Colossians 1:15-23, Part 9

The duality of creation frames our discussion on the content of creation. By content, we refer to the specific objects or categories of objects that have been created. Since Paul divides these into "things in heaven and on earth" and the "visible and invisible," we will also divide our discussion into the heavenly or the invisible, and the earthly or the visible. Of course, here we cannot list all the objects or categories of objects in creation, but we can state what kinds of things would be included.

For example, heaven itself would fall under the category of invisible things. Creatures such as angels and demons would be invisible things that possess intelligence. However, this just means that they are usually invisible, since they can assume visible forms at times. The visible would include things like water, rocks, plant life, and the animals. Humans would usually fall under the category of visible things, but keep in mind that they also possess intelligence, and because of their dualistic nature, there is a spiritual and invisible aspect to them.

Here we will direct our attention only to those things that possess intelligence and are the most theologically significant, as well as the most relevant to Paul's letter. As indicated, they are angels, demons, and humans. Even with this narrower focus, it would be impossible to address these three items in a comprehensive fashion. So we will have to select some aspects of each topic for our discussion.

Angels belong to a class of strong, intelligent, and holy spiritual creatures who are in constant worship and service of God. In the study of angels, or angelology, we would consider their nature and purpose, their types and ranks, their relationship to God and to man. Part of what we can say about their purpose and relation to man is that they are "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). According to biblical examples, their service would include the direction, protection, provision, and vindication of God's people. They perform these tasks under the command of God, and not by their own decision.

There is a teaching popular among some charismatics that because angels are "ministering spirits" sent to serve us, believers are to speak to them, and command them to perform their desires or to fulfill the promises of God. However, this teaching finds no support in the biblical accounts of how God's people relate to angels. First, the angels are the ones who initiate interactions with humans; people cannot initiate contact with angels. Second, their activities are ordered by God's command, and not by his people's command. Angels serve the heirs of salvation in the sense that they obey God's command to perform various tasks for our benefit. They are not our servants in the direct sense; rather, both angels and believers are God's servants.

If there is no biblical support for commanding angels to do our bidding, petitioning them to grant our desires is even more unbiblical and sacrilegious. In short, our conscious relation to angels is usually limited to an awareness that God commands them to serve the heirs of salvation, in the sense that they perform his will in the direction, protection, provision, and vindication of the believers. Their activities are almost always undetectable to us, but there is no biblical evidence to suggest that angelic appearances have ceased at the completion of the canon of Scripture, and the two in fact have no necessary relation to each other. Anyone who would insist that angels never appear to humans today do so by their tradition and prejudice.

That said, even if there is to be any verbal interaction with angels, we do not speak to them unless they first speak to us by God's command. And any such visitation must be tested by the word of God – not only by those who hear about it, but by the person encountering it even as it occurs. Since angels must obey the command of God, and the Bible is the word of God, they are subservient to the Bible in all their speech and conduct. Any being claiming to be an angel who distorts or disobeys Scripture is an imposter, and a spirit of deception. If an angel cannot satisfy me with sound logic, precise exegesis, and a consistent theology, he cannot be an angel, and I will have no obligation to follow what he says or to accept his message. If he comes from God, he will speak and obey the word of God, which is the Bible.

In our context, perhaps the most important point to make about angels is that Christ is the creator and sustainer of them all. He is not himself a mere angel, not even the chief of angels, but he is the God who made them, who sustains them, and who commands and controls them. Therefore, Christ has the supremacy over all angels. The implication for Christian doctrine and practice is that it is an act of idolatry to worship or to render excessive honor to them.