Heaven (Part 24) - Will We Eat Meat, Drink Coffee, and Defecate in Heaven?

---

 

Heaven (Part 24) - Will We Eat Meat, Drink Coffee, and Defecate in Heaven? 37. Will we eat in heaven (Judy), what will we eat in heaven, (Austin), and will we eat meat in heaven? A. Will we eat in heaven? i. Yes, (see Section X, 24, G - What will we do in heaven?). B. Will we eat in the present heaven? i. It is possible that we will. ii. Manna was called angel's food (Psa 78:24-25 c/w Exo 16:14-15, 31 & Num 11:7-8). iii. Angels are spirits, and yet since they have food, it follows that they eat. iv. If angels eat, then it is reasonable to conclude that we will eat in the present heaven as well. C. What will we eat in heaven? i. Remember, the new earth and heavens will be a restoration and glorification of the original earth and heavens (see Section IX - The nature of the new earth). ii. In the original creation before the fall God gave Adam and Eve a wide variety of foods on the earth to eat and enjoy (Gen 1:29). iii. They were told that they could freely eat of all the trees of the garden of Eden (Gen 2:16). iv. Therefore, we should fully expect to enjoy a wide variety of food on the new earth. D. Will we eat meat in heaven? i. Unfortunately, I believe the answer is "no" for the following reasons. a. The new earth and heavens will be a restoration and glorification of the original earth and heavens (see Section IX - The nature of the new earth). (i) Adam and Eve were only given vegetation to eat prior to the fall (Gen 1:29). (ii) Even after the fall, people didn't eat meat for over 1600 years until after the Flood when God have Noah and his family permission to eat animals (Gen 9:1-3). (iii) Therefore, since man originally ate only vegetation and was not given permission to kill and eat animals, it is logical to conclude that we will not eat animals on the new earth. b. There will be no pain, sorrow, or death in the new earth (Rev 21:4; Rom 8:21-23). (i) In order to eat meat an animal must be killed. (ii) Since there will be no death, there will likely be no eating meat. c. Even the animals will resort to being vegetarians (Isa 11:6-7, 9; Isa 65:25) as they were prior to the fall (Gen 1:30). d. If their eating habits change, then why couldn't ours? ii. Possibilities a. It is possible for God to create meat for us to eat without killing an animal to do so. (i) Jesus multiplied a two small fishes into enough food for thousands of people to eat (Joh 6:9-11). (ii) The new meat that He created out of the few dead fish was not created by killing more fish. (iii) Since God can create out of nothing (Gen 1:1), God could easily create meat out of nothing for us to eat on the new earth. b. There could be fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc. on the new earth that would taste better than the best meat on earth now. c. God could create substitutes for meat that taste just as good or better without coming from a dead animal. d. "How hard would it be for God to create far better substitutes that do qualify as meat in every sense of taste and texture, without coming from dead animals? This may stretch the meaning of "meat" and may seem unnatural, but wouldn't it be more natural than animals dying when we're told there will be no more death?" (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 307) iii. So, enjoy all of the meat you can in this life because it's all you're going to get. But, worry not because there are better things to come. 38. Will there be coffee on the new earth? A. Why wouldn't there be? i. Is coffee forbidden by God? No. ii. Is drinking coffee a sin? No. (Rom 4:15) iii. Were coffee beans part of God's original creation that was "very good" before the Fall? Yes. (Gen 1:31) iv. Was coffee part of the curse after the fall? No. (Gen 3:16-19) v. Is coffee a witty invention of men which wise children of God have found knowledge of? Yes. (Pro 8:12) vi. Is drinking good coffee pleasurable? Absolutely. vii. Is coffee one of the "all things" that God has given us richly to enjoy? Yes. (1Ti 6:17) viii. Does the Bible say that there will be no coffee in heaven like it says there will be no marriage there (something that is also pleasurable)? No. ix. Is coffee one of things that the Lord has given us to drink and enjoy that is from the hand of God of which there is nothing better for a man to do in this life? Yes. (Ecc 2:24) x. Can we drink coffee to the glory of God? Yes. (1Co 10:31) B. Given the overwhelming evidence to the affirmative, the onus therefore is on the opponents to prove that coffee will not be enjoyed on the new earth. C. "It’s fine if you don’t like coffee, but to suggest that coffee is inherently unspiritual is . . . well, heresy." (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 308) 39. Will we defecate in heaven? A. God created man with a digestive system including the small intestine for absorbing nutrients, the large intestine for absorbing water and creating feces, the rectum for storing feces, and the anus for expelling it. i. It is possible that man did not defecate prior to the fall when sin and corruption entered the creation. ii. If this was the case, it is also possible that God created man with an elimination system foreseeing he would need it after he fell and was subject to corruption. iii. The same could be the case for animals that became carnivores after the fall who were vegetarians prior to it (Gen 1:30). iv. Those animals were created with teeth, a digestive system, and hunting ability that would facilitate them becoming carnivores after the fall. v. The same could be the case with our elimination systems. B. Our resurrected bodies will have a digestive system which is necessary to process food. i. Jesus' resurrected body was able to eat food (Luk 24:41-43), and therefore it must be assumed that it was able to process that food which means He still had/has a digestive system. ii. Our resurrected bodies will be made like His (Php 3:21), and will be able to eat food (Isa 65:21), which will require a digestive system. C. The question then becomes, will our digestive system include elimination of feces? i. Defecating is not sinful. a. Jesus Christ was/is fully man (1Ti 2:5), yet without sin (2Co 5:21; Heb 4:15). b. This means that He would have defecated like the rest of us. c. But it is possible (and likely) that His feces was not putrid and defiled since He was born without sin and He had no sin, and therefore His body wasn't under the curse. ii. Feces is composed of undigested food, bile, and bilirubin which comes from dead red blood cells. a. "Feces (or faeces) is the solid or semisolid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contains a relatively small amount of metabolic waste products such as bacterially altered bilirubin, and dead epithelial cells from the lining of the gut. ... Normally it is semisolid, with a mucus coating. A combination of bile and bilirubin, which comes from dead red blood cells, gives feces the typical brown color." (Feces, Wikipedia, 2-4-2021) b. Since there will be no corruption in the new earth and in our new bodies (Rom 8:21), there would be no dead blood cells in our feces (if we will produce feces). iii. But will there be undigested food in our feces (if we produce it)? a. It is possible that undigested food is part of the bondage of corruption due to sin. (i) Our bodies do not operate at 100% efficiency since the fall (Rom 8:20). (ii) The food that we eat since the fall is also under the curse and is not 100% pure. b. It's possible that in the resurrection when our bodies are sinless and flawless, and when our food will be 100% nutritious and wholesome, that our bodies will be 100% efficient and will therefore not produce any waste. iv. Feces in this world is unclean and defiling (Deut 23:12-14). a. But there will be nothing unclean and defiling in heaven or the new earth (Rev 21:27). b. Our bodies will no longer be vile (Php 3:21). c. Therefore, if there is feces in the new earth, it will not be unclean or defiling. d. It could be clean waste that is expelled from the body because it is not needed. D. "Could God make it so our new bodies wouldn't go through the same digestive and elimination processes they do now? Certainly. Will he? We don't know. But no aspect of our God-created physiology can be bad. To imagine otherwise is Christoplatonism again. Did Adam and Eve experience digestion and elimination in a perfect world? Of course. Jesus never sinned, but his body functioned just as ours do." (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 305) E. So, will we defecate in heaven? I'm not certain; we will have to wait and see.