We must be very careful with our thoughts concerning intelligent extraterrestrial life. Extraterrestrial simply refers to something being outside the earth and its atmosphere.
There is an interesting fascination with the idea of alien life forms that posses super-human intelligence. But where would such a thing fit into the biblical account of reality?
Let’s think about this. Truly intelligent life is moral. We could safely surmise that any moral being belonging to a “higher-order” than man would certainly have a significant purpose in God’s creative-redemptive history of the universe. We could expect something of this significance to be identified in God’s revelation; namely the Bible.
We must first concede that we cannot say that higher order extraterrestrials do not exist because they are not mentioned in the creation account. Angels are not included in that record and yet are stoutly affirmed elsewhere in Scripture.
But we can confidently assert the following:
- All things were created by God and for God (John 1:3; Col 1:16; Rom 11:36).
- God has revealed in the Bible all things necessary for life and worship (Dt 29:29).
- Man is uniquely created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27).
- The condition and state of the entire created universe hinges on the condition and state of humanity (1 Cor 15:21-22; Rom 5:12, 14). By the moral choice of human life (image of God), the created universe was cursed. The curse will be removed and comprehensive restoration is promised, being secured through a life lived and work accomplished on this planet (Rom 8:19-22; Isa 11:6; Acts 3:20-21).
- The Incarnation of God was an incarnation into humanity, not another life form. Christ will forever be the God-man, the Incarnation resulting in a permanent union with humankind (Rev 1:13).
- Christ, the creator of the universe, died for humanity. All creation will follow the restoration purchased in Christ on behalf of mankind (Col 1:16-20).
- Angels are moral creatures and yet are excluded from Christ’s work of redemption. They long to look into these things (1 Pet 1:12). If there were any “higher” moral life forms, they would not be covered by the human substitution met in Christ, and would consequently belong to some other moral order; perhaps like that of angels. But there is no mention of any other moral life than angels. If there was, they too would long to look into these things of Christ and Him crucified.
The most biblically acceptable consideration is that if ever there is any perceptible evidence of non-human moral life outside of our planet, then it is most probable that it belongs to the angelic ranks of being.
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