“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13, 14).
It must not seem strange to us that there were angels present at the birth of Jesus. It is but one of many, many revelations, showing their keen interest in the work of the Lord throughout the ages, the work of Jesus Christ saving God’s church.
They were created to be servants of the Lord, always working for the cause of the church. They never ruled; nor will they ever do so. Their nature is to serve. The book of Hebrews tells us that they are “ministering (serving) spirits, sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation.” They are “creatures,” having been created. Possibly the Lord created them in the very beginning when He made the heaven and the earth. Job tells us later that they rejoiced in the work of God’s creation. We know that many fell likely shortly after their creation. How many? We don’t know. How many angels remained faithful we don’t know either, but the Scripture tell us that there are hosts of good angels serving the cause of the Lord. The work of the Lord is always characterized by magnanimity. Whether it be in His power, His grace and love, His faithfulness, or in the number of angels that serve Him or in the number of sinners that will be and are being saved, God is always great. Angels are spirits. What‘s a spirit like? We don’t know. It appears from Scripture that eventually we as saved people of God with our spiritual bodies will be able to see angels who are spirits without bodies. How? Again, I don’t know. There are many things we can’t explain or understand; but we believe God’s Word. That is enough. According to our concept of time, they are several thousand years old. Just imagine! That means that the same angels that were sent down to earth long ago, in Abraham’s day, are sent to earth to serve people of God today, who knows where and whom? For fallen angels there is no salvation possible. Why not? Only God in His sovereignty determines that. And never forget that this sa me sovereign God in His love has determined that there is salvation for human beings such as you and me.
Revealed in the Bible and important to you and me is their unselfish and unfailing love for the Lord, and therefore also for all of the Lord’s children. Different angels do different kinds of work. Some called seraphim, are called upon to praise God constantly. Others, called cherubim , must protect the holiness of God and His work. Cherubim were sent to guard the entrance into Paradise, following man’s fall into sin. We also read of many being sent down to earth to help God’s people, to protect them against the work of fallen angels and to strengthen and support the saints in times of special need. There is never any disharmony in their ranks, which means that they love one another unselfishly. Their life is never dull. David tells us that they do their work with great pleasure, always being ready to obey the commands of God (Ps. 103).
For centuries angels watched the progress of history as God unfolded His sure plan of salvation for His people. We know that they are not all–knowing, since Peter tells us that they often were desirous to look into the way in which God would carry out His program (I Peter 1:12). Often the cause of the Lord must have perplexed them. If they rejoice when even one sinner repents, as Jesus tells us, they must have been grieved again and again with the apostacy and waywardness of God’s people. Perhaps to them, too, the cause of Israel seemed hopeless. But again and again they marveled at the faithfulness of God.
They, too, had to exercise much patience, especially during the last 400 or 500 years of the Old Testament during which time there were no special revelations at all. When the fulness of time came, things began to happen. One angel was sent to Zachariah , the father ofJohn the Baptist. Gabriel had the privilege of telling Mary what would happen to her. And then came the big day, Christmas. First one angel told the good news to the shepherds in the fields of Ephrathah, only to be joined later by a host who sang the first never to be forgotten Christmas carol, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” We see their unselfish love and total commitment to God. Jesus didn’t come to save them ; He came to save sinners, God’s people. They are happy because they love the Lord and therefore also Christ and His people. They must have watched Jesus in His ministry on earth.
We read that they strengthened Him when He was tempted in the wilderness and that in Gethsemane they were sent to support Him. At the empty tomb they were the first messengers of Jesus’ resurrection. After His ascension they gave the message to the disciples that Jesus would in the same manner some day return . Later we occasionally glimpse activity in the work of the apostles. An angel released Peter from his chains in prison . Paul was reassured by an angel in the storm at sea (Acts 27:23, 24). We must not overlook the big place they have in the book of Revelation and the pouring out of God’s wrath upon the world. We read of the angels blowing trumpets, and pouring out bowls of wrath.
That is happening right now. While, on the one hand, the Christian church celebrates the birth of Christ, and we read of the work and joy of the angels, on the other hand, angels today are God’s servants to bring His wrath upon nations. In this also they are busy in the work of the Lord. They always love God and His work as centered in Jesus Christ.
In the light of all that the Word tells us about the being and work of angels we may be sure that they are today being sent here and there, as the Lord deems necessary, to strengthen, support and encourage His people. It is possible that in particular times of trouble our Heavenly Father sends particular guardian angels for His children. Some people believe that every Christian has his own guardian angel. Whether this is true or not, we don’t know. We don’t read it in the Bible. But we may conclude that these dedicated servants of God do much more than we realize. I’m sure that this is an area of our Christian life and faith of which we think far too little. If angels are messengers sent out to do service for those who shall inherit salvation, as the Bible tells us, we may be sure that this doesn’t happen just occasionally. It is apparent that in times of temptations by evil angels the Lord has sent His good angels to keep us from falling. And that means that what we are today as Christians is a result of the Lord’s sending these willing servants to keep us in His care. How much the angels still do today we don’t know. They surely do much more than we realize. And they will do the same in the future for all God’s dear children.
Spurgeon wrote, “In olden times the sons (children) of God were favored with their visible appearance, and at this day, although unseen by us , Heaven is still opened , and the angels ascend and descend upon the Son of man, that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim still fly with live coals from off the altar to touch the lips of men greatly loved . If our eyes could be opened, we should see horses of fire and chariots of fire about the servants of the Lord; for we have come to an innumerable company of angels, who are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal.”
We are also given a glimpse of the angel‘s place in Heaven in connection with the saved saints. John tells us in Revelation that they with us will surround the throne.
There will be one big difference between them and us. They will be standing and the saints will be seated. This reminds us of servants, waitresses or waiters in a restaurant. The guests are seated, but those who wait upon them are standing. So the saints in Heaven, the saved sinners, will have a greater place than all these faithful angels . And they will join us in singing because of what the Lord has done for us in His love through Jesu s Christ. These perfect creatures who have never sinned or been unfaithful as we have been a thousand times, will be singing o f the love of God that has saved us. And they will give God all the glory.
The angels were present when poor Lazarus died. They carried his soul into Abraham‘s bosom. May we conclude from this then when we breathe our last, they will carry our souls into the presence of the Lord and the throng of the saved?
Angels and Jesus! In short, when we know Jesus and as saved sinners belong to Him, they still are and will be serving us. The Lord will use these unselfish dedicated creatures to support and help us whenever He deems it good and necessary.
