Are We Alone In The Universe?

Are We Alone In The Universe?
(Kent Heaton)

Over four hundred years ago Galileo Galilei turned the invention of Hans Lipperhey to the heavens and the mysteries of our universe began to be revealed. The telescope brought the miracle of space to the inhabitants of earth in a way never imagined before. Through the centuries man has continued the quest to reach out as far into space as possible. With technology soaring to the heights of man’s imagination a clearer picture and vision of the outer world has been drawn to the inquisitive search for life. Instruments dot the planet in every imaginable place to hear some faint message of a far off civilization. Powerful telescopes pierce the night skies seeking signs of life beyond the planets. Satellites hurl through the void of space collecting data looking and listening for the echo of an alien presence. With all the vast array of incredibly powerful instruments at man’s disposal, why has no trace of life been found of a new civilization? Because there is none.

The question has been asked for generations, “Are we alone in the universe?” Without a great deal of fanfare the answer quietly whispers in return, “Yes”! The answer is as old as the world and has been revealed to man in every generation. In the first days of man’s dwelling upon the earth he decided to build a “tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). The tower of Babel was a colossal mistake and the result of man’s pride. It concerned the Lord enough to say, “Nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6). As a result God confused the language of the people and the work stopped. “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:9).

This tells us that God has placed man within the habitation spoken of by Paul in Acts 17:26 – “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, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Everyone on earth if of one blood and we are put here to “dwell” upon the earth. Our “times” and “boundaries” are appointed by God and they cannot be changed. Man lives within the vacuum of his own environment that is determined by God.

As a young boy in the 1960’s I would hear of the days man would live in the oceans and on far off planets. Those were the days of modern exploration yet they were based on the false premise that man can live anywhere. God has determined that man can only survive in the world made for man’s earthly journey – Earth! But then that is the subject of the relationship of God and man – Earth.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). Did Jesus die for a civilization on another planet? According to the Bible the only people Jesus died for are those found on the third rock from the Sun. Paul told the Athenians that our purpose in life is “seek the Lord” and we can find Him not in space but in the book right before our eyes - the Bible. Open it and you find God.