Angel Questions continued..
I preached on angels last Sunday. You can go to straight to that part of our service here if you’d like to catch up and to hear what I said:
And if you’d like to go straight to the Q&A that’s here:
Here’s a few additional questions that I’ve been asked about angels since:
Was Jesus an angel – continued?
“My follow up question from Sunday’s message is regarding your answer about why Jesus isn’t an angel – is it not possible that he could have been an angel incarnate? You know I don’t actually think this, but those JWs do push me to think through how to answer these tough questions and how to answer it with Scripture.”
Here’s what I wrote back:
At the very heart of this question is a profound distrust problem with the divinity of Jesus and the clearest place we have to go they debate the Greek – though I think this is provably clear. Since we don’t want to debate Greek then we’ll take a more straightforward approach and simply work our way through the Scriptures.
I’d go to Genesis 1 and then to John 1. I assume you know Genesis (if not go and read that chapter) but in combination it’s pretty clear:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1–5 NIV11)
And then a bit later..
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 NIV11)
And then in Colossians:
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Col. 1:15–20 NIV11)
And then in Hebrews:
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” (Heb. 1:1–4 NIV11)
So see that Jesus is – co-eternal, co-creator, made flesh, representing God the Father’s glory, creator of all things, indwelt by God, sustaining all things by His powerful Word, and superior to angels. All of this is secured by Scripture. Let’s pull it all together:
If He existed prior to creation He can’t be a created angel.
If He created all He can’t be an angel.
If He presents perfectly God’s presence He can’t be an angel.
If He sustains the universe by His Word He can’t be an angel.
If He’s superior to angels.. He can’t be an angel!
How would you pray?
“If you know someone is potentially in danger, can you pray that angels guard their property and them within?”
Yeah I think so. I’d be talking to God and saying something like, “Please Lord send your angels to guard their person and their property. Heavenly Father guard their hearts, comfort and assure them.”
So it would probably be a ‘both and’ rather than a one or the other. Not sure I would have said that before last Sunday!
The check is to see that we aren’t distancing the love and presence of God from their care even as we acknowledge the potential agency of angels in being His agents in doing what we are praying for.
I hope that these are helpful and would be happy to chat further if you’d like to drop me a line. I’m thankful for having to do the work on the Bible and would leave you with a PDF I put together with the list of scriptures that I referred to in the sermon if you’d like to check them out with more time.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3jaurk86vix7y2w/Angel%20Passages.pdf?dl=0
