Have you seen the deep-sky photos taken by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes?

At first glance, they look as if they show multitudes of stars. But, in fact, they show multitudes of galaxies.

To help gauge the difference between multitudes of stars and multitudes of galaxies, modern astronomy estimates that the Milky Way Galaxy (which contains Earth) has between 100 billion and 250 billion stars with the largest estimate being as many as 400 billion stars. Estimates vary because many stars are tiny and dim, are cloaked by gas and dust, or are blocked from sight by other stars.

No wonder we sometimes say with the Psalmist: “What art man that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:8-4-9 KJV).

I assume Life is spread across these galaxies and stars. I base my assumption on the principle stated in Isaiah 45:18:

For this is what the LORD says—

he who created the heavens,

    he is God.

he who fashioned and made the earth,

     he founded it;

he did not create it to be empty,

     but formed it to be inhabited.

Similarly, I believe:

God fashioned and made the galaxies and stars;

     he founded them;

he did not create them to be empty,

     but formed them to be inhabited.

Moreover, the immensity and complexity and longevity of the Creation underscore how marvelous our infinite-mission is: to boldly go to discover how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is—a far larger, more important mission than Star Trek’s mission to boldly go to discover new life and new civilizations.

To accomplish our Mission, we should kneel—like the Apostle Paul—before the Father from whom all Life in heaven and on earth derives its name, praying that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen us with power through his Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; and praying that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the LORD’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Therefore, kneel and pray before the Father of all Life, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power of his Spirit that is at work within us, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3 14-21).

The vast immensity and complexity and longevity of the universe(s) should not make us feel despair, nor make us feel insignificant, nor make us feel afraid.

As Jesus taught us:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31; Luke 12:6-7).

Indeed, the LORD himself goes before us and is with us, he will never leave us nor forsake us; we should never be afraid; we should never be discouraged. (Isaiah 41:10. Deuteronomy 31:8).

Furthermore, we are told in Psalm 8:

The LORD, our LORD, crowned Humanity with glory and honor.

The LORD, our LORD, made Humanity rulers over the works of Humanity’s hands;

The LORD, our LORD, put everything under Humanity’s feet.

(Psalm 8:1,8).

The Psalmist lists “everything” as known in the time of the Psalmist (Psalms 8:7):

all flocks and herds,

     and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky,

     and the fish in the sea,

     all that swim the paths of the sea.

Today, we should expand this list of “everything” to include the immense universe revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. Furthermore, “everything” would include ALL Creation, including any additional universes that may exist.

How is this possible? Because the LORD has made humans “a little lower than the angels”. (Psalm 8:5 NIV).

Translators have strained to translate these verses.

The New Jewish Study Bible translates Psalm 8:4-7 as follows:

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,

     the moon and the stars that You set in place,

     what is [Humanity] that You are mindful of [us],

     [mortal humans] that You have taken note of [us],

     that You have made [Humanity] little less than divine,

     and adorned [Humanity] with glory and majesty.

     You have made [Humanity] master over your handiwork, . . .

The NJSB translation note to the word “divine” in 8:7 says “Or ‘the angels’”. The marginal note to 8:6-9 says:

As in Gen. 1:26-30, humans are the climax of creation (contrast Job 17:17-18 and ch 26). “Elohim” is properly translated as divine: this explains why people are adorned . . . with glory and majesty, typically divine qualities. The tradition that “elohim” should be rendered here as angels (LXX, Tg., Radak) is the result of the discomfort of depicting humans too godlike—a discomfort not shared by this psalmist.

There is definitely a tension between being god-like and being created in the image of God. Indeed, the Serpent exploited this tension in the Garden of Eden, tempting Eve and Adam to become “like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5).

Here is how I resolve this tension.

The Spirit of the LORD makes us into the image of God.

In Genesis Chapter One, “the Spirit of God was hovering over [the Creation].” This Spirit of the LORD guided God throughout Creation, including when God made Humanity in the image of God—in the likeness of God. (Genesis 1:26-27).

Since God created us in his image, we are to be the Presence of the LORD in his Creation. What does this mean?

It does NOT mean using might or power, such as building starships with  phasers and photon torpedoes. It DOES mean lighting the universe(s) with our good deeds and with praises from the Spirit of the LORD Almighty. (Matthew 5:14,16; Zechariah 4:6).

It means that the Spirit of the LORD fills the Creation with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).

The LORD revealed his Presence to Moses in Chapter 34 of Exodus, verses 6-7.

This Presence of the LORD is guiding us to the Promised Land where we will bless ALL peoples, including ALL aliens and Advanced Artificial Intelligences (AAI), by being compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, and by treating people in ways that will reduce the bad effects of their bad choices.

In the Way of Jesus (who embodied the Spirit-of-the-LORD and the Presence-of-the-LORD (John 1:1-8,14) and who was in the Father and who the Father was in (John 14:11)), we can grasp why Psalm 19 shifts its focus to the Law of the LORD (the Torah, the Law of Moses) after focusing on how the heavens declare the glory of God, and on how the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Psalm 19:1).

As Psalm 19 transitions from praising the physical handiwork of God to praising the ideals of the Law of the LORD, the Psalmist begins by declaring that the goodness of the LORD touches all Creation and all Life. This goodness is illustrated by the sun’s warmth touching all the Earth and all the Life in it. (Psalm 19:6).

Then the Psalmist praises the Law of the LORD:

The law of the LORD is perfect,

     refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,

     making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

     giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,

     giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

     enduring forever.

The decrees of the LORD are firm,

     and all of them are righteous.

(Psalm 19:7-9).

