2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
This morning I am led to write about God, Christ, and the angels. For us to really understand spiritual warfare, we really need to have a full picture of the non-human forces that are a part of our lives. Knowing more about angels gives us a picture of what foolish and evil Satan has given up due to his pride and arrogance. It was brought to my attention that Satan is unteachable. In other words, not only has he rejected God, but there seems to be nothing that would ever change his mind. God knows this, which is the reason that he had Satan and one third of the angelic host cast down to earth [REV 12: 3-4].
One question that the Lord answers through the author of the book of Hebrews is what Christ's position is with regard to the angels. To begin, let me define what an angels are. Angels are spirits who serve God and are sent by Him to help those to be saved. HE 1: 5-9, 13-14, "For God never said to any of His angels, 'You are my Son; today I have become Your Father.' Nor did God say about any angel, 'I will be His Father, and He will be My Son.' But when God was about to send His first-born Son into the world, He said, 'All of God's angels must worship Him.' But about the angels God said, 'God makes His angels winds, and His servants flames of fire.' About the Son, however, God said 'Your Kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever! You rule over Your people with justice. You love what is right and hate what is wrong. That is why God, Your God, has chosen You and has given You the joy of an honor far greater than He gave to Your companions'...God never said to any of His angels: 'Sit here at My right side until I put Your enemies as a footstool under Your feet.' What are the angels then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by Him to help those who are to receive salvation." Throughout this passage one finds messages that are prophesied or repeated in the following cross-references: For (5), PS 2: 7 & 2 SAM 7: 14; for (6), DT 32: 43; for (7) PS 104: 4; for (8-9), PS 45: 6-7; for (10), PS 102: 25-27; for (13), PS 110: 1. I give these to you, because of my firm belief that God Himself is best at explaining what He says or inspires a writer to prophesy.
So let's look at what we know about angels from this passage of Hebrews. Angels won't rule God's Kingdom forever as Christ will. Christ is righteous and honored above angels. That was one reason why it was quite appropriate for the angel Gabriel to dissuade Daniel from worshipping him when he was delivering the explanation of Daniel's vision of the seventy weeks [DN 10: 11]. We are reminded of the honor and authority Christ was given by DN 7: 13-14, "During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and He went to the One Who had been living forever (the One Who was ancient of days) and was presented to Him. He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve Him. His authority would last forever, and His Kingdom would never end." Satan wanted to be higher than all other angels [IS 14: 13]. He wanted his throne to be "above the highest stars...to be like the Almighty." If we look at the wording of JOB 38: 7, it would be reasonable to assume that the angels were already in existence when God created the earth. "In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy." EZK 28: 17 has told us that one of the cherubim was conceited because of his beauty and splendor, determined he would be like the Most High. This pride led to the fall, and he took one-third of the heavenly host with him [REV 12: 4].
JN 14: 30 also helps us to better understand Christ's position with regard to the angels. "I cannot talk to you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over Me...." This statement of Christ's was part of His promise to send the Holy Spirit to the believers to help them combat Satan's evildoing. We can see from all of these that God had His plan in place, and that His Son was in on it, except for the actual day when the Tribulation will begin [MT 24: 36]. There is more to say about angels, Christ, and God; so, that will be the subject of tomorrow's message too.
Let me remind you that I am making a list of all the "combat intelligence" I am finding about Satan as I do the research for these messages. I stand amazed at just how much there is. The abundance of this is a measure, I believe, of the extent to which God is preparing us out of His love to be victorious in Christ's name against this evil adversary and his followers. Remember a short description of the Bible, God's love letter to believers, is: God wins; Satan loses. Take joy with me in discovering just how all this happens while our faith is being built by remaining in the Scriptures daily.
PRAYER: O Lord, You inspired David to express why we should have confidence in You in PS 11: 1-7, and we meditate upon that today. "I trust in the Lord for safety. How foolish of you to say to me, 'Fly away like a bird to the mountains, because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows to shoot at good men in the darkness. There is nothing a good man can do when everything falls apart.' The Lord is in His holy Temple; He has His throne in heaven. He watches over people everywhere and knows what they are doing. He examines the good and the wicked alike; the lawless He hates with all His heart. He sends down flaming coals and burning sulfur on the wicked; He punishes them with scorching winds. The Lord is righteous and loves those who do good deeds; those who do them will live in His presence." When we put these powerful words together with what we learned from Hebrews and the other citations in this message, we begin to see a pattern of decisions made by You, actions taken in heaven, which lead to protection for believers on earth. The promises You make throughout the Scriptures are consistent and will be kept. We are grateful, Dearest Abba, for Your faithfulness, wisdom, and protection. You are our Sovereign Lord and Supreme God. Your Son does Your bidding and so becomes a model for us to work toward in our own relationship with You. It is foolish for us not to trust You, because Your faithfulness can be seen throughout mankind's history. We come to You to confess our sin and to humbly offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, praise and eternal thanks. We are Your servants and Your friends. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
As promised above, I will continue writing tomorrow about God, Christ, and angels in my quest to obey God's will that we should have as much "combat intelligence" as He gives us so that we can go into spiritual warfare knowing we can win in it. "If God is with us, then who can be against us, " Paul asks in RO 8: 31. How can we miss the extraordinary love that pours out from the heart of the Father for us? We are truly a blessed people when we endure in our faith, even through we must face pain and suffering at the devil's hand. We don't face it alone. God gives us His perspective on our lives if we are willing to seek Him out for it. Then, we can live knowing the truth. Peter and I sent you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn