Heaven is a Place on Earth

On August 27th, we laid to rest a beautiful, sweet and gentle member of our family.  She was our standard poodle, Rosie.  A strawberry blond bundle of soft fur and big brown eyes, Rosie came to our family in October of 2012 at 8 weeks old.   Sadly, we found out 4 months in when she was 6 months old that she had Juvenile Renal Dysplasia, a devastating disorder in which the kidneys never mature beyond the fetal state.  She was in chronic renal failure.  The prognosis is always death and there is no cure, only palliative care to maintain a good quality of life and possibly extend it by taking the load off the kidneys.  Most of what I had read said that dogs with both kidneys effected lived 2 years or less, most less than a year, and she had both effected.  I did as much as I could by changing her diet and we loved on her as much as we possibly could. She spent almost 2 years with us and passed away 17 days after her 2nd birthday.  She lived a full year more than most. Despite her difficulties, she had a good life.

Shortly after she was diagnosed, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Sadly, I don't have a lot of memories of her during that time, but my husband tells me she spent a lot of time snuggling with me while I recovered from surgery.  For two years prior to her joining us, we had been trying to conceive unsuccessfully.  She was a source of joy and unconditional love in a period of time in our lives that was especially difficult.

As I have been mourning her passing, my 5 year old has been satisfied that she is in Heaven.  He doesn't understand my grief in light of that fact. And I do believe it is fact. [If you believe emphatically that animals do not go to Heaven, please do not express that here.  My heart cannot handle that right now. Thanks.] This is not a post on the equality of animals to humans (which I do not claim), but rather an examination of what the Bible says about Heaven.

When the earth was created by God, death was not part of His original plan.  Animals and humans were created on the 5th and 6th days with a unique characteristic - the 'breath of life' (Genesis 7:15, in Hebrew 'ruach chayyim,' the 'spirit of life').  Eden was a prepared dwelling place for Adam and Eve and the dwelling place of God on Earth.  Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden and it was a place of sufficiency for animals and humans alike. Without sin entering the picture, all of creation was to be eternal (no death) and in the presence of God.  Animals and humans were companions; animals being specifically created for the purpose of companionship with man. When sin entered, death and destruction entered the earth; the fear of man came upon animals and that companionship was broken. Humans were banned from the perfection of Eden and exiled to a broken version of the original earthly plan.

What is your view on Heaven? Do you imagine it as a place in the clouds where we gain wings when we die? Do you imagine an eternal church service?  Either of those could sound peaceful or boring. When I was first learning about Heaven, I read about 'streets of gold' and a city environment.  Not being much of a city person, that disappointed me.  I wanted trees, flowers and wide open spaces.

In scripture, there are two descriptions of Heaven.  There is the 'present' Heaven where those who die in Christ before His return dwell until the final redemption occurs.  The Bible doesn't give much description of it, but it has at least two parts to it - a city (Jerusalem) and a garden (Eden).  It is where God, Jesus and angels dwell, a separated space from Earth.  Those who have died before Christ's return have some sort of resurrected body (Rev 6), but will be reunited with their earthly bodies at the moment of the rapture (1 Thess. 4:16-18).  This leads us to the 'New Earth'.  After Christ's return, we will be reunited with our present earthly bodies and they will be 'made new' or redeemed to be free of any sickness, disease, disorder or imperfection.  In the same way, our present earth will be 'made new'.  Just like the Earth was 'destroyed' in Noah's flood, it will be 'destroyed' with fire. This is not to say that it will cease to exist and a new one will replace it, but that it will be cleansed to start new.  Earth 2.0, if you will. After that, those who have died in Christ will occupy the New Earth for all eternity.  God will join us on the New Earth and dwell among us as He did in the Garden of Eden. 

Does that go against what you have always thought of Heaven?  It excites me!  All the places I will not have the opportunity to visit in this life, I will have eternity to explore and at 1000 times the beauty it is now.  The way creation was MEANT to be before it was corrupted by sin. There will be no death, no disease, no sorrow.  We will be fully human, yet perfect and in perfect communion with God. We will eat, fellowship with others, and generally enjoy God's creation. We will also worship, which I don't think will be an isolated, corporate event as it is in many cases now, but an attitude that we exhibit as a way of life.  God's presence will be our light and all that exists around Him will bring Him glory.

Back to my original thought. Is Rosie in Heaven? Will I see her again and enjoy her companionship for eternity?  I believe I will.  God created her as He did every living thing.  It was Him who gave her the 'breath of life.'  God did not introduce or create death.  To believe that the creatures He created would end their lives in death, without the possibility of redemption and freedom from the curse, seems counterintuitive to who God is, in my opinion.  This is where we see the importance of it for us.  If an animal could live for eternity, we obviously we do too.

The more important question is will YOU be in Heaven? I am wondering if my dog will be in Heaven because I am sure of my entrance there when I die because of my relationship with Christ. The brokenness of our world corrupted her body and brought on premature death. I look forward to seeing her whole and healthy. God's love for us is so great that He went to great lengths to conquer death for us and give us the opportunity to live the life He originally intended as a free gift. We can do nothing to earn it. Animals being in Heaven is secondary to YOU being there.  Whether they go there or not does not depend on a relationship with Christ, but it does for humans. Do you have a relationship with Christ? The Bible clearly states that to spend eternity with Christ, we must have a relationship with Him.  You have the choice to follow Him or not. That is our distinction that sets us apart from animals; we have God's spirit in us that gives us the Free Will to choose Him or reject Him. However, if we reject Him, He rejects us and our eternity is spent apart from Him.  Apart from God is death, fear, sorrow, pain, despair, disease and isolation. With God is life, joy, peace, love, wholeness, fellowship and beauty.  What will you choose?