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Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they(v4)
And of the angels he saith,Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame a fire(v7)
> Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?(Heb 1:14)
The angels are spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. That includes us!
So shall the ministry of angels didn't pass away withsome other dispensation. It didn't stop when we entered into the New Testament. It didn't stop with the apostles. It's still a valid ministry today.
There are not only good angels,but there are fallen angels -- angels that rebelled against God. It would be good for us to find out what the Bible says about these fallen angels.
One third of the angels fell from heaven with Lucifer when he rebelled against God. As a result they were cast out of the heaven.(Rev 12:9)
Jude v6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day.
Notice these angels are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness.
Now in 2 Peter we find the angels that "kept not their first estate." They sinned, and lost their habitation. The Hebrew says "they kept not their first headship or first dominion."
> For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement;
> And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person,a preacher ofrighteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.
2 Peter 2:4,5
I want to draw your attention to one statement:
> But cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chians of darkness to be reserved unto judgement; and spared not the old world...
The world Satan(or Lucifer, as he was called then) ruled was a world ruled by angels. Lucifer ruled and reigned over a world before Adam was ever created. Lucifer had a throne; he ruled over nations. The Bible doesn't give many details, but it gives us some insight into that world. Let's read Ezekiel 28:12~15:
> Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
> Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the saphhire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the worksmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
> Thou are the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
> Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Notice he said,"Thou art the anointed cherub, and I have set thee so." This "being" he is speaking of is Lucifer. The phrase,"Take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus," is a double reference. The speaker is talking to a man on earth, but there is adual reference which could not apply to a man on earth.
For instance, it says,"Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God." It doesn't say,"the Garden of Eden." It says,"Eden, the garden of God." If you;re not careful, you'll miss it there.
Adam was created and put on earth on a higher order than the angels. He had the ability and right to make decisions. God let His intentions be known by stating in Gen 1:26
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
God said,"We're going to give man dominion." Adam was created with the ability of choice and the right ofchoice. Adam had the right to make the wrong choice. Gpd gave him the right to do it, even though it was wrong. GOd has laid out before us what's right and what's wrong. The choice is ours. We can choose right, or we can choose wrong.
In Gal 6:8 : Sow to the flesh, asn you will of the flesh reap corruption. Sow to the Spirit, and you will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Abel and Cain, both sons of Adam. Abel chooses God. Cain chooses murder. And God lets him.
Abraham and Lot, both pilgrims in Canaan. Abraham chooses God. Lot chooses Sodom. And God lets him.
David and Saul, both kings of Israel. David chooses God. Saul chooses power. And God lets him.
Peter and Judas, both deny their Lord. Peter seeks mercy. Judas seeks death. And God lets him.
In every age of history, on every page of Scripture, the truth is revealed: God allows us to make our own choices.
And no one delineates this more clearly than Jesus. According to him, we can choose:
a narrow gate or a wide gate (Matt. 7:13—14)
a narrow road or a wide road (Matt. 7:13—14)
the big crowd or the small crowd (Matt. 7:13—14)
We can choose to:
build on rock or sand (Matt. 7:24—27)
serve God or riches (Matt. 6:24)
be numbered among the sheep or the goats (Matt. 25:32—33)
“Then they [those who rejected God] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:46 NIV).
God gives eternal choices, and these choices have eternal consequences.
Isn’t this the reminder of Calvary’s trio? Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Why not six or ten? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Why not on the far right or far left? Could it be that the two crosses on the hill symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts? The gift of choice.
The two criminals have so much in common. Convicted by the same system. Condemned to the same death. Surrounded by the same crowd. Equally close to the same Jesus. In fact, they begin with the same sarcasm: “The two criminals also said cruel things to Jesus” (Matt. 27:44 CEV).
But one changed.
