LSW Graphics Angelic Beings

Angel at the Church of the Nativity Bethlehem 

 

The Bible begins by telling us about God’s creation of the Earth, and His creation of the animals and humans.

In the third chapter of Genesis we witness deception on the part of a serpent, and the beginning of a conflict between mankind and God’s other creation-- angels.

By chapter six, this conflict has escalated to the point of angels taking on human forms and having sexual relationships with women, producing an evil infected race of that God decides to wipe out through a massive flood.

He only allowed one righteous man named Noah and his family to survive.

Since then this conflict between mankind and a group of rebellious angels has continued.

Paul of Tarsus, one of the great missionaries of the first century, wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus in an attempt to explain our place in the spiritual world. In chapters 1 through 5, he describes our position, our purpose, and how we function as the body of Christ. In chapter 6, he describes our interaction with another of God’s creations¾the angels.

For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12

 

How would you describe angels?

 

As we look at the Scriptures, we see that these angelic beings fall into two categories:

 

 First, evil spirits (also called demons):

 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.” Then Jesus asked, “What is your name?” And the spirit replied, “Legion, because there are many of us here inside this man.”           Mark 5:8-9

 

And there are God’s angels:

For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with His angels and will judge all people according to their deeds.   Matthew 16:27

 

It is very important to understand the nature of these very important players in the spiritual world.

Whether you realize it or not, you are interacting with them (the good angels and the “fallen” ones) on a regular basis.

 

Angels are not gods, because the Lord created them:

Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being.  Psalm 148:2-5

They cannot die because they have eternal life:  

And they will never die again. In these respects they are like angels. They are children of God raised up to new life.   Luke 20:36

They are invisible to man until they want to be seen.

Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam fell face down on the ground before him.  Numbers 22:31

 

Angels are not robotic, computer-like creatures but rather have emotions:

“In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents.”           Luke 15:10

 

They are not all knowing and rather curious about mankind:

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven¾things into which angels long to look.  1 Peter 1:12 nas

John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, had an interesting encounter with and angel while he was serving in the temple. Gabriel came to deliver the message that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, despite their old age. Even though he had prayed for years for a child, he still could not believe his ears! The entire account is in Luke 1:5-25.

The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” Luke 1:19-20 nas

From this we can see that angels can move freely through space and time and can alter human physiology.

 

Corinth 

How did some of the angels become demons, or evil spirits?

 

There are three angels mentioned by name in the Bible (kjv): Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. It seems that one of these chief angels, Lucifer, decided that he was worthy of the praise and worship that God received. That’s when the problems began. Ezekiel describes what happened:

“You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone. . . . I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you.”     Ezekiel 28:12-15                                                                                                   

There is not a lot in the Bible that elaborates on this subject; however, if you piece three biblical passages together, you get a pretty good idea of how it all happened. These three are worth reading: Revelation 12, Isaiah 14, and Ezekiel 28. Lucifer became known as the adversary, or in Hebrew, Satan. At one time in his existence, Satan was the worship leader of the heavenly host of angels. Some believe that he was the chief worship leader of heaven. This is why we really need to pray for our worship leaders.

What was Satan’s specific sin?

Isaiah tells us that it was pride. The entire account is in Isaiah 14:12-17.

For you said to yourself, “I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.”                 Isaiah 14:13

Once Satan felt that he was as worthy as the Lord was for honor and praise, he led a rebellion against God, and a third of the angels joined him.

Suddenly, I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. His tail dragged down one-third of the stars, which he threw to the earth.                           Revelation 12:3-4

Michael and the other angels fought against the rebels and forced them out of heaven and onto the earth.

Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle and was forced out of heaven.

This great dragon¾the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world¾was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.                

Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and he declared war against the rest of her children¾all who keep God's commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus.      Revelation 12:7-9, 17

 

Mikaela & Lukas  Bethlehem Church of the Nativity

 

Satan was so bold that he even tried to convince Jesus to join his rebellion. 

Today, he is trying to convince and deceive all of us into joining the rebellion too. 

Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory.

“I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will only kneel down and worship me.”

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.’” Matthew 4:8-10

Jesus gave us a great description of these fallen angels and how they operate in Matthew 12:43-45. It is worth taking a few minutes to study and draw tactical information out of this passage:

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and clean. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”    Matthew 12:43-45

From this passage we can see that demons (evil spirits):

 

·         exist inside and outside of humans;

·         travel;

·         make decisions;

·         have individual identities;

·         remember and make plans;

·         can unite in battle with others; and

·         vary in degrees of wickedness.

