Angels from the Realms of Glory

Luke 2:8-14

Observing the Christmas holiday offers a variety of benefits. We can renew our gratitude for and focus on Christ, reconnect with family and friends, restore a heart of generosity, and more. Christmas also reminds us of biblical concepts, truths, and realities which we may otherwise disregard.

One such reality is the existence and activity of angels. They appear on Christmas cards as scantily clothed, pudgy babies floating in the sky or glowing men with blond hair and golden robes, singing music in the sky. They also appear in Christmas dramas as people wearing white robes, cardboard wings, and a shimmery circle floating above their heads. Perhaps more prominently, angels frequently emerge in the songs we sing at Christmastime. One such song is “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”

A young man named James Montgomery, who wrote many other hymns, first published the words to this song in the British newspaper Sheffield Iris in 1816, on Christmas Eve, and churches began singing nine years later onward. It was a significant song, in part, because it was one of the few Christmas carols of a religious, faith-oriented nature. Most Christmas songs of that time focused on drinking, eating, and other secular elements.

James Montgomery was a believer who was deeply concerned about the social evils of his day, esp. those things which exhibited injustice, such as: practicing slavery, neglecting the poor, mistreating employees, etc. Through this song, he urges people to repent from their sinful, unjust ways by turning to Christ the Messiah for mercy and salvation. To do this, he focuses upon the Christmas story as portrayed in Scripture, opening with the attention-grabbing spectacle of heavenly angels announcing the Savior’s birth.

We’re most familiar with the first three verses of this song, but we’re less familiar with the final, fourth verse. Perhaps we omit it because it feels less “Christmasy,” festive, but it offers an urgent call to repentance:

Angels from the realms of glory,

wing your flight o'er all the earth;

ye who sang creation's story

now proclaim Messiah's birth.

Shepherds, in the field abiding,

watching o'er your flocks by night,

God with us is now residing;

yonder shines the infant light.

Sages, leave your contemplations,

brighter visions beam afar;

seek the great Desire of nations;

ye have seen his natal star.

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,

Doomed for guilt to endless pains,

Justice now revokes the sentence,

Mercy calls you—break your chains.

One more verse also looks forward to the future second coming of Christ!

Though an infant now we view him,

He shall fill his Father’s throne,

Gather all the nations to him;

Every knee shall then bow down.

Now that we have learned a bit about the history of this song, let’s ask another related question. What are angels, really, and what do they do? And why do angels appear so prominently in the Christmas story? Are they there to provide a musical soundtrack, add additional drama, or make the Christmas events appear more beautiful and majestic?

Angels appear frequently in Scripture.

At this point, please allow me to provide you with a high-speed, black-diamond ski slope run through a theological overview and summary of angels from the Bible.

The Hebrew word for angel appears 110 times in the Old Testament (OT), but 56 of those mentions refer to the “Angel of the Lord,” a reference to the preincarnate Christ (the Son of God before he became the human child, Jesus). Also, this count does not include 5-10 other descriptions of angels, so we can estimate the OT refers to angels about 60 times.

Next, the Greek word for angel appears 177 times in the New Testament. So, 60 times in the OT and 177 times in the NT. That means that though the NT is smaller in volume and much shorter in timeframe, it features angels far more frequently, about three times more.

When we zoom in on NT mentions of angels, we find that their activity and appearance occur in a most concentrated form in association with two events – the first (past) and second (future) advents of Christ. Said another way, angels are most active at the second coming of Christ first and the first coming of Christ second. So, why do angels appear so prominently at the birth of Christ and also at the future second coming of Christ?

The word angel means “messenger.”

Sometimes this word in Scripture refers to the pre-born Christ or to a human messenger, but the vast majority of times this word appears in the Bible it refers to a non-human messenger sent by God from the spiritual realm to do fulfill some special task or announce some special message for God. Who are these non-human messengers?

Angels were created by God, through Christ and for Christ (Psa 148:5; John 1:1-3; Col 1:16). The timing of their creation seems to be before the creation of the material universe (Job 38:6-7) and their number is both uncountable and unchanging (Matt 22:30; Heb 12:22; Rev 5:11).

Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created. (Psa 148:5)

Like human beings, angels are finite personalities who exhibit intelligence (Matt 8:29; 2 Cor 11:3; 1 Pet 1:12), emotions (Luke 2:13; Jam 2:19; Rev 12:17) and a will to make decisions (Luke 8:28-31; 2 Tim 2:26; Jude 6). Unlike human beings, angels are spirits with no physical bodies (Luke 8:2; 11:24, 26; Heb 1:14). When they present themselves to humans, they usually look like males. This doesn’t mean that they are males, only that this is the best way observers find to describe them in terms which we can comprehend and visualize. When angels appear in dreams and visions, though, they look otherworldly, awe-inspiring, and difficult to describe (Isa 6:1-8; Dan 10:5-7; Rev 10:1-3; 15:6; 18:1).

