What About Angels?

ROOTED

Discipleship is less about how much you know about Jesus and more about how much you desire him.

Our desires steer our actions. The real issue is probably not that you need to know more about following Jesus than it is that you need to change your desires to want to follow him more.

James K. A Smith:

“You can’t just think your way to new hungers.”

“The orientation of the heart happens from the bottom up, through the formation of our habits of desire. Learning to love (God) takes practice.” ― James K.A. Smith, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit

— Why I love ROOTED - It’s not a teaching, it’s an experience.

— 10-week interactive experience starting October 16th - no excuses.

— if you are even the slightest bit curious I want to highly encourage you to stop at the welcome wall after our gathering and you can see what all is involved, and there will be someone there who can give you more information

Introduction (7min)

What comes to mind when you think of angels?

A baseball team?

Cherubs with white wings and a harp?

Clarence from “It’s a Wonderful Life?”

Your children?

Maybe then your mind shifts to fallen angels - demons.

There are a few different ways we could learn about angels:

Popular culture — wings, robes, babies, sitting on my shoulder

Personal experience — Maybe you have a story of something happening to you that doesn’t seem to have a physical explanation

Scripture — No matter how we come to our current understanding of angels, we must always temper it with what the Bible says.

Two weeks ago we answered the question, “How does God speak to me?”, and we saw how the Bible is the primary way God reveals to us things about life, faith, and our relationship with him.

It’s important to look to the Bible in trying to understand angels. Remember, the Bible is not as clear about angels as it is about Jesus.

It is important, then, to ground ourselves in what the Bible clearly says, and though we may talk about things that might be regarding angels, we do not order our lives around them.

Why even study angels? What does it matter? What difference will a study of angels make in my life?

Angels are a part of theology (angelology), and all theology is a study of who? — God.

*We study angels not to worship angels because angels exist to point people to God. So, the study of angels, for us, should result in the worship of God.*

Psalm 91:11–16 (ESV)

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Origin of angels

Two primary words that refer to angels — one in the OT and one in the NT. In both cases their general meaning is “messenger.”

Other terms:

— sons of Elohim (Job 1:6)

— holy ones (Ps 89:5)

— watchers (Dan 4:13)

— Council (Ps 89:7)

— Host (sixty times in Isaiah)

Bible says little about how angels came to be. Since God is the Creator and Colossians 1:16 tells us:

Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

then angels are created beings, but the Bible doesn’t tells us exactly when they were created.

Since angels appear early in Scripture and the creation account in Genesis never mentions them, most scholars believe angels were created sometime after God spoke everything into existence and before God finished his creative work in our universe.

We find some hints here:

Genesis 2:1 (ESV)

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Job 38:7 (ESV)

7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Being created before the rest of our physical creation, it would follow that angels are spiritual beings by nature, although the Bible does talk about times when angels take on human form.

Angels seemed to have been created all at one time as they cannot propogate like humans (matt 22:30) and have no gender.

We don’t know how many angels there are but the Bible uses some big numbers to describe the amount:

Deuteronomy 33:2 (ESV)

2 He said, “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.

Psalm 68:17 (ESV)

17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

Matthew 26:53 (ESV)

53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

We know angels are intelligent and can have a lot of power, but they are not like God who has all power and all knowledge.

Somewhere between God’s creation of the angels and Genesis 3, where we find the Fall, many angels sinned and rebelled against God

2 Peter 2:4 (ESV)

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

Jude 6 (ESV)

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

These angels “fell” from their position and proper dwelling and became what we know as “fallen angels” or demons.

While angels carry out the will of God, demons carry out the will of the Chief of Demons - Satan, who was once an angel himself and whose name literally means, “Accuser.”

His goal is to falsely accuse both God and humans in order to lead humans away from following God.

The spiritual realm is real.

The stories of Scripture show us not only that the spiritual realm is real but there is in reality very little separation between the two and regular interaction between them.

I know Christine and I could share stories of how we have seen the spiritual realm interact with our physical realm in a way that is not explainable by ordinary means.

I’m sure many of you have stories as well.

More than likely many of us live our daily lives with little awareness of the fact that the spiritual realm is real.

This is because for many people their reaction to learning about the spiritual realm leads to seeing the spiritual realm as a fable, fascination, or a fear.

Fable

With the advent of the scientific revolution in the 18th Century, man began to understand more about the physical world around him and “demystify” things that once use to be attributed only to spiritual beings.

This led to the great divorce in many people’s minds of the natural world from the supernatural world.

ILLUST - Horton Hears a Who

This is dangerous , though, as the modernist movement (scientific revolution) was probably the greatest Trojan horse for Satan

— Satan works better with distraction than attraction

Case in point, how often this past week did you think about how your physical actions may affect the spiritual realities around you? How often did you think about how angels may have been at work in your circumstances?

It is not just a benign interaction with the spiritual realm — Paul says we are in a war:

Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

— How often do you approach daily events with an ear and eye to the supernatural implications surrounding them?

