So where do YOU call home? I was born in Washington DC but spent all the rest of my life here in New Jersey. I’ve come to love the “Garden State” because of its change of seasons and rare extremes of weather. Few tornadoes, mostly the “tail end” of hurricanes, the rare earthquake, only a few really big snow storms in the winter. Oh, and we have hardly any animals that eat you. :)
So, what place do angels call home? Why heaven, of course!
· In the recording of the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, verses 13-15, we read that a host of angels announced Jesus's birth to the shepherds and then returned to where they came from - heaven.
· In Luke’s gospel, chapter 22, verse 43 in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest, when Jesus was in an agony of prayer over what lay ahead, Luke says: “An angel from heaven appeared to Jesus and strengthened Him.”
· Matthew reports in his gospel, chapter 28, verse 2, that on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection: “an angel came down from heaven and rolled away the stone.”
Heaven is God’s dwelling place, “God’s throne”, as Isaiah says in 66:1, and that is primarily where the angels live and work.
- They do not belong to earth, although sometimes their ministry is here.
- Heaven is the home of the angels.
- Earth is the domain of Satan & his demons.
Although angels are spirit beings, without permanent physical bodies, at times God has permitted them to take on human form. More about that in a later blog!
The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews 1:14 calls angels“ministering spirits".
· “Spirit means existence on a level above and beyond matter, it means life subsisting in another mode. Substance that has no weight, no dimension, no size or extension in space. Yet spirit has true being and is objectively real.” A. W. Tozer
Even though we cannot see God, who is spirit, we know that He is real, and the same is true of angels.
But, even though angels are spirits, as God is spirit, God is their creator and they are the creatures, so angels have limitations that God does not have:
· Angels can’t be in more than one place at a time – while God is omnipresent - everywhere at once.
o Speaking of God, Psalm 139:7-8 says: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there, if I make my bed in the depths you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
· Angels are limited in knowledge.
o In Matthew 24:35 Jesus said that the angels didn’t know the timing of His second coming. On the other hand, God is omniscient – all knowing.
· Angels are powerful – but they are limited in power – unlike God, who is all powerful. Angels are strong and powerful but they can do only what God empowers.
o In John’s vision for the end of time in Revelation 7:1 he says:
§ “I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.”
§ The angels were powerful enough to hold back the wind, yet they were directed to do so at God’s command.
o Revelation 18:21 One angel “picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea”
· The holiness of angels is also limited and lesser than God’s – He is perfect in holiness. We know angels are limited in holiness because some angels fell from their original state of goodness.
· God, on the other hand, will always be perfectly holy, just, righteous and loving.
o In Revelation 5:2-5 John describes God holding in his hand a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.
§ A “mighty angel” shouts, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But no one in heaven or earth or under the earth could open it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
§ Jesus, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David”, is the only One worthy to open the scroll because He IS perfect in holiness, justice, righteousness and love.
There is good reason to be in awe of these powerful spirit beings – but as majestic and awesome as they might be, they can never surpass the Lord Jesus in majesty, power, perfection and holiness!
So, did you learn anything today that you didn’t know before? How does the truth of God’s Word compare with what you’ve always believed about angels so far? What adjustments do you need to make in your thinking to bring your mind into conformity with God’s truth?
In the next week or so we’ll be getting out our Christmas ornaments and decorations. Take a look at your angel ornaments. How do these representations influence what you think angels look like? How would you describe them?
More to come. . . . . .
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