By ability and power, angels occupy a higher rank than humans (Psa 8:5; Heb 2:7-9).

“For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psa 8:5)

In other words, they are more imposing and powerful than we are. Even so, God assigns them to serve human beings rather than the other way around (Heb 1:14), and they neither procreate nor die (Matt 22:30; Luke 20:36).

There are good and bad angels.

The OT describes good (“elect”) angels as an “assembly” and “council” (Psa 89:5, 7) and the NT gives them titles of governmental rank, which indicates that they exist in a complex, orderly system of rank and hierarchy (Eph 3:10). Throughout Scripture, good and bad angels alike described with titles of ranked authority and power (Rom 8:38; Eph 1:21; 2:2; 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:10, 15; 1 Pet 3:22; 2 Pet 2:11).

Among the good angels, Michael is called the archangel, which means that he is one of the highest-ranking angels (Jude 9; 1 Thess 4:16). Other high-ranking angels also exist, perhaps as powerful as Michael (Dan 10:13). In the OT, Michael serves as the nation of Israel’s guardian angel assigned by God (Dan 10:21; 12:1), and in the NT he leads angelic armies against evil angelic adversaries (Rev 12:7). Other angels appear to have similar roles and assignments to other nations and governments of the world (Dan 4:17; 10:21; 11:1). Most importantly, all these angels are subject to Christ’s command (Matt 26:53).

Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? (Matt 26:53)

(“More than twelve legions” could mean upwards of 100,000.)

In addition to archangels, geo-political angels, and armies of angels in general, two other kinds of angels are found in Scripture, called cherubim and seraphim. These angels appear around and near the throne and presence of God in heaven and seem to be exclusively focused on providing God with constant worship (Gen 3:24; Isa 6:2-7; Ezek 1:4-5; 10:15-20; 26:1; 28:14, 16; 36:8; 41:18-20; 1 Kings 6:23-29; Rev 4:6).

As some of their many activities, angels praise and worship God (Psa 148:1-2; Isa 6:3; Heb 1:6; Rev 5:8-13), announce God’s works (Job 38:6-7), serve God however he desires (Job 1:6; 2:1; Psa 103:20; Rev 22:9), and carry out God’s judgments (Rev 7:1; 8:2).

During Christ’s ministry on earth, they announced his birth (Matt 1:20; Luke 1:26-28), announced praise to God at his birth (Luke 2:8-15), guided his parents to make some crucial choices (Matt 2:13-15 [traveling as exiles to Egypt to protect Christ from Herod’s attempt on his life], 19-21 [returning from exile in Egypt when Herod’s threat had ended]), served him during his forty days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness (Matt 4:11; Luke 22:43), rolled back the tombstone (Matt 28:1-2), announced his resurrection (Matt 28:5-6; Luke 24:5-7), and witnessed his ascension (Acts 1:10-11). They will also be active in his second coming (Matt 13:39-40; 25:31; 1 Thess 4:16; 2 Thess 1:7; Rev. et al.).

Let’s see how angels famously announced Christ’s birth in Luke 2:8-14:

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

One thing angels did not do in Christ’s life – remarkably – is intervene at his betrayal, trial, and crucifixion. Christ himself acknowledged their absence specifically, claiming they would intervene to rescue him if he merely asked, which he refused to do (Matt 26:53).

Somehow or another, God has assigned angels to serve the needs of believers (Heb 1:14). They provided John with key information about the future (Rev 1:1; 22:6, 8), and, they appear to be involved in bringing to pass some answered prayers (Acts 12:5-10) and arranging some evangelism opportunities (Acts 8:26; 10:3).

They also observe our lives as Christians (1 Cor 4:9; 11:10; Eph 3:10; 1 Pet 1:12) and assist us after death (Luke 16:22).

“So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.” (Luke 16:22)

Some people point to Matt 18:10 to suggest that every believer has a guardian angel, but this verse only teaches that angels in general are ready to defend believers whenever needed, with no individual assignments mentioned.

To complete this survey of angels, we need to mention another aspect of the angelic world – that not all angels are good and obedient servants of God.

Though God created angels in a perfect condition, one angel – probably the original chief angel – soon made a terrible choice (Gen 3:1; Ezek 28:15), an attempt to usurp God (Isa 14:12-17; Ezek 28:16; 1 Tim 3:6). We now call him Satan. What’s more, it appears that other angels followed him in this rebellion (Matt 25:41; 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6), consisting of a third of the angels in total (Rev 12:4).