 

Think about any situations where you may have encountered angelic or demonic activity.

 

 

Let’s look at some biblical examples of what angels and demons do.

Angels are powerful and serve God:

Praise the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty creatures who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands.   Psalm 103:20

They serve us as “lifeguards”:

 For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them.    Psalm 34:7

Angels are used to provide for God’s people.

We see a great example of this in the life of Elijah:

Then he (Elijah) lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. 1 Kings 19:5-6

Angels also act as guides:

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”            Acts 8:26

 

Daniel gives us some good descriptions of the function of angels.

From this passage in chapter 10, we see that angels are messengers and warriors. They can give strength to humans and can take on human appearance.

Then he said, “Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning.”    Daniel 10:12-13, 18

 How many angels are there?

According to Jesus, there are at least twelve legions (there are 4,500 to 6,000 troops in a Roman legion!).

“Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”  Matthew 26:53 nas

Jesus made an interesting comment regarding angels and children:

“Beware that you don’t despise a single of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.”            Matthew 18:10

 

How do demons attack us?  

 

 

Satan and his demons blind us to keep us from seeing the truth.

Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them.  2 Corinthians 4:4

Demons are also experts at deception.

They take a little truth and mix it with a big lie.

It’s a deadly recipe!  Paul told his friends in Corinth:

But I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent. You seem to believe whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach about a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light.         2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 14

 

They also set traps for us, so that we will be held captive through spiritual bondage to them.

Then they will come to their senses and escape from the Devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.       2 Timothy 2:26

Satan and his horde are murderers and liars. 

Jesus himself said:

“For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”      John 8:44

 

Satan has a plan for your life! It is to steal from you, destroy your life, and kill you (spiritually and physically)!

“The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”  Jesus speaking in John 10:10

 

 

However, the good news is that Jesus’ plan for you is quite the opposite. That’s why being a member of the family of God is so important. When you have the power of the Holy Spirit inside, you can resist and be victorious in this spiritual battle!

 

Here are a few encouraging reminders from the Word:

And don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil. Ephesians 4:26-27

 

We have the option of allowing Satan into our life by opening a “spiritual door” and literally inviting him in. How do we do this? By allowing our thoughts and emotions to be influenced by him. The Bible says to:

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 nas

 

In 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, there is a fabulous image of the battle to take a human heart and to conquer our own thoughts and beliefs.

We have a very interesting second-century Roman document about the collapse of a city fortress wall. It is not an interesting document until you look with the eyes of trying to figure out the strategy of what is happening.

There are four steps in which you take an ancient city. These mounted, walled garrison cities have a glacis, or an angled wall, at the base of the vertical wall. This is about a thirty-degree angled slope that prevents a battering ram of doing its job effectively by deflecting the force¾it will glance off. The glacis also prevents attackers from having a firm level ground to try to climb up and over the wall¾usually this slope is slippery (from oil), and it makes ground attack more difficult.

 

12th Century Crusader Castle Caesarea Maritima Israel

 

The only way to take a city like this was to bring in shielded men called sappers who would crawl into the sewer pits, the drains at the base of the wall, and take out a section of the wall from below. The problem is that if you are a sapper and are good at your job, you only get to do this once, because the wall usually collapses on top of you.

When the wall collapses, the second team comes in. They are called the casters. They cast away the bodies of the sappers, and, of course, the stones of the fallen section of the wall, allowing the third group, the infantry, to pour through the breach in the wall. They will begin to take each section of the city, block by block, in a sustained attacked.

Finally, just in time to take credit for the battle, you have the fourth element, the captains, who come in and put up two poles. There is a pole¾a gallows¾set up for the execution of everyone who will not get with the program, and then a flagpole allows the captives to pledge their allegiance to the new regime.

Paul picks up on this illustration and uses it with the people of Corinth who are familiar with warfare because they have been soldiers and naval officers. He says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. . . .

We are the sappers at the bottom of the wall, pulling down these weighty things that have imprisoned us for so long. It seems that, like the sappers, we will die in the process. The reality is you won’t die doing this¾you may feel like you are dying, and there is a spiritual sense that you are dying to yourself, but your physical body will live.

casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. . . .

Now we are like the casters, removing all the plans and strategies that exalt ourselves.

bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. . . 

As the infantry moves in and takes control of each part of the city, we allow God to move into each room of our lives and take control. Finally,

and being ready to punish all disobedience . . .

