I decided to go ahead and start Chapter 6 of Authentic Christianity this afternoon, so here goes!
The creation of angels.
The creation of angels.
“The angels were created, for whatever exists is either Creator or creature. Since they are not the Creator, they are creatures.” 2. William a Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 4 vols. (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1992), 1:286. (480)
What is the nature of angels? They are created, spirits, and invisible.
Angels are invisible, spiritual and incorporeal beings, i.e., they exist without a physical body. ... These angels are neither divine nor human; rather they are “winds,” “a flame of fire” and “ministering spirits.” The word, winds, in Hebrew and Greek, may equally well be translated “spirits.” They are “a flame of fire,” because “they are totally inflamed with the fire of divine love.” 3. Philip E. Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977) 62. (480)
That the angels are invisible is evident, not only from the fact that they are spirits, but because of such passages as Luke 24:39, where Jesus says, after His bodily resurrection from the grave: “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (481)
All this is not to say that angels cannot take upon themselves some kind of human form whenever they think it necessary. Not only did they make such appearances in a bodily form in the Old and New Testaments (Gen. 28:12; Acts 27:23–24), but Hebrews 13:2 exhorts us: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (481)
Angels are personal beings:
Angels are personal beings, not impersonal forces, lifeless symbols or figments of someone’s imagination. They are real living persons with intelligence, will and power to carry out their desires. (482)
Angels are holy:
Angels, that is unfallen ones, are holy (Jude 14). (482)
Are angels superior to humans?
Whereas angels have some qualities that are superior to man (Acts 12:10), nevertheless they are not superior to man as beings, because they are not made in the image of God as is man, thus making him the crown of creation (Isa. 6:1; 1 Cor. 6:3; Heb. 1:13). (483)
First Corinthians 6:2–3 impresses us with the superiority of godly men and women over angels: “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?… Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?”
(1) The saints judge the world now, whenever we assess the world’s thoughts, actions and creations in the light of the Word of God.
(2) The saints will rule, manage and judge the world, when both Jews and Gentiles will be truly converted and Christianized globally (Rom. 11; 1 Cor. 15:24–25; Isa. 2, 4, 11).
(3) In the Final Judgment at the very end of history, the saints shall be Christ’s associate judges in the judging of the world, as a function of their royal rule as crowned kings in Christ (Eph. 2:6, 1 Pet. 2:9). (483)
Angels have superior knowledge:
The intelligence, wisdom and knowledge of angels are far superior to the intelligence, wisdom and knowledge of human beings and yet they are not omniscient. (485)
They know God—His character, glory, plans and will—directly, profoundly and intimately, since they “continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10). They know themselves, eternally communicating with each other (Zech. 2:3; Isa. 6:3; Rev. 7:2; 14:18). And they know human beings, having been intimately involved in their lives since the beginning of time. (485)
(1) They do not know, unless God reveals it to them, what God’s will has planned for the future (Isa. 41:22–3; 42:8–9; 44:7–; Matt. 24:36).
(2) They do not know the human heart and inner life, because God reserves this for Himself.
(3) Their knowledge of man’s salvation is incomplete, for into the display of God’s mercy in Christ for man’s redemption, “angels long to look” (1 Pet. 1:12). (485-486)
They have superior power:
Angels also possess power superior to that of human beings. ... Although their power is vastly superior to man’s strength, and although they can do many wonderful things, nevertheless they cannot do everything. ... “This power is undoubtedly always within God’s control, and never truly supernatural, although superhuman.” 14. Dabney, Systematic Theology, 267–268. (487)
How many angels are there?
The Bible leads us to believe that a vast number of unfallen angels exist to do God’s bidding. (488)
Why does the Bible repeatedly remind us that good angels constitute an innumerable host?
FIRST, the myriads of magnificent angels in all their beauty surrounding God’s
glorious throne, praising Him and responding to His every wish, “adorn His majesty and render it conspicuous.”16 SECOND, since God has commissioned myriads of angels to guard, protect and minister to Christians, we should never fear or complain, even when things appear to be going against us, for we are in good and strong hands. 16. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1:165. (489)
How are angels different from humans?
Although vast numbers of angels exist and vast numbers of human beings exist, angels “do not form an organism like man-kind, for they are spirits, which do not marry and are not born the one out of the other. Their full number was created in the beginning; there has been no increase in their ranks.” 18. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 146. (489-490)
When were they created?
The older Reformers, such as Brakel of the seventeenth century, believed that the angels were created on the first day of creation week for this reason: since they
were the hosts and inhabitants of heaven, they were created when the heavens were (Ps. 103:21; 148:2). (490)
Where do the angels live?
Heaven is the residence, or home, of the unfallen angels. ... It is the very throne room of God, the immediate presence of God, for in “heaven” the angels continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven.” ... So then, angels live in heaven with God; and it is from heaven that God sends them forth on various missions. (490-491)
After these preliminaries, Dr. Morecraft turns his attention to the angels job--or their ministry.
Angels have a variety of closely related functions assigned to them by God in connection with the saving work and reign of Jesus Christ. (491)
He lists eight different jobs:
(1) They are God’s servants and messengers ordained to carry out His commands...
(2) They are to adorn and to praise God’s incomparable majesty and to render it more conspicuous to man...
(3) “[T]hey keep vigil for our safety, take upon themselves our defense, direct our ways and take care that some harm may not befall us.”21 No Christian in this life will know how many times angels have protected him from harm...
(4) They dispense and administer God’s bountiful generosity to us in a variety of ways....
(a) They provide us with physical nourishment when we are famished...
(b) They protect us from contracting serious diseases...
(c) They assist in the healing of our sicknesses (John 5:4).
(d) They assist and protect us in our travels (Gen. 24:7, 24, 48; 32:1).
(e) They keep us from dangers and help us out of them...
(f) They are connected with and rejoice in the conversion of sinners...
(g) They comfort us in times of distress (Dan. 9:23; 10:11–12)....
(h) They assist us in resisting the temptations of Satan (Dan. 10:13, 20; Rev. 12:7; Eph. 6:12).
(i) They attend to us when we are dying and gently usher us into the presence of God at death...
(5) Angels are used by God throughout history to advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ over all of life and all the earth...
(6) Angels are “ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14)...."Observe, 1. The highest honour of the
most glorious spirits in heaven is to minister unto the Lord in the service whereunto He appoints them; 2. Such is the love and care of God towards His saints labouring here below, that He sends the most glorious attendants on His throne to minister unto them in taking care of them." 24 ...
(7) When a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, he comes “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood” (Heb. 12:22–4)...
(8) Angels had some role in the giving of the Law of God....
It is important to point out that God uses angels, not for His sake, but for our sakes. God is not dependent on anything He has made (Acts 17:25). He does not need human beings or angels....
21. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1:166
24. John Owen, Hebrews: The Epistle of Warning (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, [1953] 1968), 14. (491-495)
Angels must not divert us from directing our gaze to God alone nor from ascribing all glory and worship to Him alone (Col. 1:16, 20; Rev. 19:10, 22:8–9). (496)
Angel names, kinds and orders. (I admit I took really scant notes in this particular section...)
Apparently some kind of organization exists among the unfallen angels for the Bible identifies different classes and names of angels: cherubim, seraphim, principalities, powers, thrones, dominions, archangel, Gabriel and Michael. (496)
The name “angel” simply means messenger. This name has been given to these glorious beings because God uses them as His servant-messengers to manifest Himself to human beings (Ps. 103:20–1). (496)
That is as far as I made it today, but I passed the 500 page mark!! Lord willing, next week, I will pick up with the section entitled: The Angel of the Lord.
RSS Feed
