Aliens, UFOs, and Extraterrestrial Life

2023-11-25

The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men. (Psalm 115:16)

Over the last century or so, there has been much fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Is this possible? It depends on what you mean. Whatever “life” may exist out there, if any, it is not going to be like a human being. Let us consider this.

Genesis 1 describes the methodical approach to God’s creation of the universe. The Lord spent the first three days of history creating the universe and making the earth habitable: Light, atmosphere, dry land, herbs, fruit trees, and grass.

Only on the fourth day do we see the creation of heavenly bodies: Sun, moon, and stars. Their purpose is stated: “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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so” (Genesis 1:14-15). For example, the earth rotation is a day, the moon phase cycle is about a month, the earth’s revolution around the sun is a year, and equinoxes and solstices are seasons. The sun and moon give light by day and night, and the stars allow for sea navigation. Consider the tides and many other reasons for their existence, and there are certainly many we do not know.

After the creation of the heavenly bodies, God created animals and humans. Everyone knows these things. The entire cosmos was created for human beings, and for them to have dominion. “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour” (Psalms 8:3-5). The heavenly bodies were created to light the way for people and guide them through time and space.

The Scriptures do not mention any other creatures out there somewhere. There is no mention of other planets here, as planets are only mentioned in passing elsewhere as something pagans worshipped: “...them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven” (2 Kings 23:5).

The focus of God’s creation is clearly on human beings, whom He made in His image. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). From one man came the entire human race and nations on the face of the earth, for God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).

Once again, we see that the earth was created for people: “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:18). He intentionally created and fine-tuned the earth for life. He was intentional about making it for human beings and did not create anything anywhere else for people bearing His image.

The only other intelligent life mentioned in the cosmos are demons. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). The devil is “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). If there is other “intelligent life” that will be found, I guarantee it is going to be them. However, they are not physical beings.

Lastly, Jesus came to earth to become a Man to reconcile the world to Himself. This shows that the earth is the central place for life and redemption to occur. Moreover, we know that the earth was not created just for humankind in general. The earth was created for one Man, Jesus Christ, the true image of God (Colossians 1:15).