Max Lucado - Do Dogs Go to Heaven?
Summary:
Building on John 3:16's promise of eternal life, the preacher challenges misty, disembodied views of heaven by teaching that God will renew this earth into a splendid new earth, as described in Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21:2 where the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven. He explains that the biblical «new» means renewed quality rather than brand-new creation, and God’s purifying fire (like in 2 Peter 3) will cleanse sin without destroying the planet itself. The encouraging takeaway is that heaven will be the best possible earth—full of animals, nature’s beauty, sunsets, and all that we love here—whetting our appetite for the glorious restored creation awaiting believers.
Greeting and Invitation
God bless you today. God bless you today. Wherever you are, you’re going to have a good day in the name of Jesus Christ. We’re looking at the greatest verse in the Bible, John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
I’m so happy today to talk to you and discuss with you eternal life. Not something you’d like to discuss? Boy, I have a hard time imagining why, but for whatever reason, I get it. The choice is yours. Just let us know how to pray for you before you slip out; but if you can stay around for, well, let me tell you, I think I could use 10 minutes on this one. I get a little long-winded talking about how great heaven is going to be. I think you’ll be glad if you stayed around; it may be a good investment of those 10 minutes.
Common Misconceptions About Heaven
Maybe these adjectives describe your view of heaven: unfamiliar, foreign, disembodied, nothing to do, no time, no space. Maybe you anticipate a spiritual heaven that is indwelt by intangible spirits and a misty terrain. If so, you’re probably not too excited about it, are you? So let me challenge some preconceptions that we tend to have about heaven. Let me do so with a couple of questions.
Is Heaven on Earth?
Question number one: Is heaven on earth? Is heaven non-earth? In other words, will God abandon this planet? And I would ask, why would he? Why would he? I mean, he created the heavens and the earth with a plus. Remember in the book of Genesis, he called them very good. Everything was very good. He never renounced his work; quite the opposite, quite the contrary: he pledged to restore it. He said, «Behold, I will create a new heaven and I will create a new earth.» That’s Isaiah 65:17. So I would suggest that God’s heavenly hope contains an earthly dimension in the final phase of life. We don’t go up to heaven; no, heaven comes down to earth. What John saw in the book, as he recorded in the book of Revelation, was the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. That’s in Revelation 21:2. So God comes down, and he comes down to reclaim his creation. He is a God of restoration, not a God of destruction.
Now, Jesus used this very language with his disciples. He said, in the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, «You who have followed me will also rule.» That passage I’m looking at is from a translation called The Message, Matthew 19:28. So God’s redemption is both physical and spiritual, material and emotional, and he will lay hold, I believe, of every atom, every insect, every animal, every galaxy. He will reclaim what is his, and to do any less would be the admission of defeat. To destroy the universe is to admit that it cannot be reclaimed and renewed, but to rescue and redeem it is absolutely consistent with God’s character and yet another display of our Maker’s ultimate authority.
So is heaven on earth? I think so. Is heaven this earth? I think so.
The Meaning of «New» in Scripture
And here’s how I ended up with this. You know, the Greek language has two words for time. One suggests chronology, and the other suggests quality. We have something similar in English. You know, looking over my shoulder in our kitchen some time ago, we got a new kitchen. Now that phrase «new kitchen» did not mean in that situation a brand new one as if it never existed. It did exist; it just needed an update. So we got a new kitchen, as in new and improved—new appliances, new fixtures. «New» can mean chronology, or it can mean quality.
Now when John says, «I saw a new heaven and a new earth, » guess which form of «new» do you suppose he used? Which one did he employ? Well, he picked quality, not chronology. He saw an earth—not an earth that had never been, but an earth that has never been so splendid since the days of Eden. A new earth, a renewed earth! It’s that same word that the Apostle Paul used when he described Christians. You might recall he said, «Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation.» Now that’s not new in the sense of chronology. That passage does not teach that a person did not exist before they trusted Christ. No, conversion does not create the person; it changes the person. It changes the person. We are new in the sense of quality, not chronology.
