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UFOs and Intelligent Life in Outer Space 

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • February 6, In the year of our Lord, 2013

Prelude: 

  1. A man reports seeing lights that move at incredible speeds, 
    1. then suddenly go in another direction,
    2. doing things that we are not capable of doing.
  2. People see a movie or a television show and believe that it is true, 
    1. the exact details are not true, but
    2. the idea that there are aliens out there, and
      1. that they may be visiting earth.
  3. What led to such beliefs? 
    1. Why do so many people believe in life on other planets, and
    2. why do so many believe that space aliens are visiting us?
      1. They make it sound like we are obligated to prove that they do not exist.
        1. Someone might say, How do you know there is not life on other planets?
        2. No, the question should be, How do you know there is life on other planets?
      2. You have to present evidence, and then
        1. we examine it.
        2. We cannot prove a negative, but
          1. you can prove a positive, and
          2. we can evaluate it.
  4. I want to show you that 
    1. there is no evidence for life on other planets, and
    2. see whether the Bible addresses this issue.
  5. Here is what you are going to find. 
    1. The belief in life on other planets, and
    2. that we are being visited by aliens
      1. has its roots in the teaching of evolution.
      2. Evolutionists speculate that there have to be millions of planets out there,
        1. so the chances that life could have evolved there
        2. are the same as life evolving here.
  6. Perhaps someone objects, What difference does it make? 
    1. We need to understand that this is simply another argument for evolution.
    2. The doctrine of evolution exists to deny
      1. that we have been created, and
      2. that God does not exist.
        1. The world believes that proving life exists elsewhere in this universe
        2. means God did not create us!

Persuasion: 

  1. Why Are People Fascinated with this Subject? 
    1. Do you realize how fascinated we are with this subject?
      1. Many of the top-grossing films of all time
      2. are about places or happenings away from Earth.
        1. Personally, I can enjoy those movies without taking them seriously, but
        2. you need to realize that some people believe such films are based in fact.
    2. If life evolved here,
      1. it must have evolved elsewhere.
      2. Constantly we hear in the now news
        1. that there are X amount of stars out there, and
        2. if only a small percentage had planets,
          1. then surely life would have evolved there also.
    3. This leads some to believe that
      1. life could not just have happened here, but
      2. had to have been planted here.
    4. Some people believe it will nullify creation, or a Creator.
  2. Objections 
    1. Where is the proof?
      1. The burden of proof is not on us, but
      2. on the evolutionists.
    2. Panspermia only moves it to another planet.
    3. No evidence for life on other planets.
      1. Yet, according to a study published in the summer of 2012,
        1. 80 million Americans believe in alien life.
      2. Senator Tom Coburn did a study of the Department of Defense
        1. spending money on things that have little or nothing to do with defense,
        2. including answering a question,“Further, DARPA paid nearly $100,000 for a strategy planning workshop on the 100 Year Starship project last year included an interesting discussion involving the Klingons, a fictional alien species who were villains and then later allies of humanity in the Star Trek series. The session entitled “Did Jesus die for Klingons too?” featured philosophy professor Christian Weidemann of Germany’s Ruhr-University Bochum who pondered the theological conflict to Christianity if intelligent life was found on other planets.”
          1. DARPA is Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
          2. The relationship of Jesus to life on other planets
            1. will actually help us deal with the question of
            2. whether there is life on other planets.
  3. The Bible and Life in Outer Space 
    1. Consider the Bible’s affirmation of the earth.
      1. Psalm 115.1616 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
        But the earth He has given to the children of men.
        (Psa 115.16)
      2. Acts 17.24–2624 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings…” (Acts 17.24–26).
      3. Isaiah 45.1818 For thus says the Lord,
        Who created the heavens,
        Who is God,
        Who formed the earth and made it,
        Who has established it,
        Who did not create it in vain,
        Who formed it to be inhabited:
        “I am the Lord, and there is no other.”
        (Isa 45.18)
      4. What purpose then do all the stars serve?14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years” (Gen 1.14).
    2. The ministry of Christ was only for earth.
      1. If life exists elsewhere,
      2. He did not die for it.
    3. Hebrews 2.14–18 might shed some light,14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Heb 2.14–18).
      1. Angels do not benefit from the work of Christ.
      2. Only humans benefit from the work of Christ.
    4. If there is life on other planets,
      1. is it subject to the laws of God?
      2. Can it sin?
        1. If so,
        2. can it be redeemed?
          1. Hebrews 9.27 shows that Jesus died only once,
          2. leaving any other created life in the universe without hope,27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment (Heb 9.27).
  4. “How Come Earth Got All the Good Stuff?” 
    1. New Scientist magazine proposed this question in 2008, but
    2. I think the question should be, Why did Earth get all the good stuff?
      1. Just think of the bleakness of our neighbors, Venus and Mars, and
      2. the superabundance of life on Earth.
        1. Why did our neighbors not get half of what we have?
        2. Why were or are the conditions for life (and
          1. how many conditions are there?),
          2. only on Earth?
    3. Life did not happen here by accident, nor
      1. will it happen anywhere else by accident, but
      2. someone wants us here.
    4. Consider Acts 14.15–17,15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14.15–17).
    5. Compare Acts 17.22–32.
    6. Now go back to Isaiah 45, and we will read verse 18 again and then 19,18 For thus says the Lord,
      Who created the heavens,
      Who is God,
      Who formed the earth and made it,
      Who has established it,
      Who did not create it in vain,
      Who formed it to be inhabited:
      “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
      19 I have not spoken in secret,
      In a dark place of the earth;
      I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
      “Seek Me in vain’;
      I, the Lord, speak righteousness,
      I declare things that are right.”
      (Isa 45.18, 19)