The Heavens Declare

Our Daily Bread 

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READ: Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1

You don’t have to gaze long at the night sky to marvel at the wonder of God’s awe-inspiring handiwork. The massive stretch of galaxies and the cloudy mass of our own Milky Way remind us of the spectacular creation and the sustaining work of Jesus by whom it is all held together (Col. 1:16-17). It’s as though all of us have front-row seats in the theater of God’s creative power.

Did Jesus Die for the Whole Universe?

Dr. Roger Barrier, Preach It, Teach It

Editor's Note: Pastor Roger Barrier's "Ask Roger" column regularly appears at Preach It, Teach It. Every week at Crosswalk, Dr. Barrier puts nearly 40 years of experience in the pastorate to work answering questions of doctrine or practice for laypeople, or giving advice on church leadership issues. Email him your questions at roger@preachitteachit.org.

Dear Roger,

If life exists on other planets, did Jesus die and resurrect for them, too?

Sincerely, Tom

Dear Tom,

What a great Easter question!

Revelation 13:6 describes Jesus as the "Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

Could it be that Jesus was crucified and then resurrected on a cosmic cross before God spoke the universe into existence?

“World” is the English translation for the Greek word “cosmos." Jesus was the Lamb slain before the creation of the cosmos. Sometimes, "cosmos" is translated as "universe."

Notice that He was slain "from" or "before" the creation of the cosmos.

The idea that our universe is populated with others is not hard to imagine any more. Our universe is “carbon based” and life-friendly. It stands to reason that life on earth is not the only life in the universe. Scientists have already found over 400 planets orbiting distant stars. Approximately 25 of them are in the bio-life zones surrounding stars that could sustain life as we know it. A billion trillion more stars exist that have yet to be observed. The number of planets in our universe must be mind-boggling.

Personally, I have a hard time imagining that the only life in the universe is on our little planet Earth. After all, our sun us just a second-rate star tucked between two spiral arms in the Milky Way galaxy. We are not even in a spiral arm! Our earth is cosmically insignificant!

Creating billions and billions of galaxies with trillions and trillions of planets seems like a tremendous waste of God’s time and energy if He created only one planet to harbor life.

When Henry Ford began mass producing cars in giant factories, thousands of cars emerged from the warehouse doors. It's inconceivable that Ford would build massive factories and then make one automobile and no more! In the same way, it is hard to conceive that God would make a massive universe and produce only one car — I mean only one planet with living humans. I believe that God loves people and He enjoys having many of them posited throughout His universe.

Jesus may have made an oblique reference to life on other planets in John 10:16. He told His disciples: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” Most probably Jesus was referring to the Gentiles. Nevertheless, some people have put this verse into a cosmic perspective and wondered if Jesus were talking about sheep on other planets.

Because of the distance between stars, the likelihood of actually visiting another planet to verify the existence of life there is miniscule. Wormholes are highly unlikely to work (if they even exist). The instantaneous connectivity of Quantum Mechanics may one day prove otherwise -- but probably not.

Then why bother to speculate on such questions?

Because such imaginings stretch our insight into the "height, depth and width" (Ephesians 3:14-19) of an all powerful, all-knowing and always-present God!

Again, why bother to speculate on such questions?

Because if alien life does exist throughout our universe, what might be God’s relationship with them?

In his Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength), C.S. Lewis ponders the existence of life on other planets and asks the same question.

Out of the Silent Planet is set mostly on Mars. Dr. Elwin Ransom voyages to Mars and discovers that earth is exiled from the rest of the solar system due to its fallen nature. Earth's Oyarsa, or the angel whose assignment was to protect earth, has rebelled against God and fallen into sin. Instead of protecting, he has seduced mankind into sin. People on the other planets know that something horrible has happened on earth and that the people of earth are now bent. No more information is know about the fallen planet.

Intriguingly, four races live harmoniously on the planet Mars where sin has never occurred. Dr. Ransom observes that Satan is trying mightily to bring sin into any or all of the four races?

