Easter And The More-Than-Human World
Isaiah 12, we all hear ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation (endless life in the hymnal)
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Praise to the Sovereign Lord for His Creation and Providence
104 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.
3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,
4 Who makes His angels spirits,His [a]ministers a flame of fire.
5 You who [b]laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever,
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they fled; At the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
8 [c]They went up over the mountains; They went down into the valleys, To the place which You founded for them.
9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth.
10 He sends the springs into the valleys; They flow among the hills.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches.
13 He waters the hills from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
14 He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth, 15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man,
Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are full of sap, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the birds make their nests; The stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high hills are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the rock[d] badgers.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, And seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together And lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work And to his labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions— 25 This great and wide sea,
In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great.
26 There the ships sail about; There is that Leviathan[e] Which You have [f]made to play there.
27 These all wait for You, That You may give them their food in due season.
28 What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord rejoice in His works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord.
35 May sinners be consumed from the earth, And the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul! [g]Praise the Lord!
Several Bible verses depict animals in heaven:
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. The cow will 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, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
—Isaiah 11:6–9
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’” —Revelation 5:13
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!” —Revelation 19:11
Jesus with a Flock of Sheep
Many passages tell us that animals have souls:
“I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?”
—Ecclesiastes 3:18–21
“… and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” —Luke 3:6
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
—Romans 8:19–21
“Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.” —Psalm 36:6
The Bible tells us that God’s covenant is with all of His creation:
“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’ So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.’” —Genesis 9:12–17
“For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.” —Psalm 50:10–11
“And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.” —Hosea 2:18
The Bible tells us many times that every animal on Earth praises the Lord:
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” —Psalm 150:6
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” —Job 12:7–10
“Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.” —Psalm 69:34
“Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.” —Isaiah 42:10
So if all animals praise the Lord—and thus believe in Him—and if “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life,” it stands to reason that one beloved verse, John 3:16, tells us that animals will also be with their Creator in heaven.
Many Christian leaders have also addressed the question of what happens to animals after they die.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, taught that humans are stewards of—and responsible for the care of—God’s creation. When they failed to protect His perfect creation, humans sinned against God, and when pain and suffering then entered the world, animals had to endure it, too. The bond God had created was broken, and humans’ exploitation of and cruelty to animals began. Wesley spoke with anticipation of a new creation in which God would restore animals to their intended glory.
Martin Luther, who founded the Lutheran church, held a view similar to Wesley’s, saying, “In Paradise there was complete harmony between man and animals; one day again that harmony will be restored and all creation will be made anew as Christ will be in all and all.”
Pope John Paul II confirmed that “[n]o human being can be justified in claiming absolute ownership of animals for the simple reason that God alone owns creation. Animals do not simply exist for us nor belong to us. They exist primarily for God and belong to God. The whole work of creation belongs to the plan of salvation, ‘the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.’”
In his book Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes, “Horses, cats, dogs, deer, dolphins, and squirrels—as well as the inanimate creation—will be beneficiaries of Christ’s death and resurrection. … If we believe God is their Creator, that He loves us and them, that He intends to restore His creatures from the bondage they experienced because of our sin, then we have biblical grounds for not only wanting but expecting that we may be with them again on the New Earth.”
Woman petting turkey at Gentle Barn Sanctuary
Scripture and many of those whom God called to share His message have explained that He created animals, blessed them, and called them good and that one day they will be part of His restored perfect kingdom. It’s important to note that God doesn’t differentiate among species, even though it might be more convenient for some humans to believe that the dogs and cats they share their homes with—but not the chicken they just ate for dinner—will be with them in heaven. Some people might picture a heaven with doves and majestic elephants—but not the tiny mouse they killed in a glue trap. Humans don’t get to make those determinations, though. God does, and His choice is clear.
Perhaps you heard similar references in services you attended. It’s good to recognize what’s going on here. Jesus’s teaching about seeds and new life is drawing attention to how the more-than-human creation speaks to us about God. Easter imagery of eggs, spring flowers, bunny rabbits, is all doing the same thing, and we should celebrate with humility how we may learn from fellow creatures about the ways of their creator and ours.
It’s much less common, however, to think about the connection between Easter and other-than-human creatures in the opposite direction. What does God’s work in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ mean for creation beyond the human? That’s what I’d like us to reflect on for the next few minutes, with the help of two passages from scripture, Psalm 104 and Colossians 1:15–20.
Psalm 104 is a foundational element of creation theology in the Bible, outlining God’s sustenance for a variety of creatures, encompassing wild and domesticated animals, as well as humans. It presents a unified view of all as ‘creaturekind,’ with each having its own niche and receiving sustenance from God. This Psalm paints a remarkable picture of God’s meticulous care for every form of life.
There are three perspectives on the existence of pets in heaven. One view is that animals, as part of all creation, will be revived in the Resurrection. An opposing view holds that animals do not possess a rational soul and thus will not be resurrected. A middle ground posits that certain animals (particularly dogs) exhibit enough self-awareness and personality to possess a soul, albeit different from a human soul, and hence will be present in heaven.
There is some support in the Bible for the notion that animals will live in heaven. The Book of Job sounds a beautiful note that all pet lovers want to hear: “In his hand is the soul of every living thing” (see 12:7-10). The prophecy of Isaiah portrays a Messianic world reconciled by God’s grace and at peace: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, / and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; / The calf and the young lion shall browse together, / with a little child to guide them. / The cow and the bear shall graze, / together their young shall lie down; / the lion shall eat hay like the ox” (Is 11:6-7). The vision of heaven seen by St. John in the Book of Revelation includes Jesus returning victoriously to earth at the end of time, astride a white horse (19:11-14).
Pope St. Paul VI told us: “One day, we will see our animals in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” Pope Francis has also weighed in on this. Despite the fact Pope Benedict XVI, a cat lover, said in a 2008 homily that animals “are not called to heaven,” Pope Francis teaches in his encyclical Laudato Sí’ (“On Care for Our Common Home”), “Eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place” (No. 243).
The belief in the resurrection of the body suggests physical and temporal aspects to existence in heaven. Imagining a bodily life devoid of essentials like water, air, food, and flora and fauna is challenging. Before the Fall, God supplied Adam and Eve with various living things. It raises the question of whether this provision will persist after our bodily resurrection.
Ultimately, our understanding of death and resurrection will answer the question. A comforting truth is that our pets’ love is meant to instruct us about God’s unconditional love in this life. This love, only partially experienced in our flawed world, will be fully realized in heaven. Thus, in a certain way, our pets guide us toward heaven, giving us a glimpse on earth of the perfect love that heaven holds. I know this is true as Gabby came to teach us and gave us more than we did him. That deep bond and love we have for him has indeed given us a glimpse into perfect love.
The Supremacy of the Son of God
Colossians 1:15–20
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies. You may not believe that animals go to heaven but that is your problem. The evidence is clear that they do.