Aliens and Scripture -5 (Pastor's Copy)

Aliens & Scripture – 5

God the Son Became Flesh

Hebrews 2:14–17 (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.

1 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)

16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

Mystery = μυστήριον mystērion = revealed secret: a divine secret that is now openly revealed.

when used in the New Testament, refers to the things of God that were once hidden but were later revealed through Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

A mystery is that which can only be known through the revelation of God.

The mystery of godliness is the heart of the Christian faith. It is the fact that God took on human flesh to live among the people He created.

Because those destined for redemption were human beings—participants in human nature—Christ himself became a participant in that same humanity.

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.

V. 14, “Christ offered himself unblemished to God.”

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.

Jesus Came to Save Man

John 12:46–47 (NIV84)

46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

47“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

World = κόσμος kosmos = humanity in general.

People associated with a world system and estranged from God; people of the world.

The inhabitants of the world; particularly the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race.

The (human) world, which has fallen into conflict with God, and for which God has acted to bring redemption and reconciliation.

of the human inhabitants of the world.

Jesus came to save people, humans.

Ephesians 1:3–14 (NIV84)

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Chose = ἐκλέγομαι eklegomai = to choose out as the recipients of special favor and privilege.

To select for one’s own reasons or purposes from a number of alternatives.

Pick out, choose out a person or thing (from a sizeable number).

God bestows his favour upon men and joins them to himself solely on the basis of his own free decision and his love which is not dependent on any temporal circumstances.

Predestined = προορίζω proorizō = to predetermine: to determine something ahead of time or before its occurrence.

To come to a decision beforehand; to decide beforehand, to determine ahead of time, to decide upon ahead of time.

Galatians 3:26–4:7 (NIV84)

26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,

27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

1What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.

3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.

4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

The child in Galatians 4:1 is among the elect—their election was settled before the world began. But they don’t experience or exercise that status until they receive Christ and believe in his name, receiving the right to become children of God.

John 1:12-13 (NIV84)

12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Election is God's eternal purpose; adoption as sons is the point at which that purpose becomes a reality in the believer's life through faith and redemption. The child was always destined to be heir, but only maturity—brought about through Christ’s redemptive work—makes that inheritance operative.

For it is only if and when faith is lived out, that election is evident.

Acts 4:12 (NIV84)

12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Scripture repeatedly shows that God had sent Jesus to save man. No other creature in all of God’s creation has been given that precious privilege.

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.”

Who were those whom the Father gave to Jesus?

When did God, the Father, give them to Jesus?

Did they include aliens?

Lost Sheep

Ezekiel 34:11–16 (NIV84)

11“ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

12As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

13I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.

14I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

15I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.

16I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

John 10:11–16 (NIV84)

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

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.

Jesus came to lay down His life for His sheep.

Who are His sheep?

John 10:27–29 (NIV84)

27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

God’s sheep are those who recognize and respond to His voice.

His sheep are characterized by their attentiveness to His voice and their willingness to follow Him.

God’s sheep are the elect, chosen from mankind.

D.L. Moody: ‘The whosoever wills are the elect and the whosoever wont’s are the non-elect.’

John 17:20–24 (NIV84)

20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:

23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Before the world was created, before eternal times, God picked out a people for Himself.

2 Timothy 1:8–10 (NIV84)

8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,

9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

God’s election of the elect occurred before creation itself, and the Father gave these chosen individuals to Christ as a gift in eternity past.

It had nothing to do with us. It had nothing to do with what we did or did not do. Or what He anticipated we would or would not do but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ before the world began.

John 6:37–40 (NIV84)

37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

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.”

Jesus taught that before time began, God chose a vast number of individual sinners for salvation. He then gave these elect sinners to Christ to be His people.

They were a love gift from the Father, a people who would worship the Son forever.

Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus refers to these elect ones by the words “those whom the Father has given me.”

The elect were sheep before the beginning of time.

They were not goats who later turned into sheep, after their conversion.

You can call the elect, “God’s sheep.”

Matthew 25:31–46 (NIV84)

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.

32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The sheep and the goats are not the same. They are two distinct groups, each with a different eternal destiny; Scripture never presents the goats as sheep who simply have not yet been saved.

1 Timothy 2:5–6 (ESV)

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

6who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

This reinforces the fact that Jesus became flesh (man) to redeem man.

John 1:14 (NIV84)

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Became = γίνομαι ginomai = to enter or assume a certain state or condition.

Reports of abductions usually include moral evils committed by the aliens such as being taken against one’s will, rape and other sexual abuses.

If these alien beings are real, this would indicate that they have a need of forgiveness and redemption.

But Scripture indicates that no one other than humans are in need of forgiveness and redemption.

Was it possible that Jesus came as an alien and died again for them?

In two weeks, the Lord willing!!!