Aliens and Scripture - 2

Aliens & Scripture – 2

John 10:14–16 (NIV84)

14“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Some have erroneously inferred that the other sheep alluded to aliens.

The “other sheep” in John 10:16 are Gentile believers as opposed to Jewish believers. When Jesus said, “I have other sheep, which are not of this [Jewish] fold” (insert added), he was clearly referring to non-Jewish, Gentile believers.

The Gentile believers, along with the Jewish believers, “shall become one flock with one shepherd,” not one flock on earth and one flock in heaven.

1 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV84)

6Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.

The words and teachings of Scripture are ultimately sufficient and true. Truth is not dependent on the personality or charisma of those who teach.

To not go beyond what is written means to focus on Jesus and His Word above all else. It means to trust that the Bible has all the answers and truths we need to live a holy and pleasing life before God—we don’t need anything beyond what God has provided for us in His Word.

Genesis 1:14–19 (AMP 2015)

14Then God said, “Let there be light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be useful for signs (tokens) [of God’s provident care], and for marking seasons, days, and years; [Gen 8:22]

15and let them be useful as lights in the expanse of the heavens to provide light on the earth”; and it was so, [just as He commanded].

16God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night; He made the [galaxies of] stars also [that is, all the amazing wonders in the heavens].

17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to provide light upon the earth,

18to rule over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.

19And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

The three stated purposes for the existence of the universe, as far as man is concerned, are:

signs,

a clock-calendar system, and

illumination by day and by night for earth dwellers.

The planets of the universe were markers to indicate times and seasons: “for signs and seasons, and for days and years” (v. 14). And in that way they regulate our lives.

They set our calendars. They determine the length of a year. They divide the year into seasons.

And they mark the passage of our days and nights.

The main function of the sun, moon and stars, no matter how vast the heavens are with respect to earth, is simply to provide light for the earth and its inhabitants (Genesis 1:14–18).

Psalm 8:1–9 (NIV84)

1O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

2From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

5You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

6You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

7all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

8the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

9O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The vast universe created by God is immeasurable. No one but God is able to measure it.

You can believe it or not. God made the vast universe, its vast expanse, to provide light on the earth for man. (See Genesis 1:16.)

“What is man that you are mindful of him?”

Man = אֱנוֹשׁ ‘enosh = man, humankind, mortal, with an emphasis on frailty.

it suggests the frailty, vulnerability, and finitude of “man” as contrasted to God; human frailty, weakness, mortality; fragile, mortal nature.

When biblical writers choose 'enosh, they often want readers to think:

humans are fragile

life is short

people are limited compared to God

(the son of) man = אָדָם ʾādām = man, human being; humankind, people, often in contrast to animals; “son of man” means a human being.

Humanity as a species; earthly origin; sometimes the individual Adam.

Genesis emphasizes 'adam because it is about humanity's creation and vocation.

Psalms and Job frequently use 'enosh when reflecting on suffering, mortality, or the greatness of God.

You are mindful of = זָכַר zākar = to remember: to keep in mind for attention or consideration.

to remember, call to mind; to name, mention; to make known; to profess, praise

remember, reflect on, commemorate

gracious attention that leads to care.

"What are human beings that they should occupy your thoughts and receive your ongoing care?"

What a marvel that the Creator of the vast heavens chooses to keep frail humanity continually in His loving attention!

Fallen Angels and Aliens?

1 Timothy 4:1 (NIV84)

1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Researchers from both Christian and secular backgrounds have noted that many alleged alien encounters are not merely physical events.

None of these claims have ever been verified by any mainstream scientific, academic, or historical institution.

While the experiences themselves—such as sleep paralysis, altered states, and telepathic sensations—are well-documented as psychological and neurological phenomena, there is zero verifiable evidence linking them to extraterrestrial life.

The messages these people received were distinctly anti-Christian or New Age that reframed Biblical events.

Where is Everybody?

Genesis 1:20-31 tells us what God created in the beginning.

Day 3: Plants

Day 5: Fish and Birds

Day 6: Land animals and Man

Every living creature God created is connected with the earth.

There are no statements in the Bible such as, “And God created living creatures upon the stars.”

Fermi Paradox: Italian physicist Enrico Fermi concluded: If life sprung up in our galaxy many millions of years ago, then our galaxy should have been entirely colonized by now.

Even assuming modest speeds, every habitable star system in the galaxy should have been colonized within mere millions, not billions, of years. Complete colonization could take place in the relative twinkling of a cosmic eye, many times over, in a ten-billion-year-old galaxy like the Milky Way.

“So,” asked Fermi, “Where are they?”

If the Big Bang model is true, it would be inconceivable that other life—even advanced life—does not exist somewhere in the Universe with its billions of stars and even, presumably, more planets.

Such life should have long ago colonized our region of the Universe, and yet there is absolutely no evidence for the existence of extraterrestrials.

If one predicts that aliens should exist and should have been noticed by humans by now if the Big Bang Theory is true and that prediction fails upon examining the evidence, then the Big Bang Theory has been effectively falsified by the evidence.

Evolution & Aliens?

Historically and intellectually, there is a significant connection between modern beliefs about extraterrestrial civilizations and evolutionary thinking.

That does not mean every person who believes in aliens accepts evolution, nor does it mean every evolutionist believes intelligent aliens exist.

Evolution suggests life should arise naturally elsewhere.

If life developed on Earth through unguided natural processes over billions of years, then Earth is not fundamentally unique. Given enough planets and enough time, many scientists reason that life should have arisen elsewhere.

Carl Sagan: "The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."

Matter naturally becomes life (wrong!)

Life naturally becomes intelligence (wrong!)

