Animals We Love Might Live Again

Animals We Love Might Live Again

The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. . . . We ourselves . . . groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for . . . the redemption of our bodies.

— Romans 8:21-23

Something better remains after death for these poor creatures. . . . [They] shall one day be delivered from this bondage of corruption, and shall then receive an ample amends for all their present sufferings.^a

— JOHN WESLEY

Humorist Will Rogers said, “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” This statement was, of course, based on sentiment, not theology, but it reflects something biblical: a God-given affection for animals.

I’ve often thanked God for my golden retriever, who crawled into my sleeping bag as I lay in my backyard gazing up at the stars when I was a boy. Though I didn’t know God then, he touched my life through that dog. Nanci and I have experienced many hours of laughter and joy with animals. When our children and grandchildren have delighted in animals, they have delighted in God, their Creator.

Christ proclaims from his throne on the New Earth: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5, NASB). It’s not just people who will be renewed, but the earth and everything in it. Do “all things” include animals? Of course. Horses, cats, dogs, deer, dolphins, and squirrels—as well as the inanimate creation—will be beneficiaries of Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ’s emphasis isn’t on making new things, but on making old things new. It’s not about inventing the unfamiliar, but restoring and enhancing the familiar. Jesus seems to be saying, “I’ll take all I made the first time, including people and nature and animals and the earth itself, and bring them back as new, fresh, and indestructible.”

Romans 8:21-23 is a clear statement that our resurrection, the redemption of our bodies, will bring deliverance not only to us but also to the rest of creation, which has been groaning in its suffering. This raises an obvious question: Who or what in this creation, besides human beings, is groaning in suffering and is waiting for deliverance? Surely the most obvious answer is animals. This seems to indicate that on the New Earth, after mankind’s resurrection, some animals who once suffered will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

If God created on the New Earth human beings who had never before existed—rather than resurrecting people who had lived on the old Earth—would it fulfill the promise in Romans 8 of redemption, deliverance, and resurrection? No. Why? For the passage to be fulfilled, those redeemed and resurrected into the new world must be the same people who suffered in the old world. Otherwise, their longing for redemption would go unmet.

As mankind goes, so go the animals. If we take to its logical conclusion the parallel that Paul makes between humans and animals groaning, then at least some of those animals who suffered on the old Earth must be made whole on the New Earth.

Remember, it’s not some abstract “animalkind” that cries out; it’s specific animals living and suffering and dying on the old Earth, just as it’s specific, suffering people who groan and cry out for their own resurrection—not for someone else’s. This suggests that God may resurrect, or at least re-create, certain animals that lived on the old Earth.

If God indeed will re-create some animals from the old Earth on the new, it seems reasonable to ask whether our beloved pets might be included.

While speaking at a Bible college, I asked the audience to raise their hands if God had deeply touched their lives through particular animals they’d had as pets. Ninety percent of the thousand or more people raised their hands.

Animals aren’t nearly as valuable as people, but God is still their Maker and has affected many people’s lives through them. It would be simple for him to re-create a pet on the New Earth if he wanted to. He’s the giver of all good gifts, not a taker. And, as a parent, he is far better at giving good gifts to his children than we are (Matthew 7:9-11). Certainly, if it would make us happier in Heaven, God would be willing to restore a favorite animal to us, for by finding happiness in God’s creation, we find our happiness in him.

God could do one of three things regarding animals on the New Earth. He could (1) create entirely new animals; (2) bring animals back to life that have suffered in our present world, giving them immortal bodies (this could be through re-creation, not necessarily through resurrection); or (3) create some brand-new animals “from scratch” and bring some old ones back to life.

We must be careful to avoid theological error. We should recognize and affirm the fundamental differences between humans and animals. That’s why I avoid using the term resurrection with respect to animals on the New Earth. However, in a broad sense, both redemption and resurrection can appropriately apply not only to mankind but also to the earth, vegetation, and animals. Of course, a resurrected field, meadow, flower, or animal would in no sense be equal to a resurrected human; it’s simply that redemption and resurrection can ride the coattails of mankind, just as the consequences of the Fall did.

In The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis portrays Sarah Smith as an ordinary woman on Earth who became a great woman in Heaven. On Earth, she loved both people and animals. In Heaven, she’s surrounded by the very animals she cared for on Earth. Could that actually happen? Knowing our gracious God and the delights he lavishes upon his beloved children and even his beloved animals, I would not be surprised.

Have you ever had a pet that God used in your life? Has God reminded you of any of his attributes through animals? Do you want to thank God for touching your life through animals?

Father, thank you for the roles that various animals have played in our lives, from childhood on. Thank you that you are so aware of your creation that no bird falls to the ground without your notice. Thank you for building provisions for animals into your law, including a day of rest from labor. Clearly your heart is touched by all your creatures, great and small. Lord, thanks for promising that the rest of creation, not just humans, will be delivered from suffering at our resurrection to enjoy your new world. If it happens to be part of your plan to bring animals from this old Earth to the New Earth, including our pets, we will thank you for them, even as we thank you now for the comfort and companionship and entertainment you have provided us through them.