The Truth About Angels

A sermon from Hebrews 1:5-11.

Introduction

Angels are really popular.  We see them on greeting cards, knick-knacks, little figurines, and so forth.

We see them on TV shows, too.  In fact, there have been whole TV series devoted to the topic of angels.  Remember “Highway to Heaven” from the 80’s?  Michael Landon was an angel who would go around helping people, and people would look at him and say, “That must be an angel - he looks just like Pa from Little House on the Prairie!  Nobody’s more angelic than Pa!”  And the show was a big hit.

Photo by Federico Scarionati on Unsplash

Then, in the 90’s, it was “Touched By An Angel”, which was a lot like “Highway to Heaven”, except you had three angels instead of one.  And it too was a big hit.

During the holidays, many of us rewatch that holiday classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life.  You know the one, where Jimmy Stewart plays a guy named George Bailey. George’s life is in total shambles, and he’s about to commit suicide, when he’s saved by an angel named Clarence, who needs to earn his wings.  So Clarence shows George what his town would be like if George had never existed, George realizes that his life is worth living after all, Clarence gets his wings, and everything ends happily.

I learned two things watching this movie.  First, Jimmy Stewart does “half-deranged guy” really, really well.  Second, Hollywood is really confused when it comes to the subject of angels.

But it’s not just Hollywood that’s confused when it comes to angels.  I ran into a pastor friend of mine the week before I originally preached this sermon (back in 2012), and it’s required by law that when two pastors meet during the week, they have to talk about what they’re preaching on this week.  So when I told Bill that I was preaching on angels out of Hebrews 1, he told me a story about his dad.  Several years back, Bill had preached on the topic of angels, and after the sermon, his dad came up to him and said that he had always believed that angels were people who had been dead more

than 50 years.

Now, Bill had no idea where his dad got that idea, particularly the 50-year rule.  But it does serve to illustrate that angels are not particularly well understood by many people, including people who have been in the church for many years!

Eight Things The Bible Tells Us About Angels

So as a public service this morning, before we dive into Hebrews 1, I want to take a few minutes and go over eight things that the Bible tells us about angels.  This isn’t a complete list, but it should help clear up some of the more common misconceptions out there.

1. Angels are not cute little mostly-naked babies with wings.

If you look at the stories in the Bible where an angel appears to a human being, almost always the first words out of the angel’s mouth is “Fear not.”  Do you know why?  Because seeing an angel is a terrifying experience!  This isn’t Pa from Little House on the Prairie, but a majestic, imposing, and awe-inspiring creature!  C. S. Lewis once remarked that the modern version of an angel, by contract, looks more like it’s going to say “there, there”, not “don’t be afraid!”

2. Angels are a separate class of beings created by God.

Psalm 148:1-5 says:

Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD from the heavens;

praise him in the heights!

Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his hosts!

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars!

Praise him, you highest heavens,

and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the LORD!

For he commanded and they were created.

In other words, angels are part of God’s created order.  However, unlike humans, angels do not reproduce. Matthew 22:30 says “ For in the resurrection they [humans] neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

3. Angels are spirits.

Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are “ministering spirits”.  That means that angels do not have physical bodies in the same sense that we do.  However, this does not mean that angels cannot appear in physical form, because they do just that countless times in Scripture.

4. Angels are messengers.

The word “angel” comes from the Greek word angelos, which simply means “messenger.”  The same is true of the Hebrew word for angel.  So foundational to understanding of the purpose of these beings is that they are messengers for God.  And indeed, one of the primary functions we see them fulfilling in the Scripture is delivering messages to various people.  Think of the angel Gabriel delivering a message to Mary, the mother of Jesus, for example.

5. There are different types of angels.

For example, in Isaiah 6, we see a class of angels called the seraphim.  These angels each have 6 wings - 2 to cover their face, 2 to cover their feet, and 2 to fly with.  The job of the seraphim was to surround the throne of God continually crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

We also see another type of angel called the cherubim, which had two wings. The ark of the covenant - the gold-plated box that was kept in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle had statues of cherubim on its lid.  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, the design of the Ark of the Covenant they used in the movie was really faithful to the Biblical description, with the wings of the cherubim covering over the ark.

There is also some hierarchy among the angels.  The Bible specifically mentions a special class of angel called archangels, and even mentions one of them by name, Michael.  So we see that not all angels are alike - there’s a good bit of variety.  And that’s not even figuring in some of the other angel-like creatures you see in the Bible, like the “four living creatures” described in the book of Revelation.

6. Guardian angels (as popularly conceived) may or may not exist

The popular idea is that every person has a specific angel assigned to them, but the Bible never actually says that.  The closest we can get to a Biblical support for guardian angels is in Matthew 18:10, where Jesus says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

But we need to understand that this isn’t saying that each child (or, by extension, each person) has a specific angel assigned to them.  When this verse says “their angels”, the word “their” is used collectively, which means that Jesus is saying that angels look out for us generally, but not necessarily in a this-angel-to-this-person way.

Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are ministering spirits “sent for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation”, which does mean that God’s angels are working for our sake.  But it’s not specifically explained how this works.  So, if you want to believe that God has an angel assigned specifically to you, there’s nothing in the Bible that prevents you from believing that.  But there’s also nothing in the Bible that specifically teaches that, either.

But here’s the thing - does it really matter?  If God is working all things for our eternal good, as Romans 8:28 clearly teaches, then does it really matter whether God’s got an angel designated specifically for you?

7. We only know three angels by name.

The Bible only mentions three angels by a name.  We’ve already mentioned Michael, who is described as an archangel and as the “prince of Israel”, indicating that he had special responsibility for God’s covenant people in the Old Testament.  We’ve also mentioned the angel Gabriel, who seems to have some special responsibility for delivering certain messages at key moments in redemptive history.

The third angel mentioned by name is the angel Lucifer, which brings us to our eighth point:

8. Before the creation of man, many angels rebelled against God.

Lucifer, one of the greatest angels, rebelled against the authority of God along with about a third of the angelic host.  These angels are referred to in the Bible as demons, and Lucifer himself is called Satan (“adversary”) and the devil (“deceiver”).

This should be a warning to our culture, which loves to think that anything spiritual is automatically good.  It just isn’t so. There are spiritual beings that are not good and are actively seeking your eternal destruction.

Jesus is Greater Than the Angels

Now, let’s turn our focus to Hebrews 1:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God's angels worship him.”

Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.”

But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

and your years will have no end.”

And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

The previous two entries in this series looked at verses 1-3.  We’ve looked at the glorious truth that God has spoken to us by means of His Son.  In those sermons/articles, we looked at how wonderful Jesus the Son is - how he created the world, how he is the heir of all things, how he has provided purification for us by his saving death for us on the cross, and how he has sat down at the right hand of God, because his saving work has been fully accomplished.

This time, we’re going to look at the rest of Hebrews chapter 1, and the main point of the rest of chapter 1 is this:  Jesus is greater than angels.

Look with me at verse 4:  “having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”  In other words, Jesus is greater than angels because he has inherited a greater name, a greater title, a greater rank, than the angels.  And that greater rank, that greater title, is the title of Son.

Look at verse 5: 

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son”?

The point is this:  the relationship between God and the angels is the relation of master to servant and of creator to creation.  But the relationship between God and Jesus is of father to son.  So Jesus is greater because he is the one and only Son of God.

Before we move on, I have to take a minute to deal with the word “firstborn” in verse 6. Many people get stuck on the fact that Jesus is called the “firstborn”.  They want to say that being the “firstborn” means that Jesus had a beginning in time - that there was a time when Jesus didn’t exist, and at some point he came into being.  But we’ve already seen last week that Jesus is called the creator of all things.  Besides, the word here translated “firstborn”, the Greek work prototokos, isn’t referring to time, but preeminence.  To call Jesus God’s prototokos doesn’t mean that Jesus was created; it means that Jesus is preeminent - he holds the greatest rank and the highest station.  It’s another way of saying what verse 2 said - that Jesus has been appointed heir of all things.

But not only is Jesus greater because he is the one and only Son of God, Jesus is greater because he receives worship from angels.

Look at verse 6: “ And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God's angels worship him.’”  This is very straightforward.  The very nature of worship is that the lesser worships the greater.  If God the Father is commanding the angels to worship Jesus, it absolutely follows that Jesus is greater than the angels.

But Jesus is not only greater than the angels because he is the Son of God, and he is not only greater because he receives worship from angels, but he is greater because he reigns as Lord over all creation.

Let’s finish the chapter, starting in verse 7:

Of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels winds,

and his ministers a flame of fire.”

But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

And,

“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

and the heavens are the work of your hands;

they will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment,

like a robe you will roll them up,

like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

and your years will have no end.”

And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Angels are called winds, flames of fire, ministering spirits.  They are servants sent out to do God’s bidding.  They serve - they do not rule.  They take orders.

Jesus, on the other hand, is described as sitting on a throne, holding a scepter, having a kingdom.  He is ruling.  He is in charge.  He is Lord and King.

Conclusion

The author of Hebrews put this section into this book because, just like in our day, there was a lot of confusion in his day about the nature and role of angels.  Many people back then believed that if you wanted to get access to God, you had to go through a series of intermediaries to gain access, and angels were considered a big part of that process.

But the author of Hebrews combats those ideas by reminding his hearers that Jesus Christ is superior to all the angels.  He made the angels, he receives worship from angels, and he rules over the angels.

When you die, you don’t become an angel.  You don’t get to “earn your wings”.  You will, however, stand before Jesus Christ, the judge of all the universe.  He made you, just like he made the angels.  He rules over you - whether you like it or not - just like he rules the angels.  And one day, he will receive worship from you, just like he receives worship from the angels.  The Bible says that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Even the angels who rebelled against him long ago will one day bow the knee to the rule of Jesus Christ.

So it’s a question of whether you’re willing to learn from the example of the angels.  Will you worship Jesus now? Will you submit to His rule over your life now?  Or will you be like Lucifer and turn away in your pride, only to be ultimately forced to bow the knee at the end?