IMAGINE

Imagine for a moment that you are an angel. You have spent your whole existence in the presence of the Creator of the Universe. Perhaps you are one of the Seraphim having six wings and although able to fly, you are humble in the presence of your Maker (Isa. 6:1-7). You might be the very one who cried, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" Or you might be the one God chose to carry the hot coal to purify the lips of the young Isaiah.

You might be one of the Cherubim assigned to guard the entrance gate to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24). Then again, you could be one of those Cherubs that served as model for the sculpture of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25:18-20). If my understanding is correct, you have only two wings and are also close to the throne of God.

It is even possible that you could be Michael, the Archangel who seems to be the guardian of, and the messenger to the people of Israel (Can. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7). I am not sure that Gabriel is an Archangel, but the fact that he ministers to Daniel, Zacharias, and Mary, all Jews, leads me to believe he is (Dan. 8:16; 9:21; Lk. 1:19, 26). Michael seems to be the warrior and Gabriel appears as a special messenger (special in that he is named while none of the other angelic messengers are).

God forbid that you would be one of the fallen angels or even Satan himself! If you are taking the time to read this, I am certain that your imagination would not make this choice. A discussion of Satan and his legions is a topic for a later date. Today, we want to focus upon "the good guys."

It is clear that if you are an angel, you are presently superior to man, because Jesus took on the form of man which is said to be lower than the angels (Phil. 2:5-8; Ps. 8:5; Heb. 2:7, 9). And while you are either a messenger to, or a minister of Christians, you are still superior to us for now (Heb. 1:14). But I warn you, my angel friend, that one day you will be under the authority of man 1 Cor. 6:3). However, the saddest thing about you being an angel is that you do not understand the grace of God (1 Pet. 1:12). Man can be adopted as children of God, but as an angel, you were not created in the image and likeness of God, and therefore can not become His child. You can only be a spectator to the awesome majesty of God's relationship with those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior!

Aren't you glad that you are human? Your imagination might make it seem like a good idea to be superior to man, but it is only temporary, and as an angel, you could never be like Jesus. We will (1 Jn. 3:2)!!!