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GOD CREATED ALL THE ANGELS: The holy or sinless spiritual beings, whom the God of the Bible calls “angels”, live in heaven with Him. The Eternal God had created the angels in a time-designation described as ‘everlasting.’ The angles had ‘always’ been there. They were there long before God very precisely made or built planet earth, when God ‘determined earth’s measurements, stretched the line upon it, fastened its foundations, and laid its cornerstone,’ (Job 38:4-6.) The Lord Jesus Christ created all the angels, (Jn. 1:3.) Heb. 1:1-4 declares, “God, Who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the prophets, [during the Old Testament dispensation,] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, [during the New Testament dispensation,] Whom He has appointed Heir of all things, through Whom also He made the worlds, [the spiritual and physical dimensions.]”
DO HUMANS BECOME ANGELS WHEN THEY DIE? The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared that angels are not dead ‘saints,’ ‘sweet,’ ‘good,’ or ‘holy’ people living on earth, or even born again people who died and went to heaven, (Lu. 20:34-36; Mt. 25:41.) God created the angels as a totally different species from humankind, and humans can never become angels, (Heb. 1:7,14; 2:6-7.) Humans who make it to heaven will remain disembodied human spirits until the resurrection of the dead in Christ. At that moment “Jesus will descend from heaven with a loud cry… and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will be [physically] raised imperishable. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the physically living ones in Christ shall be transformed, [into physical/spiritual beings, resembling Christ’s glorified, resurrected body, Jn. 20:26-27], and they shall be caught up along with the resurrected dead to meet the Lord in the air.” - 1 Cor. 15:51-53; Ths. 4:14-17,) Disobedient people who died without ever accepting and following the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savoir, will remain disembodied spirits until the “second resurrection,” (the resurrection of those who will not live with God in heaven,) to face the Great White-throne judgment of God, (Jn. 1:12-13; Mt. 25:41; Lu. 16:24; Rev. 20:11-15.) God said in His Word that dead people know nothing about the affairs of the living, (Isa. 8:19.) It is therefore a sin to try to communicate with the dead. If we try to consult or contact the dead, we will only communicate with evil spirits or demons who are masquerading as the spirits of dead people, (Deut. 18:10-12; 1 Cor. 10:14, 21.)
ARE ANGELS REALLY HOLY, IMMORTAL AND MIGHTY? Apart from God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, angels are the most powerful beings in the universe; intelligent and free-willed life forms of the highest rank, although they are not gods, and thus cannot create anything. They continually worship the one, true Creator of the universe, and execute His power and authority in heaven and on earth. Just as God Himself, they are also immortal. And they, too, are invisible, unless, for a specific reason, God commands them to show themselves to human beings, (Heb. 1:5-14; Acts 12:7-10.) Unlike Hollywood-films which portray God’s holy angels as beings who desire to partake of physical lusts, they are exalted high above the sinful desires of humankind. Every one of Jesus’ holy angels willingly chose to serve their Creator for all eternity. The sole reason for their existence is to obey, worship, praise and glorify their God, (Heb. 1:5-7,14.) Angels are the supernatural soldiers, messengers and sentries of the living God. They are as fast as lightning and as powerful as fire, (Heb. 1:7, 14.) In unseen, and for humankind mostly in unknown ways, they bring God’s spiritual realm to the physical world where man and animal live. They execute God’s will in every situation on earth - where and how He Alone commands. Oftentimes, in cataclysmic circumstances, they remain quiet bystanders when, for reasons unknown to us, God chooses to stay His hand from Divine intervention. John wrote in Rev. 5:11-12, ‘Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angles around the throne… the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands…’
WHAT ABOUT FEMALE ANGELS? Contrary to the false portrayal of angels by the media industry, God created only male angels. Jesus said that angels do not reproduce, and so “they neither marry nor are given in marriage,” (Mark 12:25.) Daniel 9:21 refers to “the man Gabriel,” and of course, we know of the other archangel, Michael, who is the commander of God’s angelic armies. Thus, Old Testament Scripture refers to angels as ‘the sons of God.’ Of course they are not literal sons; this merely explains their gender and their close affiliation with their Creator. Scripture does not even mention the probability of ‘female’ angels, nor does it describe a single encounter with a ‘female’ angel, because female angels simply do not exist.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO FIT THE NOTION OF ‘CHERUBS’ INTO GOD’S DESCRIPTION OF ANGELS? Similarly, little ‘baby’ angels or ‘cherubs’ do not exist. The despicable myth of ‘bored, naughty, playful little angels, watching humans while drifting on fluffy white clouds,’ definitely does not relate to the powerful, holy angels of God. The sinless, all-powerful, angelic ‘strike force’ of Jesus Christ is neither cute, nor cuddly, nor bored. Jesus’ angelic soldiers are to be respected as immensely powerful, supernatural, male beings. Guards who protect the way to the Tree of Life, (or Christ Jesus Himself,) with ‘flaming swords,’ (Gen. 3:24.) Avenging warriors who can stand “between earth and the heavens with drawn swords in their hands,” (1 Chron. 21:16.) God’s all-powerful army numbers “more than those who are with them,” (the forces of darkness.) They are under the full command of their omnipotent Creator as they wait on the ‘mountains’ all around us, mounted on “horses and chariots of fire,” (2 Kings 6:16-17.) Mighty wardens who stand one-on-one at the “four corners of the earth,” holding back the evil forces of devastation, (Rev. 7:1.) A gigantic angel even “set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars, that there shall be delay no longer, and that the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets,” (Rev. 10:1-3.)