Fascination

While some people may never think about angels and the spiritual realm, others may think too much and too highly of angels.

ILLUST - Guardian angel prayer cartoon :

Angel of God,

my guardian dear,

to whom God’s love commits me here,

ever this day be at my side,

to light and guard,

to rule and guide.

Amen.

How sad!

Angels can do nothing apart form the will of God and we have direct access to God through Jesus, so why would we ever pray to angels?!

It’s as if you were the prince of a great kingdom asking the butler to provide for you when your father sits on the throne.

Actually, that’s exactly what it is!

Fear

Almost every time a human sees an angel for who they really are, the result is fear.

These are beings with great power. This results in many people being afraid of angels, or more commonly, demons.

There can be a healthy fear of demons, but only in as much as it pushes us toward God. As we’ll see in just a minute, God is greater than all - Demons, even Satan himself, is on a leash at the hands of God.

ILLUST - Job - Satan could do no more than God allowed.

The spiritual realm is not a fable. It doesn’t warrant undue fascination, and we need not have fear of it.

But we must always be aware that we are — even now, perhaps especially now — interacting with the spiritual realm.

You are cooler than angels, and Christ is greater than all.

— How cool would it be to see an angel? Maybe not so cool depending on how you see them.

Angels were made to serve God but you were made in God’s image.

I think it would be cool to meet an angel. How amazing! What an incredible creature!

Look at the image they create!

I could be quoting you or I could be quoting an angel.

Angels can experience judgment, but you can experience redemption.

When the angels chose to sin, they can expect only judgment.

However, you are the pinnacle of God’s creation, made in God’s image.

God loves you so much that though you sinned and were in rebellion against him, he send Jesus, as a man, to atone for the sin and redeem us from the judgment.

We’re told in 1 Peter 1 that angels are watching God’s unfolding plan of redemption for mankind and that they are even longing to look at these things.

As far as Scripture is concerned, we are not told of any redemption possible for the fallen angels.

Jesus did not become an angel to save and redeem angels. We are told the story to the end and there is only judgment for fallen angels.

Angels may be more sophisticated than you but you will one day judge them.

Psalm 8:4–5 (ESV) — 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

1 Corinthians 6:3 (ESV) — 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

— Hints that in some way angels are greater beings than we are

— “We are not ruled by angels (or demons) but neither are they subject to us”

No created being is greater than the Creator.

Though Satan may be great, he is not the Creator.

This is not a yin / yang, good force vs bad force, Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker.

The closest analogy I can think of is angry ant trying to stop a running elephant — and even that pales in comparison.

— The Creator loves you. No created being can do anything to you apart from his loving care.

Romans 8:31 (ESV)

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

For the believer:

Romans 8:37–39 (ESV)

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The only thing Satan can do to keep you from the love of God is try to deceive you into walking away from it.

This is why God’s Word is so important! It speaks truth and does spiritual warfare.

When you read the Bible, you are engaged in spiritual warfare.

When you pray according to God’s Word, you are in a spiritual battle.

When you memorize Scripture and quote it back to yourself or someone else who is listening to a lie of Satan, you are fighting with spiritual power.

ILLUST - Dr. Dorsey - how did you get rid of the demons — I prayed and asked Jesus to take care of it.

Angels minister to you but serve God.

How do they minister to you?

— Deliverance

Acts 5:19 (ESV)

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

— Guard

Psalm 91:11 (ESV)

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 34:7 (ESV)

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

— Serve toward salvation

Hebrews 1:14 (ESV)

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

— Hints of an angel escort after death

Luke 16:22 (ESV)

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,

How do they serve God?

— worship

Psalm 148:2 (ESV)

2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts!

Revelation 5:11–12 (ESV)

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

— deliver messages

Gabriel appeared to Zechariah

Luke 1:13 (ESV)

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

Mary

Luke 1:26–28 (ESV)

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Philip, Cornelius, Peter, Paul,

— Carry out judgment

2 Kings 19:35 (ESV)

35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Acts 12:23 (ESV)

23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

We need to remember that while angels minister to us, they do so because they serve God. We cannot command angels to do anything.

And apart from any specific authority given to us by God, we cannot command fallen angels (demons) to do anything either.

Be careful of the demon’s tool of pride that is revealed when you claim greater authority than God has actually granted.

ILLUST - Ajibola’s victory over the demons and local shaman was not accomplished through a claim of power but through an exercise of prayer.

A clear view of angels will point you to God.

The chief purpose of angels is to point people to God and worship him.

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

So a study of and clear view of angels should result in greater worship of God as they point to him.

If a concept of angels does not line up with Scripture, it is wrong. If a study of angels causes you to think (worship) more about angels than God, it is wrong.

In all that angels do they point to God’s glory, carry out God’s mission on earth, and lead people to worship God as they worship God themselves.

Everything they do points back to God (ILLUST - like an Amway salesman)

In one sense this is where we are similar to angels.

But are we doing this?

*Popular questions on angels?*

Angels are created moral beings who carry out God’s plan of redemption on earth and glorify God through worship.