Fire as Purification, Not Destruction
But what of God’s promises? Somebody’s thinking, what about those promises to burn up the world? What about those passages like this one: «Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire.» That’s in 2 Peter 3:10. Sure sounds like total destruction! Or does it? Does a fire necessarily consume? Well, the blacksmith would say no; he uses fire to recast and reshape. The medic might use fire to purify, needing to perform surgery on the battlefield; he might kill bacteria on his knife with a flame. So fire can recast, fire can cleanse. And isn’t that God’s plan for the earth?
The context of 2 Peter 3 suggests so. In the verses prior to the one that we just discussed, Peter compares the coming of Christ to the flood of Noah. He says then he, speaking of God, used that water to destroy the world with a mighty flood. 2 Peter 3:6. So God destroyed the earth with a flood. Now did the earth cease to exist? No, God will destroy the earth again with fire, but it won’t cease to exist. He’s going to destroy the sin; he’s going to destroy the stink; he’s going to destroy the pollution; he’s going to destroy the pain, as far as the curse is found. His purging will pass. But will the earth cease to exist? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I don’t think heaven is a non-earth. I believe heaven will be this earth, and I believe that matters.
Why This View of Heaven Matters
Somebody might say, «Well, so what? So what? Why does this even matter? Why is this even important? Why is the doctrine of the new earth a significant doctrine?» Well, I think it helps us long for heaven. I have a friend who told me about his nephew’s question. His nephew, a five-year-old, asked this question: «Does heaven have water puddles?» That’s a great question, right? The father said, «Well, I think so.» And the five-year-old said, «Big water puddles?» The dad said, «Yeah, I think so.» The five-year-old asked, «Like really big water puddles with mud in them?» The dad said, «I don’t see why not.» And the five-year-old thought for a moment and concluded, «Hmm, I’m looking forward to heaven!»
Now, you see, we can relate to that five-year-old’s concern. Who wants a heaven with absolutely no water puddles? Now you’ve likely not asked about water puddles, but I bet you have wondered about the nature of heaven-maybe about pets in heaven, seasons in heaven, sunsets in heaven, forests in heaven, waterfalls in heaven. So my question is, why would God give you such interest if he only intends to destroy them? The woodland glade, the breath-stealing oak, the stars that dance like dew drops in the sky? Why does he give us a love for his creation if he’s just going to destroy it? I think he’s tantalizing us. I think he’s wooing us. I think he dangles the Yosemite waterfall or Caribbean coast in our direction and says, «This is just an appetizer, an order of what awaits you. The best of this world is a postcard of the next.»
What Heaven Will Include
Now, if I’m right, if this earth is God’s hors d’oeuvre, then a cluster of heaven questions find answers. People ask all the time: Will there be animals in heaven? Of course! God loves his creation. He has an affection for his non-human creation. Adam named them, Noah saved them, and God hears them. Scripture says, «Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.» Well, my puppy has breath!
Will we enjoy the sun and the moon in heaven? I think so. The scripture says, «The city does not need the sun nor the moon.» I know that; I realize it. Yet to say the earth won’t need the sun and the moon and to say they won’t have them are really two different statements. We love the moon; we love the sun. Now, God doesn’t need the sun and the moon in the next version of life. I know he will illuminate the skies with his glory, and he’ll display sunsets, and he’ll display beautiful nighttime appearances of the moon. I think just because he loves to, and because he loves us, he does it. Now, right? He displays his glory because he loves us.
So filter your heaven questions through this principle: Heaven is the best possible earth. The best possible earth. Snowflakes in heaven, giraffes and groundhogs, misty glades, star-studded nights-yes! This much and much, much more. Let the glory of this life whet your appetite for the next, and God is so excited to give it to you. For all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Have a great day, my friend!