Of these fallen angels, some continue to carry out Satan’s desires and plans while others are confined in a place called Tartarus (2 Pet. 2:4 and Jude 6) or the abyss (Luke 8:31; Rev. 9:1–3, 11), with some being consigned there to await final judgment, while others remain active in various ways (Rev. 9:1–3, 11, 14; 16:14).

When Satan fell, he was sent from the heavenly to the earthly realm (Isa 28:17), and other fallen angels carry out his plans in league with him (Eph 6:11-12). Today, Scripture calls Satan “the god of this age” (2 Cor 4:4) and “prince of this world” (John 12:31). In this role, he/they attempt to overthrow God’s purposes and plans, giving special attention to influencing people to join them in their rebellion against God and to prevent God from establishing his once and final kingdom of righteousness, justice, and peace.

Scripture portrays Satan in a variety of ways. Satan means “adversary, opposer” (Zech 3:1; Matt 4:10; Rev 12:9; 20:2). Devil means “slanderer” (Matt 4:1; Eph 4:27; Rev 12:9; 20:2). Other designations include: “the evil one” (John 17:15; 1 John 5:18-19), the serpent (Gen 3:1; 2 Cor 11:3; Rev 12:9), a “great red dragon” (Rev 12:3, 7, 9), the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev 12:10), Belial (2 Cor 6:15), and “the tempter” (Matt 4:3; 1 Thess 3:5). Fallen angels in Scripture are called demons(Matt 12:24), “unclean spirits” (Mark 9:25; Luke 10:17-20), and “principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

Today, Satan makes plans (Matt 16:18; Eph 6:11), accuses believers (Job 1:9, 11; 2:5; Zech 3:1; Rev 12:9-10), perverts the truth (John 8:44), seeks to destroy the reputations of believers (1 Pet 5:8), tempts believers (1 Thess 3:5), blinds nonbelievers to the gospel (Luke 8:12; 2 Cor 4:4), and plots to bring the world an ultimate antichrist (2 Thess 2:9-11).

Likewise, demons (a kind of fallen angel) carry out Satan’s evil plans to oppose God (Dan 10:10-14; Eph 6:11-12; Rev 16:13-16). They encourage idolatry (1 Cor 10:20; Rev 9:20), immorality (Deut 32:17; Psa 106:37-39), and other false teachings (1 Tim 3:16-4:3; 1 John 4:1-4), engage with political rulers and events (Dan 10:13; Rev 16:13-16), and inflict physical suffering, seizures, etc. (Matt 9:33; 12:22; 17:15-18).

In the end, Satan and all other fallen angels will be banished to eternity in the Lake of Fire, as unbelieving humans will be also (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10).

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt 25:41)

By contrast, believers will enjoy eternity in the restored and perfect world that God will make, ruled by him and shared with the good and holy angels.

With this survey of angels in mind, let’s ask once again – why were they so active when Christ came into the world as our Savior the first time, and why will they be even more active when Christ comes into the world a second time as conquering Judge and King?

Heightened angelic activity indicates climactic events in God’s plan.

When Scripture reveals heightened angelic activity, it reveals especially crucial events in God’s large-scale plan to bring salvation, justice, peace, and restoration to the world. It is in such moments that the more “natural course” of things must be most radically and intentionally altered and that the efforts of evil angelic forces (incl. Satan) must be most severely and supernaturally counteracted and overthrown.

This observation highlights the first and second comings of Christ to be the two most crucial and climactic moments in God’s plan for the world. Viewed from another angle, these two events are the two divine acts to which Satan and the evil, angelic forces are most aggressively opposed.

James Montgomery urges us to turn to Christ in true repentance in that fourth, overlooked verse of his Christmas carol, “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,

Doomed for guilt to endless pains,

Justice now revokes the sentence,

Mercy calls you—break your chains.

On which side of this massive spiritual battle are you on? Are you ignorant or opposed to Christ as your Savior, King, and Judge? Or have you taken God’s side by accepting Christ as your Savior and God and submitting to his will and reign in your life?

Angelic involvement indicates the breaking through of the heavenly kingdom into the earthly realm.

Since angels are primarily associated with and functioning unseen in the supernatural, heavenly realm, their visible activity indicates increased interaction between the two realms, heavenly and earthly. This occasional occurrence in redemptive history reminds us that there is more to this life than meets the eye. As Paul said (Eph 5:21):

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.”

