"How Do Angels Compare To Us?"
from Billy Graham's "Angels"
Hebrews 1:5-14
Sunday, May 20, 2007

Introduction: Our world is built on hierarchy. In our government you have the President, then the vice-president, and so on. In companies you have the same kind of structure. But not only do you have the President and vice-president of the company, but you also have supervisors who oversee the employees on a day-to-day basis. In sports you have the owner, and the general manager, and the manager, and then the coaches who assist the manager. We are accustomed in our world to think in hierarchical structures.

So, when we come to the structure of creation, we think in these terms as well. And we wonder about the question: “How do angels compare to us?” Where do we fit in the hierarchical structure of God’s creation? We know that we are higher than the animals, because we have been given charge over all things. But what about the angels? This morning, I want to talk about this structure, and the relationship between us and God’s angels. I want us to see how in some ways we appear to be lower than the angels, but in other ways we are higher.

I. Heirs of God- (Romans 8:17;; Luke 20:36, 15:10; John 1:12;

Hebrews 1:13-14, 2:5-9; 1 Corinthians 12:3)

a. God as Father- The Bible tells us that God has made man “a little

lower than the angels.” Yet, it also says angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to us. This kind of sounds like a contradiction. On the one hand, they are a little higher in the order, but, they serve us. How can this be explained?

As I said before, we are head over all the creatures of our earthly world; but we are lower than angels with respect to our bodies and to our place here on earth. In his book “Institutes,” John Calvin said: “The angels are the dispensers and administrators of the Divine beneficence toward us; they regard our safety, undertake our defense, direct our ways, and exercise a constant (watch) that no evil befall us.”

God commands His angels to help men and women, since they will be made higher than the angels at the resurrection. As Luke 20:36 tells us, “and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection.” Here we have the distinction of learning that we are God’s children, and angels do not have this place.

And so God is not called “Father” to the angels. This is because the angels who are in heaven have not sinned, and therefore do not need to be redeemed. The angels who have sinned and are not in heaven, cannot call God Father because they cannot be redeemed. This is an interesting part of the creation. We, who sin, can be redeemed, but the angels who have sinned cannot. God has not made a provision for the angels to be saved. This could perhaps be answered by the fact that they chose to sin when there was no sin, and so their sinful state cannot be altered. But even if they could, they would not want to call God Father because Lucifer is their Father. They are in revolt against God and will not accept His sovereign lordship.

Yet even the holy angels, who might like to call God, Father, could do so only in loose terms. As creator, God is the father of all created beings. But this term “Father” in the Bible is usually reserved for those who are lost and need to be redeemed. So in reality of the term, those who are not saved cannot call God “Father.” It is similar to how God tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ “and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” God is only the “Father,” to those who have accepted Jesus as Lord, and in this God becomes our Father. That is why Jn. 1:12 tells us, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” So we hold this special place in God’s kingdom.

b. God’s Grace- The Bible tells us that when we accept Jesus Christ

as our Savior and Lord, we become “joint heirs” (Romans 8:17) through this redemption. Angels are not able to be joint heirs. And so when we get to heaven, and the believers are introduced to their boundless, eternal riches, the angels will stand off to the side.

Now we shouldn’t feel sad for the angels, because we have to remember that the angels in heaven have never lost their original glory or their spiritual relationship with God. The angels won’t have feelings of jealousy. They have an exalted place in heaven, and are a part of the royal order of God’s creation.

While we aren’t able to be in God’s presence here on earth, as the angels are, when we meet with other believers at church, it represents the highest order of the love of God. Being a believer in Christ, is an important endeavor, that is why Luke 15:10 tells us that when someone accepts Christ, there is rejoicing by the angels in heaven. And when we gather together in church, it is God’s family of believers coming together to experience God’s love, and to share God’s love.

And this experience of being saved is something the angels can’t understand fully, because they themselves will not ever experience it; they cannot testify to that which they haven’t personally experienced. They can point to those who have been saved; they can rejoice when others are saved; but they don’t know what it is like to be saved. Because we have experienced this salvation, we can testify to others around us of what this experience is like. That is why every month I try to have a testimony, so that we can be blessed by what God has done in our lives, and we can share in the rejoicing that the angels and heaven does. So angels, as great as they are, cannot testify to salvation the same way as those of us who have experienced it.

II. Power- (2 Samuel 14:20; Mark 13:32; 2 Thessalonians 1:7;

2 Peter 2:11; Psalm 103:20)

Objects of power: There are many things that represent power. Extension chord; glasses; credit card; car key. Also, gavel for a

judge, or the “veto” of the President.

a. Knowledge- You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Knowledge is

power.” And if this is true, then angels have more power than us, because they have greater knowledge than us. When King David was being urged to bring Absalom to Jerusalem, Joab asked a woman of Teloah to talk to the king. She said: “My Lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.” (2 Samuel 14:20) And angels possess knowledge that men do not have.

And yet, with all of their knowledge, we know that they are no “all knowing” like God. They do not know everything. Jesus bore testimony of this in reference to His second coming in Mark 13:32, when He said: “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no not the angels which are in heaven.” Angels know things about ourselves that we probably don’t know, because they are “ministering spirits” and receive knowledge from God. They are also trusted with more knowledge, because they can be trusted with the knowledge they have, since their purpose is to see God’s will carried out in our lives.

b. Strength- But when we think of power, we also think of strength.

A “power hitter” in baseball is someone who is big and strong and can hit the ball far for a home run. A “power struggle” is when two opponents or parties challenge for control. The winner is the one who is stronger and gains control of the power.

