CHRISTIANS AND ANGELS 1
CHRISTIANS AND ANGELS 1
REASONS THAT WE SHOULD STUDY ABOUT ANGELS:
We Christians need to know more about angels because they are sons of God like us. By understanding them and learning about them we can adjust our lives more properly according to the Bible standards. According to the Lord Jesus Christ, after resurrection we will all be like angels. Jesus said that Christians who keep the faith to the end will be saved on the day He comes back to the Earth and they will be like angels (Matthew 24: 13, 22: 30, Luke 20: 35-36). Because of it, we learn about angels to see how our future will look like in order to encourage us to be faithful always in the Lord Jesus Christ.
MATTHEW 24: 13 – The one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
MATTHEW 22: 30 – At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
LUKE 20: 35-36 – But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.
Because there were angels who rebelled against God in Heaven, so Christians must learn to obey Him completely while living in this life in order to be saved and be allowed to live in Heaven for eternity with God.
But we must understanding that studying about angels is different from worshipping them like some cults did in the past (Colossians 2: 18) or practicing now in the modern time.
COLOSSIANS 2: 18 – Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.
Both angels and humans were created by God, and they have some similarities and differences as well.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ANGELS AND HUMANS
1. Both were created by God to be His subjects of love.
Lesson: As both angels and humans are loved by God, we should return our love toward Him. Only bad and evil people return love with hate.
2. Holy angels and faithful Christians are called children of God (Job 1: 6, 2: 1, Luke 3: 38).
JOB 1: 6 – One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.
JOB 2: 1 – On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.
LUKE 3: 38 – The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Lesson: As we are called children of God so we should respect Him fully as our heavenly Father.
3. Angels are not merely spirits, they can take human form and appears on Earth like men who can eat and drink and also be able to have intimacy (Genesis 19: 3, 6: 1-2, Hebrews 13: 2).
GENESIS 19: 3 – But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
GENESIS 6: 1-2 – When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
HEBREWS 13: 2 – Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Lesson:
– Christians should be able to live a self-control life.
– Be generous and hospitable.
4. Angels have freedom of choice like mankind and some of them have used the freedom to rebel against God and to sin (2Peter 2: 4, Jude 1: 6, Revelation 12: 3-4).
2PETER 2: 4 – For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment.
JUDE 1: 6 – And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling, these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
REVELATION 12: 3-4 – Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
Lesson: Using freedom wisely in every choice we make.
5. Angels and Christians are regarded as servants of God (Psalm 103: 20, Hebrews 1: 14).
PSALM 103: 20 – Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word.
HEBREWS 1: 14 – Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Lesson: Christians should be God’s faithful servants and learn how to obey God completely.
6. Angels and humans all have names (Luke 1: 19, Jude 1: 9):
LUKE 1: 19 – The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.
JUDE 1: 9 – But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Lesson: Trying our best to keep good reputation to glory God and to be His good witness to unbelievers.
7. Angels have emotion like human beings (Luke 15: 7).
LUKE 15: 7 – I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Lesson: Learn how to control our emotion.
8. Rebellious angels and human unbelievers will be punished the same at the end (Matthew 25: 41).
MATTHEW 25: 41 – Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Lesson: Trying our best to keep faith and live according to the Bible’ standards.
9. Angels and Christians are proclaimers of the word of God (Exodus 3: 2):
EXODUS 3: 2 – There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
Lesson: Learn to live a life of holy and honest so that God can use us as His instrument in this world.
10. Angels and human souls cannot cease to exist.
MATTHEW 25; 41 – Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
REVELATION 20: 10 – And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11. Both angels and humans cannot know future except are told by God.
MATTHEW 24: 36 – But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
12. Angels were selected or being saved like Christians:
1TIMOTHY 5: 21 – I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
(will be continued)