Thursday, June
14, 2018
And
furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking
about. For in
one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think
about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? Yet for a little while you made them a little
lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means
nothing is left out. But we have not yet
seen all things put under their authority. What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was
given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered
death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for
everyone. Hebrews 2:5-9(NLT)
I love this picture of an angel
covering a city for two reasons:
a. It displays God’s design for
angels to protect God’s creation
b. It shows the angel as Scripture
depicts them, strong, warrior-like, and not effeminate little wimps, like a
Hallmark™ Christmas ornament
Now, don’t get me wrong
(save the cards, letters, and emails), I, who have zero artistic abilities, would
not willingly trample the artistic interpretation of those who do possess such
gifts; it takes a lot of time and talented skill to create pictures or
sculptures. But this is just one of
those theological pet-peeves of mine.
How can you assign gender to that which God hasn’t?
Gender is a base, necessary to
reproduction here on earth, but not in heaven.
Just as God is without bodily gender distinction, the angels neither
marry, nor procreate. No amount of
text-proofing can change that. But all
that attention to whether (or not) angels interacted with female humans to
create a race of giants in pre-recorded history misses the point. Angels are God’s servants.
So, what is it like to be a
little lower than the angels?
Look in the mirror! Our flesh,
including its limitations and its dependence on gender for reproduction, along
with those human frailties (just to mention a few, there is age,
our bodies need sleep and food, susceptibility to disease,
and let us not leave out the big one – death,) are what’s lower
in the sense of physical prowess; the angels need none of this. But the redeeming, set-apart quality humans
possess is that stamp of God’s image on our souls, that which possesses free
will. In this, the angels can only
wonder.
And therein is the glory and
the rub. Our free will opens the possibility
of pathos, feelings and deeds of love or hate.
Angels aren’t exactly automatons, incapable of independent action (remember
Lucifer was an angel who led a third of the heavenly host in a rebellion
against the Father). But angels who
rebel are not quite free agents like humans, but also, those who serve at the
throne above are not touched by the darkness of sin, as are we sons and daughters
of Adam.
In all, Scripture declares
humans a little lower than the angels…for the time being. The writer of Hebrews declares that in the
order which is still to come, angels will not rule with Christ; those humans who
have given their hearts to follow Jesus will be transfigured, changed in the
twinkling of an eye to be with Christ, and also rule with Him. The angels will be a little lower than the
redeemed of God’s family. Considering
the picture that we see of this mighty angel standing guard over the city, that’s
going to be quite a change!
For You Today
Your day will include some kind of
training that God has laid-out for you to be ready to be just a little
higher than the angels. Don’t
waste it!
Go to VIDEO
[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
No comments:
Post a Comment