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janean muses:
But, since you brought this subject up, what about Romans 8:19-23? And especially v. 21 - what does it really mean here "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay"?
If one were to rely upon this passage in Romans to justify a view which posits that animals are to be reanimated and found it heaven, then to be consistent, one would also have to include everything in the irrational world that God had created, e.g., trees, bushes, weeds, mosquitoes, in fact everything and anything which had been created. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

What the text is saying is that the irrational creation (personified) is waiting with great anticipation for the New Heavens and New Earth where the "futility" it was subjected to, e.g., decay, disease, etc., will be no more and its full potential, purpose and peace can then and there be realized. One might see this restoration as being typified in the flood, where the wicked were destroyed (albeit not wickedness) and all emerged new (relatively speaking). In the New Heaven and New Earth, which is going to be preceded by the destroying of the earth by fire (cf. 2Pet 3:10, 11; Rev. 21:1) the entire creation will enjoy the benefits of the redemption of the sons of God in that all that resulted from the curse will be no more. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/joy.gif" alt="" />

In His Grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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