The captains bring in the gallows, and everything is placed in order.

 You have a great warfare analogy for a simple conclusion.

 It is a big grandiose picture to produce one point, which is:

 

 How is the life of the believer lived?

One thought at a time...

 

It is often said that the battleground is the mind.

We must analyze every thought to determine its origin and how it lines up with the thoughts and character of God.

Things that fall outside the category of “from or like God” are red flags and need to be handled with extreme caution. Thoughts that fall into the category of “from the devil” or overly “self-oriented” should be flushed out. In this way, we will keep the enemy from establishing those footholds that he needs to attack us.

 

Ephesus Library

Next:      

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NAS                                                                                                                           

There are three specific steps that James gives us in our spiritual battles.

 First, he says to submit, or bring everything in our life under the authority of God. If we don’t, then we have an open “spiritual door” that invites the enemy into our lives. We must bring all those secret sins and areas of disobedience under the authority of our Lord. After all, if He is Lord, then that is our appropriate response.

Once all the doors are closed, then we must resist, or fight against, the thoughts and temptations that the enemy is trying to snare us with.

One good technique when you have a thought that is out of line with God’s thinking or a temptation to do something that you know that He knows is not good for you is to quote a Scripture verse that tells the devil who you are (in the spiritual realm) and remind him that he doesn’t have any right to attack you.

 Keep it up. Jesus had to do that three times in His temptation in the wilderness.

Another technique is to begin praying for someone or something when you are being attacked or tempted. Satan doesn’t like to do things to us that cause us to pray.

Singing praise and worship songs is another effective tactic in your spiritual battles. Not only is your faith affirmed but also there was a reason why God told Joshua to send seven priests blowing ram’s horns to lead Israel’s army as they marched around Jericho.

 

Peter, who experienced many attacks from Satan, gives us a similar strategy:

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that Christians all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.    1 Peter 5:6-9  

Peter addresses two potential “handles” that Satan could use to pull you away from God in this passage.

First there is the big sin¾pride.

Pride is not needing God in your life, not submitting all areas to Him. As Samuel spoke to Saul:

 “Rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Samuel 15:23

Pride is indeed a bright, bold neon sign inviting the enemy to come into your life!

 Fear is another “handle.”

 Are you believing God and His promises to you, or are you ignoring them and buying into lies the enemy is telling you? Fear is disbelief. Not believing God is calling Him a liar. That’s sin and a big handle to turn you away from God! That’s why Peter says to give all your worries and cares to God.

Eliminate pride and fear from your life, and you become an effective spiritual warrior.

 

 

Here’s something important to remember:

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.  Matthew 10:1                                                                                                

Jesus has given His disciples authority over the rebellious angels.

Authority is defined as “the power or right to give commands, enforce obedience, take actions, or make final decisions. When Jesus’ disciples exercised this authority in their ministry, Luke reports that:

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”  Luke 10:17-20

 

Just as this authority is relationship-oriented, so is the “armor of God,” which Paul describes in Ephesians 6:

Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.

For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.

Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm.

Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor (or breastplate) of God’s righteousness.

 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared.

 In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.

Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.                                                Ephesians 6:10-18

 

When you read Paul’s description in Ephesians 6 of the armor of God, notice that all the pieces¾the belt of God’s truth, the breastplate of His righteousness, the helmet of salvation bought by Him, the shoes of God’s peace, a shield of faith in God’s promises, and the sword of God’s Word¾all rely on our relationship with Him. It has nothing to do with ourselves; it all comes down from Him.

 

This spiritual armor is the defense that a close and obedient relationship with God gives you.

 

·         Believing His truth vs. Satan’s lies;

·         knowing your relationship as an adopted son or daughter of God Himself, right standing before Him, and the legal rights that go along with that relationship;

·         your willingness to share the good news of this relationship;

·         your faith in God to protect you; and

·         your knowledge that you have eternal life with Him no matter what may happen here in this life;

 

This is the defensive armor that God offers us.

 

But there are offensive weapons as well.

The “sword” in the spiritual realm is God’s Word—truth to apply to every situation where you feel yourself under spiritual attack; truth about your identity; truth about God’s promises to you; truth about the limited power of the evil one over you.

 The other weapon He gives us is prayer—communion with Him. Prayer to align ourselves with God and His will and move with Him to accomplish His plan for our lives and for this world.

Truth and prayer are powerful dynamics in the spiritual realm.