People have souls, the eternal spirit of God. When God
created man, he made us in his image by breathing into dust, creating something
very different from animals. That breath gave humans eternal life.
In the book of Revelation, after Jesus returns to
earth to end life as we know it and begin a new heaven and new earth, God will
reset the earth so it returns to his original intention found in the Garden of
Eden. There were animals in the Garden of Eden so why not in our eternal
resting place?
The Bible uses phrases like this when talking about
peace.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox,but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD. Isaiah 65:25
The phrase also points to the eternal peace found in
heaven, when even two animals in a predator/prey relationship stop fearing one
another. While it is a metaphor, could it mean that these animals will live in
heaven together peacefully forever?
When God made animals, he called them good. They are
one of the trophies of God’s creation and creativity. God even took special
steps to rescue them on the ark with Noah. The new earth will reset to the post-sin earth
Adam and Eve experienced. Animals were
created on the fifth and sixth days.
So animals, it appears, will be in heaven.