God and Extraterrestrials
January 2, 2007
What should Christians think about UFO’s?
A. the lack “scientific” proof…
There has never been contact with an extraterrestrial
In 1900, the French Academy of Science offered a prize of 100,000 francs for the first person to make contact with an alien civilization—so long as the alien was not from Mars, because the Academy was convinced that Martian civilization was an established fact!
Since then, not a trace of ‘little green men’, or indeed any life, has been found on any of the planets which our probes have been able to explore.
Despite this, a great number of astronomers think that, since life evolved here on earth, it must have evolved near one of the many stars out there. In America SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) researchers have scanned the sky, looking in vain for signals from intelligent beings.
Question: “Is it possible that life did NOT evolve on earth but was actually created the way God said He did it?”
B. the establishment of “biblical” proof…
Scripture does not mention visits by extraterrestrials
The Bible, the revealed written Word of God, teaches that life is only possible through a process of creation. Even if there were other galaxies with planets very similar to earth, life could only be there if the Creator had fashioned it. If God had done that, and if these beings were going to visit us one day, then He would surely not have left us unenlightened about this.
God has given us rather specific details of the future—for example, the return of Jesus, and some details about the end of the world. The universe will, at some future point, be rolled up like a scroll (Isaiah 34:4, Revelation 6:14). If God had created living beings elsewhere, this would automatically destroy their dwelling place as well. Adam’s sin caused all of creation to be affected by the curse, so why would a race of beings, not of Adam’s (sinful) seed, have their part of creation affected by the Curse, and then be part of the restoration brought about by Christ, the last Adam? All of this would seem exceedingly strange.
The purpose of the stars
The reasons stars were made are given to us in several places in the Bible, not only in the well-known Psalm 19 but especially in the Creation account. In Genesis 1:14 we read: ‘And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.’
We see from this that stars are there for mankind on earth. Add to this the sequence of creation (on the first day the earth, and only on the fourth day all of the stars), and it is easy to see the thrust of the biblical testimony, that the purpose of creation is uniquely centered on this earth.
Spiritual warfare and deception
The Bible goes somewhat deeper in this matter, identifying a supplementary cause and effect—2 Thessalonians 2:9–11:
‘Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’
The Bible gives a description of reality concerning all living things. The living God reveals himself as the Triune One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In heaven there are the angels, who also serve mankind on the earth.
There is another reality—that of the devil and the demons. Ephesians 2:2 talks about the ‘prince of the power of the air’, whose reign is on earth.
The devil has his own repertoire of deception in the form of various occult practices and a multitude of religious rites. Could it be that, behind those unexplainable reports, is the work of the arch-deceiver?7 UFO reports, by definition, remain nebulous and not identifiable. People who do not know Christ are easily fascinated by all sorts of phenomena which are difficult to explain. For Christians there is Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24:4 to ‘Take heed that no man deceive you.’ The best antidote to deception? Paul exhorts us, in 2 Timothy 2:15, to study the Scripture, so we might be ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’.
