Are there aliens and life on other planets?
Today our question is no joke—Is there extraterrestrial life or aliens on other planets? Many folks today are answering this question with a resounding yes! Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about the existence of aliens and the implications for us.
Let’s be clear—our culture is obsessed with aliens. This fascination extends to TV shows (V, The Neighbors, Another Life, Dr. Who, X-Files), to countless movies (Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, Battleship, Cloverfield, Ender’s Game, Extinction, Arrival) and to area 51 in the Nevada desert. Some people believe aliens to be so real that they have committed suicide in order to ascend to a non-existent spaceship orbiting the earth (Heaven’s Gate cult). We can also see this interest in our magazine and newspaper covers that tell of the unending interest in extraterrestrial life in Time magazine, Popular Mechanics, Air and Space magazine with newspaper headlines in the Washington Post, New York Times, and BBC. With so much attention given to this subject, we desperately need a biblical answer to this question today!
In answering this question, we start with the fact that the Bible does not mention extraterrestrial life on other planets. The Bible is focused on God’s redemptive events on earth. The only mention of space or stars in the Scripture is to give praise and glory to God for creating such a glorious thing! This is instructive for us—God gave us what is necessary for life and godliness in the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:3), so it must not be essential to our spiritual growth and development to know about the possibility of life on other planets!
Going further in our biblical understanding we can follow a line of thought that brings us closer to an answer about our question. First, we can conclude that since all of creation fell when Adam sinned, then any/all life on other planets have been subjected to that same futility by God through the curse (Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 8:19-22). In other words, just as our world is fallen, so also their world would have to be fallen—because ALL creation remains under the curse including the vast galaxies of the cosmos. It follows then that if aliens were made to be in relationship to God like we are created to be, then they would need the Savior—the Lord Jesus—to die for their sins. This brings us to yet another barrier to the possibility of extraterrestrial life on other planets—the Bible says that Jesus Christ died “once for all” in order to redeem sinners. The apostle Peter says that “Christ also suffered once for sins…” (1 Peter 3:18), the apostle Paul says that Jesus “died to sin once for all” (Rom. 6:10), and the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus offered Himself up as a sacrifice for sins “once for all” (Heb. 7:24-27, 9:11-12, 9:24-26, 10:10). If God did make life on other planets in His image, then it would require them to believe in the same sacrifice of Christ that we do.
Finally, with all of this attention on aliens and extraterrestrial life let’s remember one critical thing—there is no scientific evidence for life on other planets. All of this focus and noise about aliens is completely unfounded in scientific reality. It might make for good entertainment, but it is certainly not grounded in truth. My friends, today we can be certain that the spotlight of the universe is on the earth—the beautiful planet where the God of all creation decided to create a being that would have the spiritual ability to have a relationship with Him. How good is that?
Let’s be clear—our culture is obsessed with aliens. This fascination extends to TV shows (V, The Neighbors, Another Life, Dr. Who, X-Files), to countless movies (Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, Battleship, Cloverfield, Ender’s Game, Extinction, Arrival) and to area 51 in the Nevada desert. Some people believe aliens to be so real that they have committed suicide in order to ascend to a non-existent spaceship orbiting the earth (Heaven’s Gate cult). We can also see this interest in our magazine and newspaper covers that tell of the unending interest in extraterrestrial life in Time magazine, Popular Mechanics, Air and Space magazine with newspaper headlines in the Washington Post, New York Times, and BBC. With so much attention given to this subject, we desperately need a biblical answer to this question today!
In answering this question, we start with the fact that the Bible does not mention extraterrestrial life on other planets. The Bible is focused on God’s redemptive events on earth. The only mention of space or stars in the Scripture is to give praise and glory to God for creating such a glorious thing! This is instructive for us—God gave us what is necessary for life and godliness in the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:3), so it must not be essential to our spiritual growth and development to know about the possibility of life on other planets!
Going further in our biblical understanding we can follow a line of thought that brings us closer to an answer about our question. First, we can conclude that since all of creation fell when Adam sinned, then any/all life on other planets have been subjected to that same futility by God through the curse (Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 8:19-22). In other words, just as our world is fallen, so also their world would have to be fallen—because ALL creation remains under the curse including the vast galaxies of the cosmos. It follows then that if aliens were made to be in relationship to God like we are created to be, then they would need the Savior—the Lord Jesus—to die for their sins. This brings us to yet another barrier to the possibility of extraterrestrial life on other planets—the Bible says that Jesus Christ died “once for all” in order to redeem sinners. The apostle Peter says that “Christ also suffered once for sins…” (1 Peter 3:18), the apostle Paul says that Jesus “died to sin once for all” (Rom. 6:10), and the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus offered Himself up as a sacrifice for sins “once for all” (Heb. 7:24-27, 9:11-12, 9:24-26, 10:10). If God did make life on other planets in His image, then it would require them to believe in the same sacrifice of Christ that we do.
Finally, with all of this attention on aliens and extraterrestrial life let’s remember one critical thing—there is no scientific evidence for life on other planets. All of this focus and noise about aliens is completely unfounded in scientific reality. It might make for good entertainment, but it is certainly not grounded in truth. My friends, today we can be certain that the spotlight of the universe is on the earth—the beautiful planet where the God of all creation decided to create a being that would have the spiritual ability to have a relationship with Him. How good is that?
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