Angels

Introduction

Throughout Christian history the number one theme of sculptures, painters, and artist depicting the story of the Bible has been the cross. A close second has been that of angels. You can be sure that angels are important to the Lord. There are 360 references to angels in the Word of God. There are three main things related to angels that apply to our lives.

Angels are created beings. They are not eternal. Psalms 148:2-5, verse 5 is a summation of everything that He said they should praise him because God created them. The word created means that God made something that has a beginning and an ending. The word eternal means that something has no beginning or ending.

Jesus Christ was not created. He had no beginning. Jesus did not start to happen at Christmas. Jesus stepped into the empirical realm, to the womb of the virgin and took on a fleshly body for 33 years. He existed at the beginning and continues to exist. We can understand how things have no ending but how could they have no beginning? Understanding no beginning is difficult. God is unending and God the Father is without beginning, as is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. But angels are not eternal, for they have a beginning and ending.

There are orders of angels. There are ranking grades of angels.

The orders of angels are

i. Arch Angel

(Lucifer, Gabriel, and Michael)

ii. Seraphim Angels

iii. Cherubim Angels

iv. Fallen Angels

Because angels appear at times as demons (fallen angels), it is likely that there are probably orders of angels among them as well. We read about doing warfare against powers and principalities. These appear to be orders of  angels. We know that there is a satanic trinity. For example, the false prophet, the beast and the anti-Christ.

There is an unlimited number of angels. Revelation 5:11. Hebrews 1:4-8, When angels fell there was no redemption provided for them. Once an angel sinned in Heaven, was cast out and became a demon on earth there was no redemption.

An angel can't repent and a demon can't be forgiven. But we can! We are therefore a higher order than the angels. Angels can't be redeemed, so they will never be like Jesus. Angels are lower than Jesus and lower than human beings. Angels cannot do anything that God can do. God doesn't need angels. He can do anything. Anything God chooses to do, God can do. He doesn't need angels to do it. Angels, then, cannot do anything that God can do.

Interestingly, angels have a will. They have a power to choose.

We are human beings made in the image of God. That means three things.

We have knowledge

We have emotion

We have a will.

In Knowledge - we know things.

With Emotion - we feel things.

With Will - we decide and do things.

Based upon what we know and what we feel we make judgments and decisions. We do things. All animals can be trained. They have knowledge. They have emotion. But animals don't have a will. But angels have a will. They have knowledge, emotion, and will.

Go back before time began. It appears from the scripture that before life on earth as we know it was created here on earth there was an angelic society in heaven. All of this society was presided over by three angelic counter parts of the trinity. There was Michael, the archangel. The counter part of God. There was Lucifer, the beautiful angel. The counter part of Jesus. Then there was Gabriel, the soft-spoken angel. Who was the counter part of the Holy Spirit? For centuries it appears that these angels where content to worship God - to obey and honor Him - to say, "Thy will be done."

In Isaiah we have an account of the first sin, which happened in Heaven. Isaiah 14:12-15, Five times Lucifer said "I will" and sin began. With no sin tolerated in Heaven, there was a war in Heaven. Michael and two thirds of the angels appear to have sided with God and defended the Glory of God, the Holiness of God, and the sanctity of God's Heaven. One third of the angels, under Lucifer, sided with Lucifer and came down to earth. So demon spirits today seem to be fallen angels.

Why did God make demons? Why did God make the devil? Why did God make sin? He did not make demons, the devil or sin. God made Lucifer and when he rebelled he created sin and he became the devil and the fallen angels became demons. That is the theme that apparently is the scenario that develops through the pages of Isaiah into the New Testament.

Angels do have a will. Angels are gender neutral. They are neither male nor female. The book of Genesis 6 is one of the most intriguing and frankly difficult passages in the Bible. Genesis 6:1-2, "There are those who suppose, and they are really a majority, that the sons of God is an interactive word with angels." What happened is that the angels came from Heaven down to earth and married human women. Some commentaries feel that it doesn't mean angels married human women. One day the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked do you know the Levite law? That means if a guy dies and has a brother, that brother has to marry the deceased brother’s wife - to perpetuate the family, the children, and the family name. There was a man who died, so his brother married the widow and then he died. Then brother three married her and he died. All the way through seven marriages and seven deaths. In the resurrection, whose wife is she going to be in heaven? Jesus said you are wrong. Not knowing the scriptures or the power of God, because in heaven we are like the angels. We are neither married, nor are given in marriage. Angels don't marry. Angels are genderless.