One of the criminals on a cross began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Christ? Then save yourself and us.” But the other criminal stopped him and said, “You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment he is. We are punished justly, getting what we deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39—43)
Much has been said about the prayer of the penitent thief, and it certainly warrants our admiration. But while we rejoice at the thief who changed, dare we forget the one who didn’t? What about him, Jesus? Wouldn’t a personal invitation be appropriate? Wouldn’t a word of persuasion be timely?
Does not the shepherd leave the ninety-nine sheep and pursue the one lost? Does not the housewife sweep the house until the lost coin is found? Yes, the shepherd does, the housewife does, but the father of the prodigal, remember, does nothing.
The sheep was lost innocently.
The coin was lost irresponsibly.
But the prodigal son left intentionally.
The father gave him the choice. Jesus gave both criminals the same.
There are times when God sends thunder to stir us. There are times when God sends blessings to lure us. But then there are times when God sends nothing but silence as he honors us with the freedom to choose where we spend eternity.
And what an honor it is! In so many areas of life we have no choice. Think about it. You didn’t choose your gender. You didn’t choose your siblings. You didn’t choose your race or place of birth.
Sometimes our lack of choices angers us. “It’s not fair,” we say. It’s not fair that I was born in poverty or that I sing so poorly or that I run so slowly. But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden. All complaints were silenced when Adam and his descendants were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire. Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next.
Wouldn’t you agree? Would you have wanted otherwise? Would you have preferred the opposite? You choose everything in this life, and he chooses where you spend the next? You choose the size of your nose, the color of your hair, and your DNA structure, and he chooses where you spend eternity? Is that what you would prefer?
It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal. I’ll take good health and a high IQ. I’ll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism . . . Would’ve been nice. But it didn’t happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren’t given a voice or a vote.
But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seems like a good deal. Wouldn’t you agree?
Have we been given any greater privilege than that of choice? Not only does this privilege offset any injustice, the gift of free will can offset any mistakes.
Think about the thief who repented. Though we know little about him, we know this: He made some bad mistakes in life. He chose the wrong crowd, the wrong morals, the wrong behavior. But would you consider his life a waste? Is he spending eternity reaping the fruit of all the bad choices he made? No, just the opposite. He is enjoying the fruit of the one good choice he made. In the end all his bad choices were redeemed by a solitary good one.
You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You’ve chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, “If only . . . if only I could make up for those bad choices.” You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth.
The choice is yours.
How can two brothers be born of the same mother, grow up in the same home, and one choose life and the other choose death? I don’t know, but they do.
How could two men see the same Jesus and one choose to mock him and the other choose to pray to him? I don’t know, but they did.
And when one prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him. And when the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him.
He allowed him the choice.
He does the same for you.
The Twelve Days of Christmas is actually a catechism song.
Between the years 1558-1829, English Catholics were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Without regular mass, sacraments, or catechism lessons from the priest, there was little parents could do to help their children learn and remember all out their faith. This song was created to keep the Catholic faith in their lives, even though hidden for the time.
Instead of referring to an suitor, the "true love" mentioned in the song refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents symbolises every baptized person.
'A partridge in a pear tree' is Jesus Christ. A mother partridge will feign injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings. The children hearing this song would know that, and would understand the parallel between the acts of a mother bird, and the sacrifice of Christ.
The other symbols continue the symbolism:
2 turtle doves----the Old and New Testaments;
3 French hens--Faith, Hope and Charity;
4 calling birds---the Four Gospels;
5 golden rings---the first five books of the Old Testament, which give the history of man's fall from grace;
6 geese a laying-the six days of creation;
7 swans a swimming-seven gifts of the Holy Spirit;
8 maids a milking-the eight Beatitudes;
9 ladies dancing--nine choirs of angels;
10 lords a leaping-the Ten Commandments;
11 pipers piping--the eleven faithful Apostles;
12 drummers drumming-the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed
Part of this text is adapted from the book titled "Angels" by Charles Capps and Annette Capps
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Last updated : 16th Jan 2001