THE CHURCH TO THE ANGELIC
The message of the church to the angelic world is a message of God’s eternal purpose through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus approximately thirty years after the ascension of Jesus into heaven. In the third chapter starting in verse ten we read: ‘to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
It is through the church that the demonic forces that aligned themselves with Lucifer at the moment of his rebellion learn of God’s true nature and character. His manifold wisdom has cleared His Name against the libelous slander spewed upon the holy mountain of God. God could have utterly destroyed Lucifer at that very moment yet He chose another course of action for His Name sake.
THE ANGELIC REBELLION
When Lucifer rebelled he deceived one-third of the angelic world into following him. Yet how did he get them to make that choice? The answer is simple as we examine the way Satan deceives. Jesus called him a liar; ‘for he is a liar and the father of it’. He sowed doubt in the mind of Eve causing her to question the wisdom and the goodness of God. He tempted her by taking advantage of her constitutional make up and catered to her desire, her physical appetite and her mental quest for understanding. What about the remainder of the human race?
Does Satan not attack and tempt us in the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes and the pride of life? Yes he does all these things to humanity but the angelic powers are a different class. For Satan the human race was an easy lot to deceive. The angelic world on the other hand was quite different. From the moment the angelic world was created they followed God’s benevolent theocracy. The angels were created beings with the power of choice and sin was unknown to them.
All the knowledge possessed by the angelic beings came from God. He created and cared for them. He assigned them rank, duties and function. They saw God and His throne along with all the trappings of heaven. Heaven and all that it offered was their domain and abode where truth, justice and righteousness reigned.
ANGELS NEED NO FAITH
The angels did not have to take anything by faith as we humans do. What we humans believe by faith the angels experience as reality. This is the reason why the demonic angels can never be redeemed. They surrendered perfection for rebellion while humans surrender rebellion for perfection. Their destiny was set the moment they aligned with Lucifer and was thrust from heaven. So how did Lucifer persuade them to rebel? Lucifer attacked the character, integrity and motives of God. Lucifer came against the Name of God and thus became Satan, the adversary. There is an interesting passage in the writings of Isaiah, chapter forty-eight verses nine thru thirteen: “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger and for My praise I will restrain it from you so that I do not cut you off. Behold I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. Listen to Me, O Jacob and Israel My called; I am He, I am the First and I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them they stand up together.”
God’s loving dealings with the nation of Israel were demonstrative of His goodness, kindness, long suffering and patience. God certainly could have wiped out the nation of Israel as He described to Moses. When Moses reminded God how contrary that was to His character and counterproductive to His plan, He relented. In this exchange between God and Moses we learn about the innate nature of God Himself. This nature is exactly what the church has learned about God. God is love and He demonstrated that love through Jesus Christ. Every member of the church of Jesus Christ that has come back into relationship with God through His Son experiences this unconditional love.
LIVING LIVES WORTHY
The Church extends its gratefulness to God by living lives worthy of God Himself. We keep His commandments and abide in His love. As we seek to please Him we announce to the demonic hordes that we have come to know God intimately through Jesus Christ. Every moment of every day we willingly, as an act of our will, offer up our lives as living sacrifices to a God who is full of loving kindness and tender mercies. We have come to reject sin and rebellion and every corrupting influence Satan and his henchmen represent. Lucifer deceived the angelic host by spreading doubt about the goodness of God. He came against the Name of God with lies, slander and subterfuge. I do not know what Lucifer actually said to them but he planted doubt in their minds just as he does the human race today. Rather than destroying Lucifer and the rebellious, God made the choice to demonstrate to all the host of heaven His goodness, manifold wisdom and righteousness by becoming a little lower than the angels.
LUCIFER’S LIE
Whatever lies Lucifer used to deceive the angelic host have been shown to be false asHis plan to restore order continued onward. God had made the choice to defeat Lucifer from the very beginning when He laid the foundation of the world. Jesus was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world but was sent in the fullness of time. THE reason God became a human being was to restore order to His creation continuum. In doing so He defended His Name against the deceit and deception of Lucifer. God choose to defend His Name by demonstrating His superior wisdom and supernatural power through subjection to and supremacy over the adversary, Satan. God chose to demonstrate the opposite of what Lucifer accused Him of being. As the intermission ends let us look to the final act for the curtain has already risen.
