If Jesus took all sin into His heart and died, how did He go to Heaven?

Great question! The truth is Jesus never sinned. He (amazingly!) took the sins of the world upon himself as part of God’s plan to save us from being separated from Him forever.

 

Do you remember that in the Old Testament days, animals were sacrificed to pat the price for sin? The blood  of the sacrificed animals was traded to cover the sins of men. The animals never sinned, but were sacrificed in exchange for human sin.

 

Animal sacrifices, however, could never be enough to fully cover human sin. God’s plan required blood from a perfect, sinless person. This is because our perfect and holy God cannot be anywhere near sin. Of course, it was impossible to find a perfect and holy person since we all have sinned and fallen short of the perfection God requires. So, God sent His One and Only Son to be that perfect, sinless sacrifice in our place. 

 

Jesus took our place and endured the punishment that we all deserve, even though He had never sinned. Because of His sacrifice, God was able to us as if we were perfect and sinless like Jesus. And even though Jesus accepted all our sin onto Himself, He was still perfect and sinless! That is why Jesus was able to ascend into Heaven and is alive today at the right hand of God.

 

This is why we now can be sure of having eternal life with God in Heaven, because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Of course, we still have a part to do … though it’s actually pretty easy: You simply have to accept Jesus  as your Savior and accept His gift of grace!

 

Where do animals go when they die?

Wow! That is an awesome question! And I believe what you are asking me is if animals go to Heaven when they die. I get this question a lot because when kids lose their pets, they want to know if their pet gets to go to Heaven.

The truth is we don’t really know and this question has been debated among Bible scholars for a long time. It is one of the mysteries that God has chosen not to reveal to us.

Some Bible scholars claim that animals, however smart they can be, have no souls so they cannot have an immortal spirit that can survive after death. They also argue that animals were created inferior to human and they are not equal to us. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Still other Bible scholars make the argument that there are animals in Heaven and reference Biblical passages such as Isaiah 65:25, which talks about the new Heaven and new Earth and describes all sorts of animals living together, and Revelation 19:14, which describes Jesus and his army returning on horses.

I tend to believe what it says in Matthew 19:26, “…with God, all things are possible.” I also know God’s character and I personally believe that God, in His infinite love and wisdom, created a Heaven that is a place of perfect happiness. For me, perfect happiness would include all of God’s beauty and creation, including animals.

Is my hope based on complete Biblical truth? Nope. I’m just hoping that I’m right!

Where did Noah put the poop of the animals?

Wow. That is a very interesting question! The truth is that the Bible doesn’t really say. But, we do have a few ideas …

Prior to the Great Flood, there is no clear indication in the Bible that animals ate meat or were violent and vicious. In fact, God commanded Noah to load the ark with every kind of food which is edible for his family and for the animals (Genesis 6:21). Since they didn’t eat meat, they likely ate fruits and vegetables. Not everyone agrees about all this, but let’s go with it for this question.

It wasn’t after the flood that man apparently was allowed to eat meat (Genesis 9:2-3) And, God commanded that animals were then also allowed to meat. God warned the animals, however, that if they ate a human, they would have to answer to God for it (Genesis 9:5).

So, because animals and man did not eat meat prior to the flood, their poop wasn’t contaminated with blood (the Bible calls it “lifeblood “) and probably not any other biological impurities either.

So, having said that, (and I am completely guessing here) they probably did two things with the poop: 1) They threw the excess poop overboard into the water were it degraded naturally; or 2) they used it as fertilizer for their plants and crops to grow additional fruits and vegetables!

Would God be in your pet?

That is a very interesting question! And the first thing we have to do is make a distinction here because it is a very important one: God created your pet but God is not in your pet. Let’s look at the Old Testament in the book of Genesis. The very first chapter talks about all the things God created, including the animals. So, we know that God creates all life, including our pets.

But, if you read a little further, in Genesis, it says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” This seems to imply that animals are not equal to humans (I know, duh!). But many Biblical scholars interpret this passage to show that animals are subservient to people and that, while they may have the “breath of life” (nephesh in Hebrew), they do not have an immortal soul like we do.

I think the Bible supports that only people have souls too. I believe the following Biblical passage clearly shows that animals do not have souls: “They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.” (2 Peter 2:12). If animals had souls, the Bible would probably mention a salvation plan for them. But, it doesn’t. Salvation is only offered to us.

Now, having said all that…I also believe there are animals in Heaven. How else could Jesus come riding down on a white horse in Revelation 19:11? In the Book of Isaiah, it is written that the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lay with the goat, the calf, the lion and the yearling will be together and a child will lead them. (Isaiah 11:6). This seems to imply that all of God’s creation will live in Heaven.

Do I believe that someday I’ll be reunited with my first dog? Probably not, although that would be a great thought! Remember, “With man this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible” (Matthew 19:25-27).