Angels enjoy far greater power than people. But just as they weren’t all knowing like God, so they are not “all powerful” like God either. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7, Paul refers to the “mighty angels of God.” From the word translated “mighty” we get the English word dynamite. In material power, angels are God’s dynamite! In 2 Peter 2:11, we read, “angels who are greater in might and power [than men] do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.” It is also important to note that it took only 1 angel to slay the firstborn of all of Egypt in Moses’ day, and only one angel to shut the lions’ mouths for Daniel.

In Psalm 103:20 King David speaks about God’s “angels that excel in strength.” Nowhere in Scripture is that strength manifested more dramatically than in the climax of this age, which is seen in the Battle of Armageddon. Following this battle, there is a picture of what will happen to Satan: He is to be bound and cast into a bottomless pit. But what power, apart from God Himself can do this to Satan; whose power we know about and whose evil we have experienced? The Bible says that one angel will come from heaven. He will have a great chain in his hand. He will lay hold of Satan and bind him with that chain. And then he will cast him into the pit. HOW GREAT IS THE POWER OF ONE OF GOD’S MIGHTY ANGELS!

III. Worship- (Revelation 5:11-13)

a. Singing- It is interesting how when people talk about worship, one

of the first things that come to mind is singing. For many people, singing and worship are almost synonymous terms. Now I know that there are many people who don’t like to sing. And so if worship and singing are synonymous, then worship will lose much of its enjoyment for them. Maybe they don’t like to sing because music isn’t that special to them. But usually, it is because they struggle to sing well.

However, most people, even if they don’t have a good voice, like to sing. And so we wonder if this is an earthly desire, or do angels sing as well? Down the course of time, it has been believed that angels can and do sing. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare seemed to underscore this possibility when he stated: “Now cracks a noble heart, Good night, sweet prince;/ and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

However, there are some Bible scholar who insist that angels do not sing. This seems preposterous since angels offer glorious praise to God. I mean, music is the universal language. We are told in Revelations 5:11-12, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹²In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” It is possible that there is a form of heavenly music unlike our music here on earth. Whether you understand music or not, you can appreciate good music when you hear it. In fact, you know when you are hearing good music or not. Whether it is rock music, or jazz music, or opera, or classical, you can tell if music is good or not.

And so if there are different kinds of music on earth, then why wouldn’t there be a different kind of music in heaven. And before we can understand the music of heaven, we have to be willing to go beyond our earthly concept of music. I am sure that the music of heaven will be far more glorious than we have ever known on earth, and that if you couldn’t sing here on earth, you will be able to in heaven.

And we can see that singing is important to angels as well, as it is a primary way that they express their praise to God. Revelation 5:13 tells us: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

b. Worship- So angels sing like us. They also worship like us. The

Bible is very clear that angels ascribe honor and glory to the Lamb of God; who is Jesus. But angels do not spend all their time in heaven. They are not “all present” like God is. They can only be in one place at any given time. They are busy carrying out God’s orders and God’s will. So they are not always before the throne of God giving God praise and honor. But when they are before the throne of God, they worship their creator.

And yet, as I talk about worship, it is important to understand a bit more about worship. As I said before, many people liken worship to singing. Or if it isn’t just singing, worship is coming to church. But worship is so much more than this. And so many people fall short of understanding worship.

The great preacher A. W. Tozer once said about worship: “Worship is the missing jewel of the evangelical church.” And it is true. Worship is missing in the lives of so many Christians and so many churches. Until we understand worship, we will struggle to worship. And people misunderstand worship, because they think worship is something that comes to you. You go to church, you hear the choir, the hymns, the Scripture, the sermon. And if these are done well, then maybe you are moved a bit, and you feel good about your worship experience. How often have you heard someone say: “Well, I just didn’t get anything out of worship.”?

Worship is something we give ourselves to, and it is our connecting ourselves with God. If you don’t get much out of worship, it is because you haven’t given yourself over to worship. Worship is about encountering the “PRESENCE” of the living God, and understanding who God is and how we are to relate to Him.

And so we are to take music, which moves the soul, and the Bible, which speaks to the depths of the soul, and prayer, which draws our spirit to God’s Spirit, and we weave them together. But if you don’t work at bringing yourself to God, and if you don’t open yourself to connect with God, then you will miss out on the wonder of the worship experience.

Angels worship, because they understand who God is, what God has done, what God is doing, and how it all connects together. Angels come before the throne of God and give praise and honor to God because He deserves it. The worship of angels is about praising God for what they have seen God do, and what God calls them to do on His behalf. As you live your life for God, you will be able to worship when you open your eyes to see all that God has done, is doing, and will do. It is this seeing, this understanding, that allows you and me to stand before God’s throne, as the angels do, and WORSHIP.

Conclusion: So this morning, we have seen that the angels are like us in that they are part of the created order, and like us in how they sing and worship and serve God. They are also like us in that they are working to bring about the Kingdom of God. But they are unlike us, in that they cannot fully understand the grace of God, since they cannot be saved. They are not like us, in that they are not “children of God.” And so, even though angels are stronger, more powerful, more knowledgeable, and can come into the presence of God, they lack some of the intimacy that we can and will have with God. My purpose here this morning is not to try and determine who is better, us or angels, but rather to show that as God’s created beings, we each play a special part in God’s Kingdom, and work together to serve God and worship God, the One who is above all things. So let us leave here this morning with the confidence of knowing that we are special to God. Let us leave here seeking to know God more fully, and worship God more completely, as we understand all the more about God’s created order. Amen.