Payment Pending

The heavens are for God – Psalms 115:15-18 reads, “May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all humanity.  The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave.  But we can praise the Lord both now and forever!“

Let’s talk about Aliens this morning: Because of this verse, I don’t believe in aliens like on TV or the way you may think of aliens.  They are described as, extraterrestrial life is hypothetical life which may occur outside of Earth and which did not originate on Earth. 

I do however believe in Angels who actually fit that description.  Genesis 3:20-24 revealed probably the first instance of angels, when man was expelled from the Garden of Eden.  It states, “ Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.  And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.  Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil.  What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it?  Then they will live forever!”  So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.  After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” 

And later in Genesis 6 revealed the first time God was going to destroy the earth because of man.  Verses 1- 7 reads, “Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them.  The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with[b] humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.”  In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.  The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.  And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky.  I am sorry I ever made them.”

We also see angels appear to Mary and Joseph in the Gospels.  An angel appeared after the resurrection of Christ, and in Revelation we see an angel was sent to John with that prophecy, and angels on through the blowing of the trumpets. Those are the aliens I believe in.  And as you see, they are there when we screw up in life; they are there to offer comfort at times; and they are there at collection time.  Our payment is pending.

Now let’s touch on the Theory of Evolution:  It is defined as, the change in the characteristics of a species over several generations and relies on the process of natural selection. 

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” 

Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” 

Genesis 1:28-29 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.”

Every living thing to this day are produced by seed, egg, or seed and egg.  Think of flowers, plants, and trees.  Seeds go in the ground, God waters them and they grow to produce more seeds (fruit, flowers, acorns, pecans, etc).  Think about eggs.  They are either eaten for food, spoil, or they are fertilized with seed (sperm) of like creatures and produce more life.  Even in man, an egg is produced which is fertilized with seed to produce more likeness of man.  So there is an evolution but not the foolish kind.

So in the short sense of evolution or natural selection, I believe it the way God ordained it.

2 Timothy 4:3 – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”  Sometimes we will ignore what is true or make perfect sense and chase false teaching.  We like to hear foolishness because it sounds so good.  Our ears itch for this junk.  We don’t believe in a God we cannot see, and we lust after nonsense that will cause us to lose salvation freely offered by Love.  God is love and He offers eternal life and salvation to use because of the sin we cannot atone for ourselves.  Don’t believe the lie, if I just live a good life and do good I will be fine.  If you don’t repent your sins and accept Jesus, your good life and good deeds will land you in hell.  Your payment is pending.

Just like Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because of sin, and the interaction (sin) between the first angels and humanity caused God to destroy the world, so you and I must atoned for our sin.  Ladies and gentlemen the only way is through Jesus.  Our payment is pending.

John 14:1-9 reads, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.  There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.   And you know the way to where I am going.”  “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me.  If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”  Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!

Satan convinced Adam and Eve to want to be like God the Spirit.  But God wants us to be like the human Jesus. Isaiah 26:3, says “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” Maybe you admit that God is necessary, but do you honestly know that God is enough.  Some never know He is enough until He is all they have.

Remember Job.  Everything was taken away: his health, his wealth, his family—all of it.  Yet, Job still had the Lord, saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust him.”  He saw the Lord Jesus by the eye of faith. God sometimes brings us to the place similar to where he brought Job to show He is enough.  The answer is not in reason but relationship.  Not in explanation but in His promises. The place where we’re like Jacob, who said, “I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me” (Genesis 32:26b). Many have lost their health, business, family, reputation, but have still maintained joy because the source of genuine contentment and peace is in God.  Remember, the dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, for they have gone into the silence of the grave.  Folks, our payment is pending.

Philippians 2: 9-11 says, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The bible says in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.  We will confess Christ is Lord; We will pay God His glory; We will pay God His Honor; We will pay God the respect He is due.  And people, our payment is pending.