Bible Studies: Worldnet Grace Ministries

Creation of the angelic spiritual realm

By Johnny Tatum

The purpose of this creation study is to recognize that the eternal God wants Himself to be known by others, including the most perfect of God's creation who, instead of pointing beyond himself to his Creator, fell because of his own pride and was forced to leave God's presence.

GOD COMMANDED AND THEY WERE CREATED

THE ETERNAL STATE

We are still in that condition before time, in eternity [past] when the only presence [in existence] was the Godhead — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As presented in our study [Creation And The Bible Reveal The Glory Of God], that period occurred:

Before the physical universe was created,

Before there was time,

Before there was matter, and

Before there was light.

God stands outside of time, which is a function of this physical universe; He exists in eternity. Obviously, in eternity the Godhead is not doing nothing; however, we just do not know what it is.

The first activity by God in eternity [past] — before time and before creation — of which we are aware is the Eternal Counsel:

God has in His mind the creation of each spirit being, the creation of the universe, and the creation of each human being.

God determines mankind would be redeemed and glorified with Him forever.

God allows rebellion and sin to come in.

God makes provision for dealing with the rebellion and sin of man — the second Person of the Godhead (the Son of God) would become a man and die for our sins.

God gives eternal life to those who believe Messiah Jesus is their Redeemer.

Just Imagine: All of that is decreed by the Godhead in the eternal state, meaning there is never a time when His decisions are not made and the things in this temporary, physical universe do not affect those decisions!

CREATION OF THE ANGELS

The first creation work by God in eternity [past] of which we are aware is of the spiritual dimension: the creation of spirit beings, called angels.

At some point, God — specifically, the second Person of the Godhead — created the spiritual dimension, a totally different dimension than the physical dimension; He created the angels:

Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts…Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created. (Psalm 148:2,5)

For by [God's beloved Son] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)

We do not know exactly when God created the angels, but we can get fairly close. For example, in Job 38, God is talking about the creation of the world and says when that happened:

The morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. (Job 38:7)

Morning stars and sons of God are terms for angels. This indicates that the angels were praising God as they witnessed His creation of the world; therefore, we know the angels existed in that condition before time — in eternity [past].

What would we have seen if we had been standing right there when Messiah Jesus created the angels? We would not have seen anything, because our eyes and our brains are suited for the physical realm and angels exist in the spiritual realm. In fact, we would not have been aware that anything had happened because angels are in a dimension that is not perceptible to the senses of human beings.

I believe most people think of angels as misty-wispy entities. No! They are not airy-fairy type things; angels are substantial and they are real.

Do angels have bodies? The answer is an unequivocal Yes and No! Yes, angels have spiritual bodies, and no, angels do not have physical bodies. And humans cannot see them because angels do not exist in the physical dimension.

Divine Permission:

ARE WE ALLOWED TO SEE ANGELS?

Angels live in a dimension other than the physical. Normally, humans cannot see angels; however, sometimes God allows us to see them in one of two ways:

One: God lifts back the veil of the spiritual dimension, and we see angels as they are.

This is not a good way. Why not? Because when we see angels that way the reactions of human beings are always the same — we are scared to death.

For example: Daniel saw an angel.

Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great shaking fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. (Daniel 10:7)

For example: Zacharias saw the angel Gabriel.

Zacharias was troubled when he saw [an angel of the Lord], and fear gripped him. (Luke 1:12)

Note: Zacharias was the father of John the Immerser (Baptizer).

For example: An angel appeared to announce Messiah Jesus' resurrection.

And behold, there was a great earthquake. The angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white with snow. And because of fear the guards started shaking and became as dead men. (Matthew 28:2-4)

When God allows human to look into the spiritual dimension and see angels, the angels always frighten them; we cannot stand to look at angels as they are.

Two: God has angels change their form from spiritual to physical.

This way is used by God most often. Obviously, this is a little bit easier for humans to take, because when the angels change to a physical form (an imitation of a human body), they look just like human beings.

Note: When angels change their form, normally they take on the physical appearance of men (in lieu of women); therefore, the masculine pronoun he, his, and him are always used in the Bible. However, angles do NOT have a gender.

I Say Clearly: An angel is NOT just a consciousness (a mind without a body). Angels do not have a physical body, and they do not have eyes, ears, or noses. Why not? Angels do not need physical bodies or organs, because they exist in the spiritual dimension.

An angel has a spiritual body, which is localized (to be in one place at one time), and when an angel goes to another place, he has to travel (to move through space).

