Spiritual Beings: Angels and Demons

For centuries the subject and study of spiritual beings has been a hotbed for discussion and debate. Various religions and cultures fear and worship both benevolent and malevolent forces respectively. My intent over the course of this paper, however, is to clearly and succinctly outline the different classes of angels as created by the one true God, the role they play not only in the Word, but also in the lives of believers today, and the various reasons angels and the knowledge of angles is important to the believer. Furthermore, I will discuss the fall of Satan, as well as his angels (demons), and why their existence is a cause for concern in the life of a believer.

Throughout scripture God purposes angels primarily as messengers. Whether it be in Joseph’s dream to announce the forthcoming birth of Christ (Matthew 1: 20), heralding to the shepherds who were tending their flock (Luke 2: 8-9), or appearing before the entire nation of Israel to judge them for not completing their conquest of the Promise Land (Judges 2:1-3), it is with frequent regularity that we see these created spiritual beings tasked with the delivery of messages from God. That being said, it should come as no surprise that the word angel is from the Greek angelos, which is the equivalent of the Hebrew mal’akh, meaning “messenger”.

Angels, as mentioned previously, are created beings. They possess intellect, will and emotions. Even though angels are more powerful than humans, they are not endowed with the attributes of God which are omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. While some people believe there are as many as ten different types of angels due to Paul’s words in Colossians, I will be covering only a select few as named in the Bible. These are arc...

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...inder of God’s love for us. We as believers are favored by God over the angels. Angelic beings are unable to receive the gift of salvation. God loves us so much that he gave his son to die for us (John 3:16). Christ on a daily basis makes intersession on our behalf (Romans 8:34). The angels were never afforded such a gracious gift. When Satan’s pride led to the rebellion in Heaven, he was cast out never to return. There was no mercy, no forgiveness, no second chances, which are things we as Christians take for granted on a daily basis. Instead the only thing they had coming was an eternity in a lake of fire, no questions asked. Spiritual beings are more powerful, more beautiful, and more loyal than and human could come close to imagining, but it is we that God chooses to love.

Works Cited

Graham, Billy. Angels: God’s Secret Agents. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994