There are a lot of subjects in Scripture that we do not have a whole lot of information about, even important subjects. For example, Melchizedek is introduced to us in the story of Abraham. We are told that he is the king of Salem and a priest of God most high, but that is kind of it. Later in the letter to the Hebrews, we are told that Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, along with a reference to how, in the Genesis account, Melchizedek is not part of any of the genealogies. He just kind of pops in for his task, and then we never hear from him again. Many have speculated about Melchizedek, some going as far as to assert that he was a pre-incarnate form of Christ himself. Personally, I do not think that the theory holds much weight, but that is beside the point right now. The point is that we are not told very much about him. The theory is worth looking at, not in and of itself, but because it demonstrates our tendency to want more information about everything. We want to know all the answers. If we cannot find the answers, we tend to add in our own. This is something we need to be wary of. Scripture gives us what we need to know, and if we are honest and diligent, there is enough within what we have been given to keep us occupied for our entire lives. Our topic today is one of those things that we are not told a whole lot about and some pretty crazy theories about. Today, we are seeking understanding concerning God's creation and purpose for angels.
Question 16
In answer to the third question of the Westminster Larger Catechism, we were told that God's decrees are the acts of his will whereby he fore-ordains everything that comes to pass, especially concerning angels and men. As we continued to explore the decrees of God, we talked about providence and the work of creation. Our question today asks about the creation of angels. It asks:
How did God create angels?
It is a simple question but an important one. We are going to look at the answer to the question and then talk about why it is such an important question. The answer the catechism gives is:
God created all the angels spirits, immortal, holy, excelling in knowledge, mighty in power, to execute his commandments, and to praise his name, yet subject to change.
The first thing that the answer points out is that God created the angels as spirits. This is important, and the question is important because it highlights the reality that angels are wholly different created beings than humanity. Perhaps one of the most common misconceptions when it comes to angels is that when we die, we become them. This has been popularized in many different forms, but since it is Christmas time, I will use a Christmas movie as a reference. Perhaps one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time is It's a Wonderful Life. In the movie, George Bailey is going through some hard times, so the heavens decide to send a junior angel down to help him out. This junior angel is still working to earn his wings, and if he does a good job helping out George, he will finally earn his wings. It is a fun story and teaches us to focus on what is important, but it has horrible theology. Angels are not like men, although they can appear as them. At no point in the Scripture do we find anything about angels earning their wings. The reality is that we do not learn just a whole lot about them at all.
Why This Matters
As I mentioned in the introduction, people have a tendency to fill in the gaps they find in Scripture, but we should never do this. Where Scripture is silent, so should we be. When it comes to angels, we are told some important things, namely that they are God's messengers and soldiers. As a matter of fact, the word angels, which comes from the Greek aggelos, simply means messenger. It is an important fact because aggelos does not always refer to heavenly messengers. There are a variety of places in Scripture where the aggelos being referenced are men. Again, this does not mean that they are angels or that they become angels, but that there are different types of messengers. The heavenly messengers, which we commonly refer to as angels, are created uniquely by God for a specific purpose. The Catechism tells us that they were created to execute the Lord's command and to praise his name.
Important Differences
Some people believe that being an angel would be a good thing, but there is at least one important reason that we should rejoice that we are not. That reason is the gospel. The gospel is good news to humanity. The gospel message is that though we, men, were dead in our sins and trespasses, God, in his infinite mercy and grace, took on our humanity to pay the penalty that we never could. He paid out debt as one of us. He did not die for the angels. Put another way, we, though we are born in our sins, have hope of redemption, the angels that have fallen do not have that same hope. We are not given a whole lot as to why exactly this is, but I believe a large reason why we are not told is because we are not angels. The Scriptures are given to us to teach us about the Lord and what he has done for us. The angels only come into the story as side characters. They are powerful and an important part of God's providential plan, but still side characters.
Why Include them at all
If we are not supposed to know a whole lot about the angelic host, why have them as a part of the story at all? While not given a specific answer to this question, I believe that we are given enough to infer the right answer. It comes back to the purpose of Scripture. Its purpose is to teach us about God and ultimately to demonstrate his power and glory, along with all his other attributes. So, as we read through the pages of Scripture, we find the angels as demonstrations of God's power. Think about the places where angels stand out. We could look at Jesus' arrest, where he says that if he wanted to, he could summon 12 legions of angels to fight for him. Or maybe we could look at Joshua before the walls of Jericho. He encounters an angel and asks him if he is for the people of Israel or against them. The angel answers neither; he is for the Lord. Still another place we could look is when Hezekiah is surrounded by the Assyrian army. After Hezekiah prays to the Lord, the Lord sends a single angel in the night who wipes out the entire 185,000-strong army of the Assyrians. The point is that they never act on their own, but are a means of demonstrating the power of God. So when we come across the angels in Scripture, rather than asking about the angels themselves, what we should be asking is what does this teach us about the Lord.
Soli Deo Gloria
Col. 1:16; Ps. 104:4; Matt. 22:30; Matt. 25:31; 2 Sam. 14:17; Matt. 24:36; 2 Thess. 1:7; Ps. 103:20-21; 2 Pet. 2:4.
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