Loving the alien

Sorry folks, this isn't a post about Susan Sarandon's revelation that she had an affair with David Bowie during the filming of The Hunger. Yesterday I was reading a report on Lord Sacks' comments about social media when I caught sight of an article informing me that Aliens can't be saved according to creationist Ken Ham.

Ham's argument is as follows:

"You see, the Bible makes it clear that Adam's sin affected the whole universe,"    

"This means that any aliens would also be affected by Adam's sin, but because they are not Adam's descendants, they can't have salvation." 

"Jesus did not become the 'God Klingon' or the 'God Martian'!" he wrote.  "Only descendents of Adam can be saved.  God's Son remains the 'Godman' as our Savior.  In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we see the Father through the Son (and we see the Son through His Word). To suggest that aliens could respond to the Gospel is just totally wrong." 

It strikes me that Ham has a very limited soteriology. He argues that Adam's sin affects the whole universe but Christ's salvation only affects humanity. In other words Ham is suggesting that Adam's work is much greater than Christ's. Well I'm with St Paul on this one when he declares:

'In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth'.      Ephesians 1:7-10 

As Tom Wright comments:

'God's plan is for the whole cosmos, the entire universe; his choosing and calling of us, and his shaping and directing of us in the Messiah, are somehow connected with that larger intention... the point is that we aren't chosen for our own sake, but for the sake of what God wants to accomplish through us.' Paul for Everyone - The Prison Letters p.9

This is what I understand to be a universal Gospel; Good News for the whole creation. So if I happen to come across these characters on the underground it will be my duty and my joy to share with them the love of God made known in his son the Lord Jesus Christ.