Many in today’s culture believe in alien presence here on earth in the past and/or the present. These extraterrestrials are very commonly depicted to be throughout the universe in science fiction books, movies, television etc. We are all familiar with Star Trek, Star Wars and a myriad of other shows that depict these aliens as omnipresent. Even The History Channel has an ongoing TV series that attempts to show that all of earth’s civilized history has been influenced by the actions of aliens from outer space.
How should the Biblical Christian think about this? Let’s take a look at some verses from the Bible to see what we should realistically know and understand.
Genesis 1:26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
From these verses it is clear that God gave mankind dominion over the rest of the creatures. That fact rules out the possibility of aliens countering mankind’s dominion or in any way conquering or directing mankind in the past, the present, or the future.
Romans 8:19-23
19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
These verses explain that at the time of Adam’s fall the entire creation was subjected to the curse. That creation included the planets, the stars—in fact the entire universe. That means that hypothetical aliens in outer space would also be cursed. But these aliens would not be related to Adam and not have his sin nature. Therefore, they could not be redeemed by the work on the cross of the last Adam who is the Christ.
Hebrews 2:14
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who hold the power of death—that is, the devil.
Jesus, the God-man, took on our human nature expressly so we could be redeemed (see also Isaiah 59:20, 1 Peter 3:18, and Hebrews 9:25-28). God did not take on any extraterrestrial nature. Again, Christ died once for the sins of those he is related to. He is related only to humankind and not to any extraterrestrial kind. Incidentally, the Bible also says that only those humans who declare him Lord and believe he was resurrected from the dead are saved (Romans 10:9).
Hebrews 8:1-2
1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
After his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father and will one day return to this planet called earth (see also 1 Timothy 2:5). The incarnation and the Kingdom are for those on earth not for any beings on alien worlds.
Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
For those who might speculate that Christ is a polygamist and has brides on planets elsewhere in the universe, the Bible tells otherwise. Christ is monogamous with only one bride, a church consisting of nothing but humans (see also Revelation 19:7-9).
The level of sophistication shown by the ability of movie makers to portray aliens as having evolved to fantastic lengths increases all the time. Digital renditions of these beings are amazing. I think my favorite digital “being” is the bounty hunter in the Star Wars series by the name of “Cad Bane.” His cinematic digital depiction is very close to what I expect the devil would look like. Maybe I like this character because he reminds me of so many of the bad guys in the western movies.
The verses above should remind us Christians that though we may enjoy the imaginative depictions of science fiction, we should never lose track of the reality of God’s creation as described in the Bible. These extraterrestrial movie and comic book images must be understood by the Biblical Christian to be nothing more than fairy tales.
Glory to God in the highest.
J.D. Mitchell
Note: All scripture from the NIV.
