Concerning Angels and Humans

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.

It’s well worth reading all of Psalm 8 in praise to the majesty of God.

I’ve been musing upon the difference between humans and angels:

Matthew 22:30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

Immortal beings have no need for procreation, therefore angels and people will not marry in heaven. This verse implies that we do not become angels when we die – we are quite different creatures.

Galations 4:1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.
We are like children who will inherit the authority of our father God. We have not yet come into that maturity and are subject to the guardianship and protection of his servants, the angels.

Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Some angels have rebelled – led by Satan who was previously called Lucifer (angel of light).

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
One can read this literally or analogously, considering “spirit” as any person, idea or philosophy that offers spiritual teaching or opinion.

Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
Islam’s Mohammed should have been wary of this when “Gabriel” appeared to him in secret declaring that the Bible is corrupted and here’s how it really goes… The Quran contradicts the deity of Jesus Christ, his virgin birth and resurrection.

The Bride of Christ is a theme throughout the new testament as an analogy of the Church’s relationship with Jesus. Note the church is the body of believers who live in relationship with Jesus – not a building or an organization. Revelation 19:7 describes the wedding supper of the lamb – understood to be the marriage of the church to Jesus. Jesus’ parables about weddings connect with this. The servants attending this wedding supper generally include the angels, but some consider that the righteous Jews may be included.

Extra-biblical texts suggest that angels appear a head taller than humans. They are both male and female. I’m unaware of biblical confirmation or denial of this apart from the coincidince with how most of the physical world is male and female. Angelologists pay particular attention to the book of Enoch, but one should be wary of dwelling on details that were not considered important enough to include in the Bible. Such things often become a distraction from righteousness.

Hebrews 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.

Angels are created beings – born into the throne room of God, bathed in the full power of God. Humans are born into this physical existence where we experience a reflection of God and acquire a greater experience through faith. Few people experience the full power of God. Those who do, but then reject God find restoration impossible. God therefore rarely presents us with overwhelming proof of his existence because if we then rejected him, that rejection would be complete and irrevocable. God created Hell to punish those angels who rebelled. It will also consume those people who reject (do not accept) Jesus’ sacrifice to restore us to God. Because angels fully know God, they are without excuse if they rebel. It seems we humans were set up to fail, but out of our ignorance we can experience the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God. Angels cannot experience any of these because their experience of God’s power is complete. I think angels cannot experience or express faith as their knowledge of God is perfect. While they experience God’s love, because they cannot experience his grace and mercy their love can never be complete. So ultimately through our weakness, being made a little lower than the angels, through our being able to experience faith, grace, mercy and forgiveness, we will embrace our inheritance as heirs of God.

I hope these thoughts are of value to you and may clear up some misunderstandings regarding angels. I’d love to discuss your thoughts on my thoughts.

– Brent