Perelandra is set mostly on Venus. Dr. Ransom journeys to an unspoiled, sinless planet in which the first humans have just emerged. Only two people live on Venus. Satan is utilizing every trick in his Satanic tempt book to seduce them into sinning.

Perhaps there are aliens in our universe where sin has not occurred. They would not need a Savior. But, it is more likely, I suppose, for aliens to be just as sinful as we are. They would certainly need a Savior.

(For your information, That Hideous Strength is set on Earth. A scientific think tank is secretly in touch with demonic entities who seek to ravage and lay waste to Earth.)

Jesus being crucified and resurrected "before the creation of the cosmos" (Hebrews 11:3) may mean that Jesus died on some sort of cosmic cross with an accompanying cosmic resurrection.

He is free to come in a human or alien form, incarnated in a physical body, die an actual physical death and be fully, physically resurrected to pay the penalty for sin on any planet that needs it.

As far as Earth is concerned, Jesus was crucified and resurrected before the creation of the universe. Our fallen earth is saturated with sin and needs a Savior. So, according to John 1:14, the cosmic Christ (the "logos," or the "unrevealed wisdom of God" in John 1:1) put on a body and appeared on earth in human form. Then, He was crucified on Good Friday, 30 A.D., and resurrected by the Father and the Spirit three days later on Easter Sunday morning.

Well, Tom, thanks for the great question. The speculation is fun. The possibility is mind-shattering.

God bless you. Have a happy Easter.

Love, Roger

Dr. Roger Barrier recently retired as senior teaching pastor from Casas Church in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to being an author and sought-after conference speaker, Roger has mentored or taught thousands of pastors, missionaries, and Christian leaders worldwide. Casas Church, where Roger served throughout his thirty-five-year career, is a megachurch known for a well-integrated, multi-generational ministry. The value of including new generations is deeply ingrained throughout Casas to help the church move strongly right through the twenty-first century and beyond. Dr. Barrier holds degrees from Baylor University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Golden Gate Seminary in Greek, religion, theology, and pastoral care. His popular book, Listening to the Voice of God, published by Bethany House, is in its second printing and is available in Thai and Portuguese. His latest work is Got Guts? Get Godly! Pray the Prayer God Guarantees to Answer, from Xulon Press. Roger can be found blogging at Preach It, Teach It, the pastoral teaching site founded with his wife, Dr. Julie Barrier.

http://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/easter/did-jesus-die-for-the-whole-universe.html?ps=0