Angels are not to be worshipped. The book of Colossians is a book in which the Colossian church was being persuaded and infiltrated by secular humanism and by Gnosticism. The Gnostics said that the flesh and matter are evil therefore Jesus could not have a human body. Which does terrible despite to the cross where He shed his blood for our sins.. And the angels became very important. So in Gnosticism, as seen in the book of Colossians, angels became very important. And the Colossian Church was buying into a philosophy that there were divine emanations coming from God, which were angelic. Just under God was a real powerful angel. Then under him a less powerful angel. So they falsely taught that angles continued to appear all the way down to the bottom of the order and that angel was named Jesus. These false teachers were making angels more important than Jesus. So naturally they began to worship angels and the Apostle Paul writes the church of Colossians saying beware and watch out less any man spoil you or ruin you with angel worship.

Angels reveal themselves in different forms. Angels are basically invisible. Angels don't reveal themselves visibly, though they can be revealed spiritually. Angels are given power from God at times to manifest themselves visibly. Read Hebrews 13:1-2 - if that does not mean that angels do take the form of human beings and come for a while to minister some way then what does it mean?"

Note with me three things that will relate to your life regarding angels ...

I. Angels Proclaim the Glory of God

When you hear that statement, immediately you think about Christmas and the telling of Jesus birth found in the Book of Luke.

Look at Revelations 5:11-12. If God created an entire order of beings to praise Him, how important is praise? God does not require or dictate our praise because he is an ego-centric God. It's not because He needs it. It's because we need it.

II. Angels Propel His Work

Many times the work and will of God have gone forward historically by the power of angels. It was an angel that smote the hip of Jacob in a wrestling match, such that he was crippled all of his life. Jacob never forgot that God meant what He said and said what He meant.

It was an angel that brought the message of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. When God was ready for His Son to enter this world, He let it be known through an angel. He would not send Michael the archangel. He would scare them half to death with this message. Rather, God sent Gabriele, a soft-spoken angel, with a gentle message to the young virgin, Mary.

Look at the parable of the wheat and tares. At the end of time the harvesters (Angels) will come and take the lost and cast them into the lake of fire, but the saved will be placed in God's harvest barn in Heaven. At the conclusion they said: "Explain this to us." And Jesus explains to the disciples and finishes it by saying. "The harvesters are the angels."

II. Angels Protect the Children of God

Psalms 91:9-12

Angels attended the birth of Jesus. Angels ministered to God's Son, God's child. After the temptation of Jesus, angels attended to Him. Note that at His ascension an angel speaks of His return. When He comes again we read, “Behold He cometh in the clouds with the Saints and all the Holy angels.” Angels will be with Him when He comes to take residence and authority of the world for a thousand years.

Peter was liberated and guided out of prison by an angel. Also, an angel was inside the prison and ministered to Paul but did not deliver him. Just because things don’t turn out as you wish, that doesn’t mean that angels are there with you and for you.

Daniel was cast in the lion's den and the king rushed over the next morning to see if God kept him alive? Daniel said, “The Angel of the Lord stood by me all night and shut the mouths of the lions.”

Look at Matthew 18:10. Apparently angels are perfectly, individually, and specifically assigned in Heaven and always see the face of my Father. How many hundreds of times have your children been brought back from the edge or had protection placed over them, or been protected and guarded by an angel?

III. Angels Propel the Work of God

There is one thing we can go away from here remembering. It is not only to be encouraged by how God cares for us through angels, but that God propels and moves His work and will forward through angels. We need to learn to praise God at all times and in all circumstances, for He cares for us and He is always working toward the day when we will be home with Him.

And also, we need to be very gracious in regard to how we treat people. You see, sometimes in the most unlikely place, in the most likely person, there may be an angel of which you are unaware.