I once saw a sign that said, “The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog.” This is probably not a surprising sentiment to animal lovers—pets can be more loyal and loving than people sometimes. Over the years we’ve had three Labrador retrievers with four litters of puppies, with sixteen puppies in one of the litters! You don’t know fun until you’ve been surrounded by sixteen puppies all trying to lick your face.
My wife has also owned horses most of our married life. All this to say, we love animals. And over the years, the death of the dogs and horses we’ve had as pets (not to mention our kids’ guinea pigs) hurt us deeply. So I understand why the question of whether or not animals will be in heaven is important to people.
Of course animals are not the same as people, regardless of what some animal-rights advocates think. People have an eternal soul or spirit (and a resurrected body) that goes on forever beyond the grave. People must face the eternal God who will judge every person for how he or she has lived, spoken, thought, and desired. The key issue will be whether a person has his or her name listed in the “Book of Life.” The last book of the Bible, Revelation, refers to this judgment. “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire” (20:15 NET).
Animals do not have a soul, like people do, and as such have not sinned or rebelled against a holy God. People were created in a separate act of creation from the animals, setting humans apart. People were also created in God’s image, but animals were not. In the first book of the Bible, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground’ ” (Gen. 1:26 NLT). Since humans were created in God’s image, they are superior to the animal kingdom and are to rule over them.
To be created in the image of God includes a moral nature in people. In other words, animals are not considered personally responsible for evil choices, but people are. If a bear kills a person, we put it to death to prevent further attacks, not because we hold it ethically responsible for murder. But moral and ethical choices like murder and adultery are charged against people since they have a moral nature and are responsible to God for their moral choices. Jesus had to die directly for all people to pay the penalty for their individual rebellion against God’s holy standards. He didn’t die for the “sins” of animals since they don’t sin like people.
But even though animals don’t sin, the entire universe became cursed at the rebellion of the first two humans, Adam and Eve. So death and decay pervade everything: the planets, the stars, and all the animals that live on earth.
The good news is that just as Jesus’ death paid the penalty so that we might one day be resurrected to a new body, Jesus’ death made it possible that one day the whole world might be released from its curse to become a beautiful, renewed earth. The Bible says it this way: “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (Rom. 8:20–21 NLT).
There is no direct statement in the Bible that declares that animals will be re-created to live in heaven. Neither are there any direct comments in the Bible that declare that God won’t. But some implications exist that he will restore the animal kingdom in heaven. First, the passage above (Rom. 8:20–21) says that in some future day when God’s children receive a “glorious freedom from death and decay,” God will also bring about a freedom from death and decay for all of his creation. This “creation” includes animals. So animals without death and decay must exist on the new earth. They seem to exist in heaven now. The apostle John saw a vision of God’s presence (Rev. 4:1) in which there were four living creatures, three of which had similar appearances to the lion, the ox, and the eagle (vv. 4:6–7). Later, John somehow saw or heard “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” expressing praise to God (5:13).
Many Bible interpreters debate whether Isaiah 11:6 is about heaven, but even if it’s not, it gives a picture that shows how God can change animals and demonstrate his love for them (and for us who love animals). “Leopards will lie down with young goats, and wolves will rest with lambs. Calves and lions will eat together and be cared for by little children” (CEV). So I think these implications suggest that animals will be in “heaven” (or better, on the new earth).
Second, wherever possible, God by his nature ultimately desires to restore rather than discard what he has created. God desires to resurrect our death-bound bodies rather than to discard them. Our future bodies will be remade into ones that will be similar to our old bodies, yet free from suffering and pain. These new bodies will function perfectly—even in supernatural ways. Don’t we think it best to restore a valuable painting of a famous artist rather than just toss it out?
God thinks the same way. One day he will remake the old earth into what the Bible calls the new earth (cf. 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1). He won’t just destroy the old earth (see question #10). So perhaps this hints at his delight in restoring animals to live with us on the new earth.
But even if there will be animals on the new earth, less information is given to us in the Bible about whether individual animals like our pets will be brought back to life from the dead. In other words, there are fewer inferences that suggest that our pets will be “resurrected.” The Bible just doesn’t speak clearly about this, and it seems somewhat unlikely, since they don’t have souls like people do.
But as a pet lover, I take comfort in the fact that God is the giver of all good gifts. Jesus said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11). The new earth will be filled only with marvelous things to enjoy. I’ve had four dogs that I loved who have now died. Yet the three dogs I have now help me forget the pets I had years ago. I think the animals and pets we may have in heaven might replace the love we had for all our earthly pets. Maybe they will even be near replicas of our earthly pets. But they may also be even better pets than we’ve ever had. Imagine petting a tame lion or riding a dolphin! Billy Graham said, “God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he’ll be there.”
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Genesis 1:21, 25, 31; Exodus 23:12; Deuteronomy 25:4; Proverbs 12:10; Isaiah 11:1–10; Jonah 4:11