The Legend of Superman

By Jack Kinsella Back in 1938, Action Comics #1 introduced a new superhero to the world when it featured for the first time, the Adventures of Superman. In those days, Superman didn't have all the powers and abilities that are attributed to him today. In 1938, Superman was "faster than speeding bullet" but by the late 1950's he was able to travel faster than the speed of light, making him capable of time travel. In 1938 Superman was "more powerful than a locomotive." By the 1960's Superman was capable of moving a planet off its axis. In 1938, Superman was able to "leap tall buildings at a single bound" but two decades later, he was able to defy gravity and fly at super-speeds across the Milky Way and beyond. In 1939 Superman's body was so dense that it could not be harmed by anything short of an artillery shell. It wasn't long before Superman's writers extended this remarkable ability until Superman could stand in the center of a nuclear explosion or could travel right through the center of the Sun without harm. By the 1960's Superman was routinely flying across the galaxy to deflect incoming meteors from hitting earth, impervious to the cold and vacuum of outer space. By the 1980's Superman became so powerful it was necessary to rewrite his character to put limits on his powers. Throughout all his incarnations, certain "facts" stayed constant: his alter-ego was Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter who worked for the Daily Planet, his boss was Perry White, his foster parents raised him in Illinois, and nobody ever noticed he looked just like Superman wearing glasses. Since Superman is an alien from the Planet Krypton, writers can add or subtract any number of abilities and characteristics. Superman's character and nature has invariably been rewritten to make him evil, kind, generous, heartless, gentle, violent, thoughtful, cruel, whatever the storyline calls for. When you have a character as wild and unrestricted as Superman, you can make him anything you want. In recent editions, Superman has become the poster boy for political correctness. In Action Comics #900, bitter at being seen as a tool of US foreign policy, Superman decides to renounce his American citizenship at the United Nations. So, over the course of the past seventy years, Superman has gone through a number of metamorphoses, from hero to superhero, and from rigidly patriotic to flaming liberal, all without doing any serious damage to the Legend of Superman itself. After all, when the character isn't real, then the legend can become whatever the most people are comfortable with. When the formerly earthbound Superman suddenly discovered the ability to fly, his fans eagerly embraced the idea. Since Superman isn't real, but only a literary creation, one can make him whatever one wants him to be. There is no real Superman to compare him to. "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11:4) Once again at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, President Obama quoted the Bible to justify punishing success in the name of social engineering, trying to reconcile the teachings of Scripture with the teachings of Karl Marx. According to the President's statements, his policy arguments stem from his interpretation of his Christian faith, which was shaped and molded, according to the President's earlier writings and public statements, by the Black Liberation Theology of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a dedicated Marxist with a well-documented hate for white America. "I wake up each morning and I say a brief prayer, and I spend a little time in scripture and devotion. And from time to time, friends of mine, some of who are here today, friends like Joel Hunter or T.D. Jakes, will come by the Oval Office or they'll call on the phone or they'll send me a email, and we'll pray together, and they'll pray for me and my family, and for our country." "But I don't stop there. I'd be remiss if I stopped there; if my values were limited to personal moments of prayer or private conversations with pastors or friends. So instead, I must try -- imperfectly, but I must try -- to make sure those values motivate me as one leader of this great nation." So Obama is suddenly Joe Christian. He prays every day, and he has secret devotions with black TV preachers. And these TV preachers tell him that what Jesus would do is to; "[make] sure that unscrupulous lenders aren't taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us...far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God's command to "love thy neighbor as thyself." I know the version of that Golden Rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs -- from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato." So it isn't just "what would Jesus do?" -- Jesus would do what the Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Platonic philosophers would ALL do. "But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus's teaching that "for unto whom much is given, much shall be required." It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who've been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others." (So Jesus is not only a Marxist, He is a Muslim?) Clearly, there is nothing in the Bible that supports government confiscating wealth from those that earned it in order to redistribute it to those that did not. Jesus said to "render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar's, and unto God, the things that are God's." When Obama is speaking of those to whom "much is given" the operative word here is "given". The government didn't give wealth to the wealthy. The poor didn't give wealth to the wealthy. If so, then it would be legitimate for government - or the poor - to expect something in return. Heck, that is the way capitalism works. If I give you some money, I expect you to give me something in return. That's how I ended up with this computer I'm typing on. I gave money to the store, they gave me a computer. Obama's agenda is to take much from those who worked for it and use it to buy votes from the recipients and label it Christian-inspired charity of the kind endorsed by Jesus. This year the Left is going to run on a "Jesus" platform: Jesus would favor free contraceptives and federally-funded abortions because Jesus fought against poverty. Jesus would favor confiscatory taxes because Jesus had faith in government. Jesus would favor gay rights because He wanted everybody to be happy. Jesus hated the rich. Jesus was a Democrat. Jesus supported social justice. Watch how often Obama and his surrogates invoke Jesus over the next nine months and ask yourself why. But let me give you the answer in advance. They will do it because it works with their base. Obama and his supporters have no problem with reinventing Jesus to fit their political agenda for the same reason that DC comics and their readers had no problem reinventing Superman to make him more interesting. Superman isn't real, and so he can be whatever people want him to be. With Obama and his friends, the same principle applies with Jesus. Their Jesus is another Jesus, their social gospel is another gospel. Their Jesus isn't doctrinal, He is legendary. They are free to reinvent Him as necessary. "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) Jesus can be whatever they need Him to be because as far as they are concerned, their Jesus is no more real than Superman. raptureforums.com