Aliens and Scripture -4

Aliens & Scripture – 4

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 phrase, “Do not go beyond what is written,” was a response to teachers who supplemented received apostolic teaching with worldly wisdom or divisiveness, thereby causing divisions within the congregation.

Much of the confusion and deception that occurs among Christians comes from teachers who go beyond what is written. They supplement or take away from God’s Word to support their unbiblical views.

1 Corinthians 3:8–15 (NIV84)

8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.

11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.

14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

What does the foundation consist of?

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NLT)

19  So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

20  Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

21  We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.

22  Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

The foundation is the Word of God spoken by the apostles (New Testament) and the prophets (Old Testament).

The foundation is Jesus Christ, who is the Word made flesh.

Paul laid a foundation (God’s Word), and all others who follow him must do the same.

Each teacher should be careful how he builds.

There is one foundation: Jesus Christ. No one can lay another foundation.

That foundation was laid by the apostles and prophets.

There are no more apostles or prophets in the foundational, revelatory sense. Their ministry was unique to the establishment of the church, and God's completed revelation is now contained in Scripture.

Teachers who follow the prophets and the apostles are to build on this foundation using the same materials (God’s Word).

Ephesians 4:11–16 (NIV84)

11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 2:20 explains the foundational role of the apostles and prophets.

A foundation is laid once, not repeatedly.

The church today is built on that foundation through the ministry of pastors, elders, and teachers who faithfully proclaim the apostolic Scriptures—not by receiving new revelation.

Psalm 127:1 (NIV84)

1Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Teachers labor in vain when they depart from God’s Word. Those who speak should do so as one speaking the very words of God—not as interpreters adding their own devices or subtracting inconvenient truths.

1 Peter 4:11a (NIV84)

11  If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.

The very words of God is God’s Word.

Teachers: speak God’s Word.

When it comes to the subject of aliens, there is much speculation and discussion, yet no credible evidence.

The Bible does not answer every question people ask about aliens, but it does answer the most important question: Who did Jesus come to redeem?

Redemption through Jesus

Ruth 4:13–14 (HCSB)

13Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he was intimate with her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

14Then the women said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel.

Kinsman-redeemer = גָּאַל gō’ēl = a man who was legally able to redeem his close male relative’s wife in order to bring up sons for the deceased’s lineage.

The HCSB uses the term family redeemer for kinsman-redeemer. In order to qualify as a kinsman-redeemer, the male had to be part of the family; he had to be family.

Hebrews 2:11 (NIV84)

11Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Jesus met the qualifications to be our family redeemer or kinsman-redeemer.

Hebrews 2:14–18 (NIV84)

14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—

15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

16For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.

17For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Louis Berkhof (1873-1957), The Necessity of His Manhood (paraphrased): Because humanity sinned, it was necessary for a true man to bear the penalty for sin. Christ therefore assumed a genuine human nature, complete with its physical and emotional weaknesses (yet without sin), so that He could suffer and die as our substitute. As the sinless God-man, He alone was qualified to make atonement for others. By becoming fully human, He also experienced temptation, suffering, and the hardships of life, enabling Him to sympathize with our weaknesses, serve as our compassionate High Priest, and provide the perfect example for believers to follow.

A human Savior was necessary, because human beings are in need of a propitiatory sacrifice and a sympathetic high priest.

Jesus was fully human, as the “children” are and as the high priest had to be.

Unless Jesus became fully human in every respect (except for sin), he could not represent believers as their high priest.

Hebrews 2:11b (NIV84), “So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

This verse emphasized Jesus’ human nature.

He might make atonement (Propitiation) = ἱλάσκομαι hilaskomai 2x (Luke 18:13, mercy) = to eliminate impediments that alienate the deity, expiate, wipe out.

Conveys the sense of an atoning sacrifice that puts away sin and satisfies God’s wrath.

1 Timothy 2:5–6 (NIV84)

5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.

Mediator = μεσίτης mesitēs = a negotiator who acts as a link between parties.

As a ransom = ἀντίλυτρον antilytron 1x = what is given in exchange (as payment) for the release of someone held captive.

The means or instrument by which release or deliverance is made possible.

To whom was the ransom paid?

Ransom Theory

John MacArthur: Proponents of the ransom, or classic, theory of the atonement argue that in the cosmic struggle between good and evil and between God and Satan, Satan had held humanity captive to sin. Therefore, in order to rescue humanity, God had to ransom them from the power of Satan by delivering Jesus over to him in exchange for the souls held captive.

It is the holiness of God, not any supposed sovereignty of Satan, that requires a just penalty to be paid for sin.

Scripture makes it clear that Jesus paid the price of the cross in order to ransom sinners from the just punishment of God’s holy wrath (Rom. 5:9).

In the deepest sense, Jesus saved us from God, not merely the power of sin and Satan.

R.C. Sproul: If Christ paid a ransom to Satan to deliver us from Satan’s clutches, who is the victor? The kidnapper usually does not want permanent possession of his victim; rather, he wants the ransom he can get in exchange for his hostage’s release. If he can get the ransom, he wins.

The ransom was paid not to Satan but to God, because God was the One Who had to be satisfied.

When the Bible speaks of ransom, it speaks of that ransom being paid not to a criminal but to the One Who is owed the price for redemption, the One Who is the offended party in the whole complex of sin—the Father.

Jesus didn’t negotiate with Satan for our salvation.

Instead, He offered Himself in payment to the Father for us. By so offering Himself, He made redemption for His people, redeeming them from captivity.

R.C. Sproul: The concept of ransom is built upon the idea that something has been lost and must be purchased back or someone that has been held captive now must be set free.

Jesus paid the ransom to set us free.

Some in the early church (and some today, unfortunately) suggested that Jesus paid the ransom to Satan, but this is not the case. Satan did not hold us captive; he was only the jailer.

The Master who had taken us captive and needed to receive the ransom payment was God.

He was the offended party to whom the ransom needed to be paid. Jesus, as the volunteer suffering Servant, offered himself as payment for us.

God’s wrath needed to be placated or appeased. The technical term for this appeasement is propitiation.

On the cross, Jesus suffered the full fury of the pains of hell under the wrath of God and thus placated God’s anger.

In the design of God, Jesus’ sufferings purged our sins away. The technical term for this purging is expiation. Expiation has to do with the act of removing or taking away our guilt by way of paying the penalty for sin to God. Our guilt was put on Jesus and was purged away under the fiery wrath of God.

Jesus took the punishment we deserve. The result is that God has been propitiated or satisfied.

We have been ransomed from the doom that we faced.

We have been let out of the prison of judgment, the prison maintained by Satan the accuser and jailer.

We have been freed from God’s judgment.

Wayne Grudem: Though we were in bondage to sin and to Satan, there was no ransom paid either to “sin” or to Satan, for they did not have power to demand such payment, nor was Satan the one whose holiness was offended by sin and who required a penalty to be paid for sin.

Ransom Paid to God

Hebrews 9:11–15 (NIV84)

11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.

12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

These verse reiterate the fact that Jesus was the ransom paid to God; the ransom was not paid to Satan.

Romans 5:9–10 (NIV84)

9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

10For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

The ransom of the cross satisfied God's justice, not Satan's demands.

God was wronged by human sin, yet he showed his great love in providing redemption (Jn 3:16). God declared humans guilty for their sin and imposed the death penalty for human transgression.

Thus, Scripture indicated that the ransom was really directed by Christ to the Father.

R.C. Sproul: When the Bible speaks of a ransom, it was paid, not to the devil, but to the one who was the offended party in the whole process of sin.

Who is that? It is God. Jesus, as the Servant of God, offered himself in payment to God for us.

Isaiah 53:6, 10 (NIV84)

6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

10Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

It was God, the Father, not Satan, who orchestrated and received the payment for ransom.

Jesus was not obeying the wishes of Satan; He was obeying the will of God, the Father.

Psalm 40:7–8 (NIV84)

7Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll.

8I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Jesus was not forced into being a sacrifice; He desired to do God’s will.

I desire = חָפֵץ chaphets = to take a high degree of pleasure or mental satisfaction in.

How could Jesus take pleasure in doing God’s will concerning the cross?

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV84)

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus looked beyond the cross.

He looked forward to the joy that lay beyond the cross, and He bore it gladly. It was that joy that made it so easy to bear.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV84)

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Jesus fixed his eyes on what is unseen, the eternal.

Acts 2:22–24, 4:27–28 (NIV84)

2:22“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

2:23This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

2:24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

4:27Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

4:28They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

Jesus was a willing servant, who was obedient to the will of His Father all the way to the cross.

Hebrews 10:5–10 (NIV84)

5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;

6with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

7Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”

8First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made).

9Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Scripture repeatedly affirms that Jesus willingly desired to do His Father’s will.

John 6:38–40 (NIV84)

38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The Father’s will centered on salvation: that Jesus would preserve all those given to him and raise them up on the last day, with everyone who believes in the Son receiving eternal life.

Who were those whom the Father gave to Jesus? Did they include aliens?

Next Week!!! (The Lord Willing)