My mother tells me I was present when she saw one, but I was only about 3 years old and can’t recall that moment. It was in our back yard. My brother and I were playing in a sand box as my mother stood by. Suddenly my brother motioned for us to look up in the sky. My mother would later describe it as a flying saucer — a disk that was just hovering in the clear blue sky. It stood still for several moments, then suddenly shot straight up and disappeared! She often re-told that story to me.
As a young boy, growing up in the 50’s, I was fascinated by the idea of flying saucers. I watched all the 1950’s science fiction movies such as, “Invaders From Mars”, or “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. Today the question still remains, are UFO’s from other planets, or are they just natural phenomena? We are still trying to figure that out. Scientists scan the universe for distant radio signals and we're constantly monitoring outer space using telescopes and space probes trying to find the answer to the question: Is there intelligent life out there?
This past week the U.S. landed an unmanned, mechanical rover, called Perseverance, on Mars. According to NASA, the hope is to find evidence of ancient microbial life. To an evolutionist, a claim to discover ancient microbial life would be huge because they believe that’s how humans came into existence on this planet — evolving from microbes. They are still trying to figure out how life was created — how the universe was created, ignoring Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”.
“In the beginning” means before anything existed — before matter existed — before the physical realm existed. “In the beginning” God created the “heavens” and the earth — the “heavens” meaning the universe, the sun, the planets, the solar system, including the earth. Whether there is life on other planets or not, God is sovereign over all things in the universe.
So, back to the question: what does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets? Actually, it says nothing about it! The Bible is focused on our planet, and our species, the human race. And that Jesus, God taking the form of a human, died on the cross for our sins because the human race has been tainted by the original sin of Adam and Eve — the fall of human-kind. Jesus came to reconcile us — to make us right with God.
So what can we speculate about the possibility of other species, or other intelligent life, on other planets? And what would that do for our faith in Jesus, as Christians, if other intelligent life existed? The answer is that it should do nothing to diminish our faith.
You see, God came to earth in the form of a human (Jesus), specifically for humans, to save us humans from eternal condemnation because of our sins against God. This is true whether we are the only intelligent life in the universe or whether there are other aliens out there.
Jesus existed as “the Word” before man was created and before He came to earth as a man. So in the beginning, God was still 3 in 1: the Father, the Word (who is Jesus to us humans), and the Holy Spirit.
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Through “the Word” all things were made. John 1:14 says, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. Before the Word took on the form of Jesus on planet earth, He was involved in creation of all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible!
Colossians 1:15-19
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
These truths simply tell us that God has complete dominion and supremacy over all things created including everything and everyone in the universe, visible and invisible. Whether it’s humans on planet earth, or aliens somewhere else, or angels, or demons, God has authority and sovereignty over all.
So let’s speculate about the possibility of other intelligent life in the universe. What if they were created and didn’t fall away from God as Adam and Eve did? That would be incredible — they would be sinless and possibly live forever, that is if we compare them to our spiritual reality as we know it. They would have no need for the Word to become their “flesh” to save them.
But what if other intelligent life existed and they did fall away from God as Adam and Eve did? Then I suppose they would need the Word to become whatever type of species they were to offer salvation to them in whatever way God planned.
I was thinking — perhaps if aliens do exist, then maybe God doesn’t want us to meet. It would be too diverse spiritually, let alone perhaps physically. Could it be that the reason the universe is so expansive — so deep — is to simply keep us apart by God’s design? Maybe so.
I’m not saying there is intelligent life on other planets. We may be the only ones. And maybe the vast expanse of the universe was created only for God to demonstrate how big He is. All I’m saying is that the Bible doesn’t address the issue of alien life, and who knows, maybe one day we will find out.
What if there are aliens, and what if Heaven is filled with not only humans but other beings as well? Would this mean that Heaven is like some Star Wars scene? HaHa. Or will we be all the same spiritual body?
Let’s hold up for a moment. I’ve talked about some crazy scenarios, some of them may be not feasible or not even reality but just food for thought. And there are so many other things to speculate about. We could spend our whole life contemplating such things, but let’s get back to what’s really important as human beings on this planet earth in this solar system in this universe.
Here’s what we know as true. We, as humans, are God’s creation. Because sin entered our world, mankind is tainted by sin, which separates us from God. God, only through His grace and mercy, offered a plan to reconcile us humans back to Himself and forgive us of our sins, saving us from eternal condemnation, which is the consequence for our sins, and offer us life after death in a paradise with Him. He is calling out to us through Jesus.
God’s plan was to come to planet earth in the form of a human being, and offer Himself as the supreme sacrifice — dying as payment for our sins. Why would He do such a thing. What was the motive? Love!
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God established the groundwork for His plan of sacrificing life to cover the punishment of sin though the Old Testament laws of offering the blood of lambs to cover the sins of the Israelites, God’s chosen people of that time. So Jesus, God in human form, came to earth to do just that — be the supreme sacrifice for sins, shedding His blood on the cross, offering forgiveness to all who accept His offer by believing in Him.
The bottom line is we need to make sure that we are right with God — that we believe in Him, are baptized into Christ, and are Christ followers as we go through this life in a loving Father/child relationship with God. As a result, we have the promise of resurrection and eternal life in Heaven.
I’m not sure if there is life somewhere else, and if so, what God’s plan is for them. But I do know God’s plan for us humans, and hopefully you do too. So let’s be thankful for it and worship and praise Him, and live a life worthy of His calling.
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