a repentant person a “heart of flesh” and puts His Spirit in a new believer, that person becomes sensitive and alive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Only then can he determine and do the will of God.  This enables him to know the joy that comes from obedience to the Word of God.  Once the Holy Spirit of God has entered the heart and life of a repentant person, they are never the same!  Guaranteed!  The Bible says they are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Jesus made these truths very clear to Nicodemus, and He desires to make them crystal clear to all who will hear even now.  In heaven there will be only those who are born again, those who have trusted Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord.

The Holy Spirit moved the apostle Paul to write to (and about) authentic Christians, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9) Will you receive Christ today?

A Real Place

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going…  I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-4, 6)

Sooner or later you are going to experience physical death.  You have a specific quantity of days to inhabit this earth and God alone knows their number.  God’s Word is clear, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)

Physical death is part of the curse that has come upon man since Adam and Eve.  God told them after their sin, “…you [will] return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19)  Until Christ returns, all of mankind will experience physical death.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)  However, Jesus shares a powerful truth that is for all who have accepted Him as Savior and Lord.

Twice in today’s text, Jesus refers to heaven as being a “place.”  Heaven is not a surreal, fairy-tale kingdom.  It is literal and more real than the house you live in.  The New American Standard Bible has the best translation when saying “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places…”  “Places” (Greek topos) means places in which one dwells, an abode or a home.  These are permanent habitations of eternal rest and peace.

Revelation Chapter Seven records the beloved John’s vision of seeing a “…great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne of God and in front of the Lamb [Jesus Christ].”   Matthew Henry in his exposition of heaven in Revelation 7: 15-17 says, “[Christians will be] happy in their employment, for they serve God continually, and that without weakness, drowsiness, or weariness.  Heaven is a state of service, though not of suffering; it is a state of rest, but not of sloth, it is a praising delightful rest.”

Jesus is faithful.  When He says He is preparing a place for Christians that is what He means.  He also states another compelling fact that is a blessing to those who have lost loved ones who were born again Christians and for the children of God who are facing the trial of death.  Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die…” [spiritually, to be raised physically at the resurrection of believers].  After saying these words, the Lord asked a question of His listeners that is still relevant to us today,  “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Place of Reunion

A Place of Reunion

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going…  I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-4, 6)

The Holy Scriptures teach clearly that heaven is a real place, a permanent place, a personal place, a holy place and a place open only to those who have been truly born again.  The Bible also reveals that heaven is a place of reunion.

In 2nd Samuel we see a very clear picture of God’s grace, mercy and comfort in the joys of heavenly reunion.  We serve a God who chastises acts of sin, yet His repentant children have the sure hope of His forgiveness and of seeing loved ones who have died “in the Lord.” In Chapter 12 of 2nd Samuel we read of the prophet Nathan’s rebuke of God’s anointed king.  King David had surrendered to his fleshly desires ultimately leading to adultery, a child conceived out of wedlock and murder.  As we continue to read 2nd Samuel Chapter 12, we see that King David was going to suffer the consequences of his selfishness and uncontrolled lusts. It was only after God sent Nathan to expose David’s sinful actions that the King was able to come before God with a humble and contrite heart fully surrendered to God’s will.  Even though the consequences of sin can have an extraordinary cost, there is forgiveness and mercy to be found for those who have a truly repentant heart before God.

We know that David had a right heart before God for, instead of adding rebellion to his list of sins, David sought the Lord’s mercy, interceding in prayer for the child who was struck with an illness that would lead to his death. (2 Samuel 12:16, 18, 22) Even after the boy died, David does not fall into bitterness or rebellion. He clings to a truth that is for all who have lost young children or Christian loved ones.  That truth is found in 2 Samuel 12:23, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”  Don’t fail to catch that truth, “I will go to him.”

King David found something to cling to and the Scripture says that he also “comforted his wife…” (2 Samuel 12:24) Their consolation came in knowing they would see their son again.

Because heaven is a place of reunion, Christians who have had a baby or child die before reaching the age of account-ability will see that child again.  Many have also suffered the loss of Christian parents, friends and co-laborers. However, there is a reunion awaiting them in heaven. There are multitudes of Holy Spirit-filled pastors, evangelists and missionaries, after having been used mightily of God to bring many sinners to Christ and then passing on to be with the Lord, that will be reunited in heaven with those who have responded with a heart of repentance to the Spirit’s call to come to Jesus.  Others may only bring one or two souls with them, but every single person redeemed by Jesus’ shed blood is precious in God’s sight.  Christians someday will see Elijah, John the Baptist, the twelve apostles and Paul and many other faithful servants of the Lord that were written about in the Bible and since who have given their lives to spread the Good News.

It will be The Grandest Reunion for those who have Christ as Savior and Lord.  You’ve been invited!  Don’t miss it!