What are Angels?

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,  - Rev 1:1

To ensure that His revelation would be given to John exactly right, He entrusted it’s transmission to one of His angels.  This angel was given the incredibly important task of revealing to John all the things that would happen in the next few chapters and God’s prophetic message for each of the seven churches we will meet in chapters 2 and 3.

What are angels?

The most descriptive Bible verse dealing with angels is Hebrews 1:14, where the author reminds us that angels are “all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation”.  Angels are not “little gods” but servants of the true God who serve God by serving us, His people.  The Greek word translated “angel” is literally “messenger”, angels are messengers of God’s will.  This is why God knew He could trust the angel to deliver the revelation safely to John because that is precisely the reason God created angels in the first place.

Do we worship angels?

In years past it has been popular to focus an inordinate amount of time on the study of angels, as if angels were meant to be the focus of our faith.  Angels are servants of God and are not meant to be what we worship.  This is something like standing in a beautiful building and praising the hammers and saws used to build it instead of the architect that designed it.  Idolatry is an easy sin to slip into because our hearts are idol-factories, constantly churning out new things to turn our love and affection towards instead of God.  Making idols out of angels is even easier because they are stronger than us, holier than us, and we know they live in the presence of God, but they are not God.  They are finite in power, love, and righteousness and do not even compare to the infinite worth of our God.

Why did God make angels?

Angels are used to help remind us that as great as angels are, they are still just created beings like us and we should worship the One who created them from nothing.  God does not need angels, because He is infinite and in need of nothing, any more than He needs us but yet He chooses to love us and include us in His plans.  He even created the angels to serve us and to help us in our journey towards His glory.  Praise God that He has provided everything we need for life and righteousness before we even knew we needed it!

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