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The
“Good News” May Be
Better Than You Think
Niki Behrikis Shanahan
Over
2,000 years ago Jesus came to this earth to live, declare the gospel, heal the
sick, sacrifice His life for us, and be resurrected from the dead. He did this
to redeem mankind, thus bringing us back into fellowship with God. He made a
way of escape for us so we could enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven. This is
a very short summary of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How do we know that the animals have the gift of eternal life also? We go to
the same source that we went to when we wanted to know if we would have
eternal life – the Bible. On the internet I have read many comments from
people, some in the ministry, stating that there is nothing in the Bible to tell
us about what happens to the animals after they die. Many of them say, “we’ll
just have to wait and see.” Niki
Behrikis Shanahan is the author of There Is Eternal Life For Animals, The
Rainbow Bridge: Pet Loss Is Heaven's Gain, and Animal Prayer
Guide. Pete Publishing,
www.eternalanimals.com. Available at
amazon.com. Article copyright 2003 Niki Behrikis Shanahan. All
rights reserved. Not to be used without author's explicit written
authorization.
This life is just an introduction to eternity. What we do here and now
determines our fate in the next life, which lasts a long, long time. That’s the
“Good News!”
How, then, could the “Good News” get any better? What else could
be so exiting? How about eternal life for your cat, dog, horse, and every other
animal that God created! Would you like to be reunited with your beloved pet?
Would you like to find your pet in heaven waiting for you when you get there?
It doesn’t get any better than this!
This brings to mind the spaghetti sauce commercial that was on TV some years
ago. In the commercial someone used to say, does it have fresh tomatoes and
they’d say, “it’s in there!” Does it have fresh seasoning and they’d say,
“it’s in there!” Does it have onions and they’d say, “it’s in there!”
This was supposed to demonstrate the high quality of the sauce. That commercial
became a running joke with my Dad for a long time. He had a great sense of
humor and loved to kid around. Whenever someone was looking for something he
would say, “it’s in there!”
Is there information about the future of the animals in the Bible? “It’s
in there!” The following is a scripture that sums it up quite nicely:
Thy righteousness is like the great
mountains; thy judgments are a great
deep: O Lord, Thou preservest man and
beast.
Psalm 36:6, King James Version
The original Hebrew word translated as “thou preservest” is “yasha`” meaning “to
be liberated, be saved, be delivered, to save from moral troubles, to give
victory to.” The original Hebrew word translated as “and beast” is “b@hemah,”
which means “beast, animal, cattle, livestock (of domestic animals), wild
beasts.” It is obvious that this verse, written by King David, has a future
meaning pertaining to the second coming of Jesus Christ and our resurrection.
How do we know? Because the followers of Christ and the animals are not
currently enjoying liberation from moral troubles. We haven’t been delivered
yet.
This scripture states that the Lord will save, liberate, and deliver man and
animals! To me this verse is one of the most powerful and revealing
affirmations regarding the fate of man and animals. It is most illuminating! I
think King David was especially happy about the inclusion of the animals, since
he was a shepherd boy when God first sought him out to become king. He must
have become very fond of his sheep.
There’s no other possible interpretation of this scripture. God certainly has
not preserved us in this life. Therefore, when He says that He preserveth man
and beast, He means what He says. God can’t lie, if He said it, he’ll do it!
Notice that this next verse says God is not a man, that He should lie:
God is not a
man, that He should lie. He is not a human, that He should
change His mind. Has He ever
spoken and failed to act? Has He ever
promised and not carried it through?
Hebrews 6:18, New Living Translation
So if we want to find out what will happen to the animals after they pass away,
we can take a look around in the Bible. Let me assure you that “it’s in
there!”