By Peter Hallett
Published September 23, 1997
It’s about time someone stood up for all the well-meaning angels of the world and gave them back their dignity.
Angels have always fascinated humankind but never more than now when every second movie seems to star an angel, the Internet is full of weird angel sites and every man and his dog is claiming new age connections with their very own guardian angel.
It seems we pluralistic inhabitants of the nineties are willing to embrace any kind of counterfeit spirituality as long as we are not forced to face the real thing.
And while it might feel nice to think of kind-hearted, supernatural, winged beings roaming around looking after us, we’ve lost the plot, somewhat.
Meanwhile, the other extreme of banishing angels to the confines of myth is just as misguided.
So before you sit down to watch the latest angel movie on video, let’s have a little look through what the ancient text of the Bible has to tell us about our angelic colleagues.
The word angel means messenger and it is clear that angels are not free agents who can be summoned by chanting humans but actually are always in the service of their Creator God.
Angels shouted for joy as our world was made, sang for joy when Jesus was born (scaring the heck out of a few scruffy shepherds) and showed amazing restraint when sitting in the empty tomb and telling the disciples "Jesus is not here. He is risen!
There are angels that watch over us on God’s behalf and we are told that the angels that watch over the little ones are often before the Father in heaven.
Angels are spirits, they don’t have huge white wings but do seem to be able to assume human form when necessary. They our powerful, but not all-powerful.
Only two - or three - angels are named - Gabriel, Michael and Satan who many believe was perhaps the highest of all angels who in pride abandoned the service of God and has reeked vengeful havoc ever since, along with other fallen angels who followed him.
This Satan we are told can appear as an angel of light and is one and the same who tempted Jesus but who was ultimately defeated by Christ’s atoning death and triumphant resurrection.
Angels are holy, belong to heaven but are assigned to the earthly realm in a clearly defined hierarchy.
Some sects call Jesus an angel but the Bible says he is "much superior" to angels and is in fact God - and the angels worship him.
We are advised that sometimes we may entertain angels unawares and that the angels rejoice every time someone turns to Jesus. In other words, there is nothing more the angels like doing than chucking a party when some no-hoper (like yours truly) strikes up a friendship with God.
More than anything, angels are seen pointing to Jesus and helping those who serve him. They are the messengers and helpers of God’s Kingdom.
By now some of you will think I’m a total fruit cake, others will be hopelessly confused and some just starting to get curious. So to help I’m offering an angel fact sheet which will give some more details, more Bible references and a reading list.
But don’t take my word for it, check out your own Bible and see what it says. And keep in mind, Jesus spoke often of angels and obviously had no question about their existence and purpose.
If we are to learn anything from angels, let us follow their example and worship the living God.