ANGELS & DEMONS - Lesson 5

Today we looked at three of the ministries of angels and angels as agents in judgement.

1. Observation - Angels are watching over us, viewing our actions and reactions, taking in the nuances of our everyday lives--witnessing with great delight every Godward move we make. Amazed and captivated by our thankful hearts toward God for His grace and mercy [something the angels have never needed].

"...we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men." (1 Corinthians 4:9)

2. Guidance - Angels provide supernatural direction on earth (Acts 5:12-42; 12:6-11; Acts 8:26-39). They also usher the saints from this temporal time-bound life to Jesus' side in eternity (Luke 16:22-25). For all who are in Christ, death need not be a final or fear-filled tragedy. Instead, it is a triumph--the culmination of our faith.

3. Protection - Throughout scripture we see the holy angels sent to provide protection for the saints (Daniel 6:22; 2 Kings 6:14-17; Acts 27:23-25)

God also uses angels to carry out His will against sinners. Angels are "avengers" who use their great power to fulfill God's will in judgement (Hebrews 1:7; Genesis 19:1,3; Judges 5:23; II Samuel 24:15-17; Acts 12:23; Psalm 35:5-6; Exodus 12:18-30; Hebrews 11:28; 1 Corinthians 10:10)

Last week, after the passing of my father, my thoughts often focused on death and what scripture tells us about life after death. Where does our soul go after our bodies die? When will our souls be joined with our heavenly bodies? I thought about the angels and the part they play as God's emissaries, His messengers, His representatives here on earth. The more I contemplated the invisible world, the more I realized how incapable I was of understanding the amazing mysteries of God.

My thoughts are bound by my understanding and experience of my finite world which consists of only four dimensions - length, breadth, height, and time. However, God is obviously not bound by these dimensions. He can be anywhere at any time. He is omnipresent (Proverbs 15:3; Matthew 18:20; etc.). Therefore, there must be higher dimensions. We read in scripture that angels often appeared in our three-dimensional world as men, then disappeared. Where did they go? How is that possible? Jesus also appeared after His resurrection and then suddenly disappeared. Enoch was walking with God and then disappeared because God took him. Poof! Gone! (Genesis 5:24). Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). After baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch, Philip was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord. These events are not possible in a world defined by only four dimensions. How does your current view of the invisible world limit your focus on eternity?

How many dimensions are there? Do those believers who have died and are now in heaven experience this multi-dimensional realm? Can they see us? I believe that when we look at scripture and study how God, Jesus, the angels, and other saints were not bound, as we are, by the four dimensions that define our universe, we will become more aware of the invisible world that exist around us. Hopefully, this will help us maintain more of an eternal focus.

Next week I will look further at the mysteries of the invisible world where angels exist.