To human beings it may seem that angels are limited in what they can perceive since angels do not have physical bodies. Actually, an angel's perception is much higher than a human being's. They do not have eyes, but angels would ask Who needs eyes? Look at what we have!

Illustration:

A DIFFERENT WAY OF PERCEIVING

One time when I was in Columbus, Ohio, a blind man said to me I have never been able to understand how so many people manage with using canes. And then, in all seriousness, he asked me How do you know where things are if you do not have a cane? Perception in the blind world is different from perception in the sighted world.

Application: Angels have different ways of perceiving things than human beings.

How many angels exist? The Scriptures present us with a few clues.

Messiah Jesus referred to twelve legions of angels (144,000 angels):

"Do you think I cannot call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53)

The apostle John said that he saw a large number of angels:

Then I looked, and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and then thousands times ten thousand. (Revelation 5:11)

What is ten thousand times ten thousand? That equals 100 million angels. Now add the thousands upon thousands for the sum of the many angels that John saw = [a minimum of] 100 million + thousands more!

This inestimable number of angels is clarified in the Book of Hebrews:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels. (Hebrews 12:22)

Do you know what innumerable angels means? Very simply, there are just too many angels for us to count. Possibly, there are billions and billions of angels.

Does this mean that God created a few angels and then they reproduced? No, because Messiah Jesus said that they do not procreate (produce offspring):

"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." (Matthew 22:30)

The text is clearly showing us that these millions and millions — maybe billions — of angels were created individually, separately, one at a time [by the Creator, God].

Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for these creation lessons on the spiritual dimension. We ask that You would help us to develop a consciousness of You, so that as we learn about the angels we will be mindful that You made them and that You are sovereign over them.

Thank You that creation and the Bible reveal Your glory. Please help us to recognize this time of study as a great opportunity for us to focus on Your glory, including Your attributes of forbearance, mercy, love, holiness, and immensity.

Father, we ask that through Your word, You would give us wisdom, restoration of our souls, joy, and enlightenment of our spiritual understanding so that Your testimony would not return to You void, and it would accomplish the purposes for which You sent it.

Praise be Your name forever, through our Creator and Messiah, Jesus. Amen.

THE HIGHEST OF ALL CREATION

In this creation study, we will be looking at the created spirit being who:

Had the highest rank of anyone in the universe,

Was the most powerful person in the universe,

Was the embodiment of all wisdom, and

Was the most perfect of God's creation.

About Whom Am I Talking?

THE PREEMINENT ONE

By the way, did you think I was referring to Messiah Jesus? I am not, because He was not created.

Speaking of Messiah Jesus, John said:

All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:3)

John says that Messiah Jesus created everything that was created, proving Messiah was not created, because He could not create Himself.

What do you do [beside shut off the lights and pretend that nobody is home -sic!] or say when somebody points to all of the verses that they incorrectly interpret to mean Messiah Jesus was created? For instance, what would you tell them if they were to show you the following verse?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15)

You would say that here the word firstborn does not literally mean "1^st born".

In English, the word first has two different meanings, as follows: (1) preeminence and (2) chronology. In this verse, firstborn means the preeminent One. However, let us consider the following:

George Washington was the first president of the United States of America — chronologically Washington was the first president of the United States of America.

He was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen — does first mean chronologically? No, it means preeminence.

What about references made to the first lady (the wife or hostess of the chief executive of a country, state, or city) — does first mean chronologically? No. Chronologically, the first lady would be Eve. It means preeminence, a place of honor and respect.

Other people might show you some verses about the firstborn/first fruits of all creation, and wrongly say that this proves Messiah Jesus had a beginning. For example, consider the following verses:

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. (Colossians 1:18)

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. (1 Corinthians 1:20)

But each in his own order; Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming. (1 Corinthians 1:23)

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (Revelation 1:5)

Did you recognize that all of these firsts are referring to the death of Messiah Jesus? These verses refer to Messiah Jesus as being the firstborn/first fruits, meaning that He was the first of many who are going to be resurrected from the dead into a new, glorified state. That is how He is the firstborn; that is how He is the first fruits.

Obviously, these verses are NOT saying that Messiah Jesus had a beginning or that He was created. Actually, He was the specific Person who did the creating:

Messiah Jesus is the preeminent One.

Next:

Creation Of The Angelic Spiritual Realm: PRIDE AND FALL OF TYRE, PRIDE AND FALL OF LUCIFER

Back To: Creation And The Bible Reveal The Glory Of God

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We express our deepest appreciation to Mitchell and Dawn Kolodin for their excellent work in transcribing and editing this entire Creation study.

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