What about Angels?
Be Strong, Be Well — Saturday, December 12, 2020
As Christmas approaches, the decorations are going up, inside and outside of our houses. Businesses always start early to get more out of that Christmas spending season. The common scenes of Santa, reindeer, and snowmen bring the spirit of Christmas to life.
What about those angels? Since the Christmas holiday has its origin in the story of Jesus’ birth, many people celebrate Christmas in a religious way. We choose not to celebrate the holiday with religious significance, but rather celebrate Christmas in secular ways.
But again, what about those angels? No matter what people display at Christmastime, angels are scriptural—angels are real. The Bible gives us clear answers as to who these creatures are and what they do.
God created all things and He created angels (Psalm 148:5). It may be that Job implies “sons of God" were angels created before the "foundation of the earth" (Job 38:4, 7). Some fascinating information tells us Jesus Christ, God’s Son, created the angels (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3).
Angels are spirit beings, created pure, holy, perfect and sinless. This doesn’t mean they can’t fall from grace just like humans can. The difference between them and us, we have a plan of salvation—a second chance, angels do not (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). We are thankful for righteous angels because they work on our behalf (Hebrews 1:14).
Angels are superhuman, both in intelligence (2 Samuel 14:20) and in power (2 Peter 2:11). Man is fortunate to be made a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7, 9). This way angels do God’s bidding in watching over Christians and protecting us (Hebrews 1:14).
We must remember not to think more of angels than what God has revealed about them. They are not personal, guardian angels. The Bible doesn’t tell us such things. They do not make personal visits and relay messages. They do not work miracles today as they once did (1 Corinthians 13:10).
During the Christmas season when we see the representation of what men think angels look like, think of what we know about angels from God’s word. While we are fascinated with the idea of angels, may we never lose sight of the reality of all of God's creation—from the highest forms in angles, to our own existence and what God intends for us all. —Chris