“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” Colossians 2:18-19
The people who lived in the earliest days of Christianity had an understanding of the supernatural that is lost on most modern men. As much as we feel society has advanced, this is one area in which we absolutely have not; we’ve regressed. False science has convinced our generation that if it can’t be sampled with the senses, then it doesn’t exist. The Bible declares that the things that are seen are temporal; it’s the unseen that is eternal!
Colossians Chapter 2 mentions beings of this unseen world that are very real, so real, in fact, that some in the early church went so far as to venerate them. Colossians 2:18 speaks of the worship of angels and warns against it. The fact that it is mentioned lets us know that those early Christians not only understood that there was a class of beings known as angels, but they highly valued them and their interaction in their lives.
The last couple of weeks we have written of the renewed interest in the supernatural in our culture. In every branch of media there seems to have been a revival of understanding that we humans are not alone on this planet and that we cohabitate with other beings, even those that remain unseen. Scripturally speaking, this is true; we are not alone on this Earth. Among us are supernatural entities, like angels, that influence our day-to-day lives much more than most would like to believe. For believers in the Bible, this truth is a comfort and answers so many unanswerable questions about the unexplainable happenings that go on around us.
Last week we left off relaying the God-ordained purpose of angels in this day we live in. We noted that according to Hebrews 1:14 angels of God are servants, sent to accomplish His will in the lives of His children. Angels are workers in the realm of the unseen who respond to our faith in God’s Word and do what is necessary to bring to pass those promises in our lives. These angels are the “eyes of the Lord” referenced in 2 Chronicles 16:9, and are still responding to the prayers of God’s people much as they did for Daniel as recorded in Chapter 10 of the book that bears his name.
What kind of tasks are they accomplishing for us as we pray and believe God for His grace and goodness in our daily lives? Same as they’ve always done. They are still protecting us as declared in Psalm 91, and still delivering us from the devil’s schemes against us as witnessed in Acts 12:1-10 and 2 Kings 6:8-17!
Friends, we have a wonderful Father who has provided for us above and beyond what was necessary. He’s given us “exceeding great and precious promises” as recorded in 2 Peter 1:4. He has commissioned a specific group of created beings (not passed on loved ones or fat babies) to go and do the necessary things in the realm of the spirit to bring those promises to reality in our lives.
Should we venerate angels for these tasks? No, of course not, but we should appreciate their labor and thank God for giving us this supernatural assistance to overcome the powers of darkness in the days we are living in.
As we said last week, God has our backs. He’s not left us without His resources to overcome in this life!
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.