Intelligent civilizations should be common (??!!)

Evolution says life is a natural accident that should occur wherever conditions permit. (wrong!)

Biblical creation teaches that life is a special creation of God, uniquely established on the earth He created to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18).

Therefore, evolution naturally expects a universe filled with life, whereas Scripture emphasizes the uniqueness of Earth's creation and humanity's place in God's redemptive plan.

In the evolutionary view, the earth is just another planet—one where the conditions just happened to be right for life to form and evolve.

If there are countless billions of other planets in our galaxy, then surely at least a handful of these worlds have also had the right conditions.

Extraterrestrial life is almost inevitable in an evolutionary worldview.

Isaiah 45:18 (NIV84)

18For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Psalm 33:6–9 (NIV84)

6By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

7He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.

8Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.

9For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

There is no process and no passage of time; that which He creates comes into being instantly by His Word alone.

That is why theories that add multiple billions of years to the age of the earth do nothing to advance biblical understanding.

Creation is not a process God initiated; it is something God completed. He literally spoke the material cosmos into existence.

What God made did not evolve. He gave the order, and it came into existence complete and fully functioning.

The entire panoply (display, array, exhibition) of heaven—including the moon, the sun, the stars, and countless galaxies—was complete and fully functioning on the day God made it.

It still functions as He designed it, with a complexity that is staggering.

T.L. Moore, physics professor, University of Cincinnati: “To talk of the evolution of thought from sea slime to amoeba, from amoeba to a self-conscious thinking man, means nothing. It is the easy solution of a thoughtless brain.”

Hebrews 1:3–4 (AMP 2015)

3The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority],

4having become as much superior to angels, since He has inherited a more excellent and glorious name than they [that is, Son—the name above all names].

The same Word that God spoke creation into existence is the same Word that keeps everything in place.

UFOs

Jason Lisle: There is no doubt that some people sincerely have seen things in the sky that they do not understand. This is hardly surprising since there are lots of things “up there,” which can be misunderstood by people not familiar with them. These include Venus, satellites, the international space station, the space shuttle, rockets, etc.

UFO beliefs often borrowed evolutionary ideas:

Beginning especially in the 1950s and 1960s, many UFO "contactees" claimed that extraterrestrials told them:

Humanity is evolving

Religions are outdated

Jesus was only an enlightened teacher

Mankind will become divine

Advanced civilizations have outgrown Christianity (Jacques Vallée, Passport to Magonia, 1969; Messengers of Deception, 1979; Dimensions, 1988).

Although not a Christian, Vallée observed that UFO encounters consistently contain religious and spiritual elements.

Researchers such as John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Gary Bates, Clifford Wilson, and others have documented that these messages frequently resemble New Age spirituality much more than astronomy.

Acts 17:26 (NIV84)

26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is the decades-long scientific effort to detect intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations.

While the SETI Institute is one organization involved in this research, "SETI" more broadly refers to the worldwide search itself.

Beginning in the 1960s, SETI became a worldwide scientific effort to search for evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations.

After more than six decades of searching, SETI has not detected a confirmed signal from extraterrestrial intelligence.

Lawrence W. Fagg (1923-2015) Christian Nuclear Physicist argues that if humanity is alone in the universe—as the continued lack of evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence may suggest—then our uniqueness should not lead us to despair but to a deeper relationship with God.

The remarkable conditions that make Earth habitable and the extraordinary rarity of the circumstances that made human life possible point to our exceptional place in creation.

Rather than looking for intelligent life elsewhere, Fagg contends that our deepest need for communication is ultimately fulfilled through authentic dialogue with God.

Ephesians 2:1–2 (NIV84)

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air (the prince and the power of the air, esv), the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Prince (esv) = ἄρχων archon = any supernatural being (besides God) acting in a ruling or commanding capacity; either good or evil.

Power = ἐξουσία exousia = authority, rule, dominion, jurisdiction.

Freedom of choice, right, power, authority, ruling power, a bearer of authority.

Dunamis or power is the ability to do something.

Exousia or authority is the right to do it.

The devil has been given the right to exercise his power over the unbelievers in the world. He can only do what God allows him to do.

Air = ἀήρ aēr = air, atmosphere

demonic realm: the sky understood as the realm where evil spirits dwell and come from (to exercise their influence).

The space above the earth inhabited by and under the control of certain supernatural powers; air, sky.

The various supernatural powers regarded as inhabiting the area above the earth and thus controlling in many respects both the behavior and the fate of people.

The devil’s authority is limited to the air.

The kingdom of Satan is in this lower atmosphere where we human beings are, in order that that sinister being, filled with a bitter hatred of God and the human race, might with his demons, prey upon humanity. Satan is the leader of the authority (demons) of the lower atmosphere. The unsaved order their behavior according to his dictates and those of his demons.

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV84)

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (places, esv).

Heavenly places = ἐπουράνιος epouranios = The heavenly places here are not those highest ones inhabited by the holy angels, but the lower heavens, the lower atmosphere surrounding this earth.

90 percent of all UFO sightings could be easily explained. Most of the sightings turned out to be celestial objects, such as stars or bright planets like Venus, or atmospheric events such as auroras or meteors falling through the atmosphere. Many other sightings turned out to be such objects as weather balloons, satellites, aircraft lights, or formations of birds.

There is no documentation of confirmed UFO sightings occurring outside Earth’s atmosphere—only reports of aerial phenomena observed from Earth’s surface. To date, no credible evidence exists of spacecraft or extraterrestrial objects photographed or detected in space itself by space-based instruments or astronauts.

What about the redemption of aliens? Is that possible?

Next Week!!! (The Lord willing)