ARE ANGELS IMPORTANT TO US PERSONALLY? Of one thing we can be sure– the angels of God are always near to guard, help, protect, strengthen and carry us. God also sends them to us with messages of warning and guidance, (Mt. 2:13.) They speak in many of our dreams, fend off danger or pull us out of harms way. They even open prison doors and bring us out of great calamities, (Acts 5:19,20.) Often, they rescue us from the very clutches of death itself, (Mt. 26:53.) After Jesus withstood the temptations of the devil in the wilderness, “the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him,” thus we may boldly accept that God sends His angels to minister protection, comfort and healing to us in times of trouble! Yet we become so easily discouraged and fearful. If only God would open our spiritual eyes to focus on Him as the omnipotent God of all creation! The One Who “holds our times in His hand!” If only God would enlighten our carnal minds to understand His immeasurable might and incredible power in and through His unseen spiritual world, how strong and spiritually unconquerable we would be in Him!
DO WE ALL HAVE PERSONAL “GUARDIAN ANGELS?” We should always focus on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Sole Provider and Protector and never focus on the angels of God as such. Yet, angels are the ministering servants of God, and so, Scripture does indicate that God assigns a ‘personal’ angel to every sincere believer, “who always see the face of the Father Who is in heaven,” (Mt. 18:10.) Although Scripture does not state this emphatically, we can accept that these angels are ‘personal’ guarding angels of the highest rank. Such angels are the servants of God whom He “sends forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation” - that is, the sincere believers of Jesus Christ, (Heb. 1:14.)
SHOULD WE CONSULT, COMMAND, WORSHIP AND REVERE ANGELS? Scripture teaches that angels were created for GOD to minister primarily to GOD. Thus, all holy angels are under the direct command of God and God Alone. When they minister to humankind, (and they do, ‘for He shall give His angels charge over you…’) they will only minister according to the directions of God, (Rev. 5:11.) They will not and do not obey human beings directly, as Scripture forbids us to consult angels or to worship them. John declared in Rev. 22:8-9, “I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.’” To worship angels; to trust in angels rather than in God, and to pray to, speak to, or consult angels rather than God, is the sin of idolatry, (Ex. 20:1-5.) The holy angels live to worship and obey God Alone. The psalmist declared in Ps. 103:19-22, ‘The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His Kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels… who do His Word, heeding the voice of His word.. you ministers of HIS, who do His pleasure.’ If you believe you have command over a ‘guarding angel,’ ‘familiar angel,’ or any other kind of angel, you were deceived by Satan, who can change himself into the image of an angel of light, to make you believe that you are in contact with a holy angel, while you are actually under the deception and control of a dangerous demon, (2 Cor. 11:14.) The enemy of humankind’s soul, Lucifer or Satan, is a master of deception, and he will use and abuse our lack of knowledge and disobedience to Scripture to get hold of our souls. For this reason God had commanded us “NOT to believe every spirit, but to test the spirits, to see whether they are of God… By this you know the Spirit of God, (and the true nature of angels.) Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, [spirit, not a human, for humans can confess anything,] and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God…” So, whenever you meet a supernatural being who wants you to believe that he is a holy angel, please obey the Word of God and immediately “test” the spirit to see whether he is really of God. Remember that God’s holy angels will never draw unnecessary attention to themselves. They live to glorify and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, (Heb. 1:6.)
[PIERCING THE DARKNESS, Peretti; ANGELS AMONG US, Rhodes; TERRITORIAL SPIRITS, Wagner; IN SEARCH OF THE SOURCE, Anderson; THE SIGNATURE OF JESUS, Manning; GOD’S PLAN FOR MAN, Dake.]
Read our related discussion: Fairies, Orbs, Angels, and Other Phenomena Find other discussions on the Main Page Discover the truth about God’s heaven Read all about the doctrine of New Testament tithing- the gospel of greed! |
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and the truth shall set you free! |
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the truth |
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You shall know |