Wednesday, July 8, 2009
What About Angels?
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible...
—Colossians 1:16
Years ago, a Time magazine poll showed that 69 percent of American adults said they believed in the existence of angels, and 32 percent claimed to have felt an angelic presence at some time in their life.
Even more surprising, the numbers jumped higher when they polled teenagers—three out of every four American teenagers said they believe in angels.
Contrary to what some believe, angels are not dead humans trying to earn their wings. Angels are an altogether unique group of beings created by God. In fact, there are different rankings of angels.
First and foremost is the archangel known as Michael. He is probably the highest-ranking angel in God’s heavenly host. He is the only angel referred to in the Bible as an archangel.
Then we have the cherubim. They are powerful and majestic angelic creatures that surround the throne of God. They were placed as guards outside the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled (see Genesis 3:24).
Third, there are seraphim. Isaiah vividly describes them as crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” in his vision of the Lord enthroned and exalted (see Isaiah 6:1–3). It appears the seraphim were created to worship and praise the Lord.
Fourth, there is Gabriel. This high-ranking angel brought special messages to God’s people. He appeared to Daniel to reveal the future to him. Years later, he brought the message to Zacharias that he would have a son who was to be named John, whom we know as John the Baptist (see Luke 1:5–19).
And of course, Gabriel also had the high privilege of announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary.
So we see that angels were created to worship and praise God, to serve Him, and to be messengers for Him—and so are we.
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.
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