When praising the Law of the LORD (the Torah, the Law of Moses) keep in mind we should not praise cultural practices such as stoning people (John 8:2-11), committing genocide (Luke 9:54), or divorcing your wife for any and every reason (Matthew 19:3-9).

What is a “cultural practice” that we need to change? Any practice that goes astray from the ideals of the Law of the LORD—astray from the Way of Jesus!

All such practices lead our lives and our civilizations astray by turning them into “houses” built on shifting sands. When rains come, winds blow, and streams rise, such lives and civilizations fall with a great crash (Matthew 7:24-27)!

We need to change such practices in order to reflect the overarching, guiding ideals of the Way of Jesus and the Law of the LORD (the Torah, the Law of Moses).

As Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:17; 19:3-9): “in everything, do [for] others what you would have them do [for] you.” (Matthew 7:12).

I say do for others instead of do to others because so many 21st Century Christian heretics in the United States (such as MAGA) want to dominate others instead of to serve others. (Matthew 20:25-28; Luke 14:11; John 13:14-17).

In this Way of Jesus, we will implement the two greatest commandments of the Law of Moses (the Torah):

—Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37; citing Deuteronomy 6:5); and

—Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39, citing Leviticus 19:18).

Cultural practices in the Law of Moses must be changed to conform with these ideals of loving the LORD our God and our neighbors because “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”.

So, where should we begin?

Like the Psalmist in Psalm 19, we should begin by contemplating the stars and galaxies revealed by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope.

Like Abraham, we must step outside the “tent” that blocks our view of God’s Creation.

During his public ministry, Jesus warned that this “tent” that blocks our vision and reduces our fruitfulness can be built from troubles, persecutions, worries, riches, pleasures, and the desire for other things than the word of God (Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; and Luke 8:11-15).

In the Twenty-First Century, this “tent” is often built from our despair, confusion, fears, doubts, and failures.

Fortunately, Jesus helps us to overcome our despair, confusion, fears, doubts and failures. (See my book Hoping in the LORD, at pages 309-333).

Whatever “tent” limits the vision of our lives and our civilizations, God tells us (as he told Abraham) to leave that “tent”.

God told Abraham to, “‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. And God promised, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” (Genesis 15:5).

In one sense, this promise to Abraham was for him alone. But in the truer, spiritual sense, this answer to the frustrations of life and this promise of a marvelous future is as true for each of us and our civilizations as it was for Abraham 3,000 years ago. We merely have to leave whatever “tent” is limiting our vision so that we can see the countless “stars” of hope that will fill our future.

So, when faced with the frustrations and futilities of mortal existence (Psalm 90), it is wise to contemplate the heavens that God spoke into existence (Genesis Chapter One). The heavens are inconceivably vaster than Abraham could see. Similarly, our spiritual descendants—other friends of God—will be inconceivably more numerous than we can foresee.

Such visions of the future give meaning to our lives today.

And the key to making such visions a reality is the same for us as for Abraham. We must “believe the LORD” (Genesis 15:6) when he promises that our offspring—the fruit of our life—will be as vast as the heavens.

God “credits” such belief in the good promises of God “as righteousness”. . . . .

The LORD said, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky [so that] all nations . . . will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:15-18).

Each of us has different “descendants”. Different fruit of our lives. Different works that our hands establish. Different ways that we light the world.

Nevertheless, whoever and whatever our “descendants” may be, we can trust God to keep his promises. And God promises to make such ”descendants” as numerous as the stars of the sky so that everyone will be blessed, because we have obeyed God.

(The Promised Land, at pages 31,38; first published in 2004).

Therefore, we must reject the fears of the late eminent astrophysicist  Stephen Hawking that, by reaching out to the stars, we may attract the attention of malevolent beings.

In 2010, Hawking warned the Discovery Channel on BBC that we shouldn’t broadcast our existence to aliens:

“If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans. . . . . We only have to look at ourselves [,noted Hawking, to see how intelligent life [, including aliens and Advanced Artificial Intelligences (AAI)] might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.”

Nevertheless, I believe that, instead of living in fear of aliens, including Advanced Artificial Intelligences (AAI), we must have faith in the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord:

As the Apostle Paul told us:

. . . the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. . . . .

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. . . . .

If God is for us, who can be against us? . . . .

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . .

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons nor heavenly rulers (NIV note to 8:38), neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:19, 22, 31, 35, 37-39).

Amen and Amen!

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Do you believe that nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ your Lord? Why?

Who and what are your “descendants”, the fruit of your life, the works of your hands, and the ways you light the world? Why? How?

Do you believe that your “descendants”, fruit, works, and ways will be as numerous as the stars and the galaxies? Why? How?

Do you fear contact with aliens, including Advanced Artificial Intelligences (AAI)? Why?

Do you believe that aliens and Advanced Artificial Intelligences will have souls? Should it matter to how we treat them? Why? How? Keep in mind that we don’t want to repeat the evil ways that we have treated other humans (for example, Native Americans by Conquistadors) and Africans (by slave traders and slaveowners)) because we believed that they were “subhuman” or lacked “souls”! As the story of the Good Samaritan taught us, we should never limit our love by arguing that someone is not our neighbor. (Luke 9:51-56; 10:25-37).

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For related ideas, please read my blogs “Jesus Embodies Hesed—The Vision of Isaiah”; “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Fulfilling the Law of Moses and the Prophets”: “Jesus Embodies Hesed—Sowing the Ideals of the Law of Moses and the Prophets”; “Jesus Embodies Hesed: Saving Lost Sons, Lost Coins, and Lost Sons”; “God Cares for Each Bird that I See Each Morning”; “Handel’s Messiah: The LORD Gave the Word”; and “Doing for Others”.