This teaching does not mean we are only wrestling against spiritual powers but that we are also wrestling against spiritual powers in addition to flesh and blood. In other words, when we face difficulties in relationships and life circumstances as followers of Christ, we are not merely facing human, material, relational, political, or social complications and difficulties, but these difficulties are somehow compounded, motivated, intensified, complicated, or instigated by additional spiritual adversaries which we usually cannot see.

Furthermore, this teaching does not mean that we should devise special tactics or become more aware of our unseen, spiritual adversaries in some mystical way so that we can “wrestle” more effectively. We don’t need to devise special methods of “spiritual warfare” or create prayers or spells to go “toe to toe” with angelic forces.

We should simply know what Scripture teaches and do what God tells us to do, realizing that there is more to our spiritual struggle than only what we can see. This teaching reminds us that when we face severe difficulty and opposition to pursuing and doing God’s will, we should not be surprised at the degree of difficulty we face. And when this difficulty comes, it is not due merely to human or material adversity alone, but to additional, unseen opposition also – over which we have no direct control. The good news, though, is that such spiritual adversity, though difficult to endure, encourages us that we are heading in the right direction.

Angels remind us that God is doing more than we can see.

Consider a significant example of angelic intervention from the OT. An enemy of God’s people, King of Aram, sent a large, powerful army to surround the city of Dotham in order to capture the prophet, Elisha. How would this make you feel if you were Elisha?

With fear, Elisha’s personal assistant asked him, “What shall we do?”

“Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” … And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kgs 6:16-17)

To this, Elisha calmly replied, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kgs 6:16). After this, God gave his assistant a glimpse at the angelic realm. He saw that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kgs 6:17). The rest of the story tells us that the enemy army was blinded, after which Elisha approached them and led them back to their base in Syria.

The Christmas story reminds us that like this event, and even more so, God was actively and overwhelmingly involved in the birth of Christ, advancing his plan for restoring his kingdom in this world. The night that Christ was born, for instance, we read that a host of angels appeared in a visible way (Luke 2:8-14). From this event, we some key details:

First, one majestic angel appeared to these shepherd first. This one angel was so impressive and overwhelming that the shepherds were greatly afraid.

Second, after this angel announced Christ’s birth, a multitude of angels (“heavenly host”) announced praise to God. We don’t know how they did this, whether as a chorus of song or a music-less announcement. What seems clear, though, is that they didn’t give their announcement in one loud burst but as a repeated announcement. This angelic appearance was an enthusiastic, victorious announcement by a massive angelic army, not a musical cantata by a sweet angel choir.

Third, and most importantly, these angels announced praise to God for what he was doing, and this praise was to be announced not only to these shepherds, but to the highest, furthest reaches of the heavenly realm. What God was doing through the birth of Christ would reveal his greatness and goodness to the unseen realm in an unrivaled, unparalleled way, more than anything else which the angelic world had ever seen God do. So, the angels were announcing Christ’s birth first to the rest of the heavenly realm. “Peace and goodwill,” then, are an announcement not to the heavenly realm, as before, but to the earthly, human realm that God was now demonstrating the fullness of his blessing to humankind in the ultimate way. It is Christ as a human joining with and in his creation, bringing together the earthly and heavenly realms, that was the way that God had planned to restore creation and mankind to a close relationship with him and the fullness of his blessings to them.

There is a very real sense in which the coming of Christ into the world was an overwhelming military victory in which the heavenly kingdom of God broke through the godless kingdoms of this world. This unparalleled breakthrough inspired an outburst of praise to God in the heavenly, angelic realm, and it also set in motion God’s way of bringing true and lasting peace and blessing to this fallen, earthly realm.

Angelic activity assures us that Christ will come again.

Thanks to the well-attested biblical record of angelic activity throughout the birth and ministry of Christ, we can rest assured that Christ will come again as God’s Word also guarantees. Only then, angelic activity will be even more prolific. Christ acknowledged this in his own teaching ministry and the book of Revelation, written by the apostle John, makes this very clear. Just as confidently as we look back in faith to the first coming (first advent) of Christ as our Suffering Savior we should look forward to the second coming (second advent) of Christ as our Conquering King. As James Montgomery wrote in his Christmas carol, “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” states:

Though an infant now we view him,

He shall fill his Father’s throne,

Gather all the nations to him;

Every knee shall then bow down.

May the announcements and pronounced activity of God’s heavenly armies of angels at the birth of Christ encourage us to bow in full faith, repentance, and submission to Jesus Christ as our Savior and King. And may their involvement also encourage us to live as though we are truly and confidently expecting his second coming into the world, to establish peace and justice forever.