Angels - Part 1

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , | Posted On Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 12:01 AM

We're in a series on Heaven, and it's been really exciting for me to learn so much about our resurrected lives on our future home on the New Earth. In my third message I'm talking a little about angels, but I really only touch on the subject. A few years back I did a program on angels, and I've dug up the material and plan to share some of it over the next few days on this blog. I'm starting below, but check back each day as I put up more material.

The movie It’s a Wonderful Life with the angel Clarence Oddbody has become a Christmas tradition for many. While serving as God’s messengers, they are also getting credit for helping people lose weight or find their keys. A Wisconsin homemaker has a collection of 11,161 angel artifacts. There are angel clothes, brass cherub flushers, angel mouse pads and screen savers for our computers, angel soap, angel towels, Cherub air freshener, angel night-lights, angel sheets and pillows and angel suitcases. There are people who claim to help you get in touch with your guardian angel.

Yet, for all our interest, even our need, for angels, we must be careful. Virtually every major religion through the years has had its own form of angels. Christianity is no exception. And while the Bible has a great deal to say about angels, we want to be careful as Christians that we don’t get caught mixing our angels to create something that is not pleasing to God. In fact, the Bible indicates that not only are there good angels, but evil ones as well, that are very skilled at fooling people until it is too late. So, if you are interested in being aware of the angelic presence around us, do it from a biblical viewpoint so all that you do will give God honor and praise and not lead you astray.

Angels are found in 34 of the 66 books of the Bible (17 - Old Testament, 17 - New Testament). The word “angel” is used 108 times in the Old Testament, 165 in the New Testament.

Two classes of angels are shown in the Bible:
  • the "elect" (1 Timothy 5:21) and "holy" (Matthew 25:31) who worship God and serve Him completely
  • the evil angels, including Satan, their leader (Matthew 25:41), and demons (Matthew 12:26-28), who oppose God and all His servants, both humans and angels.

Charlie Shedd says two words come closest to a true biblical understanding of what an angel is: "manifestation" and "servant." Servant is fairly clear, and the word "manifest" means "to reveal, prove, display, and put beyond doubt the nature of that which is being manifested." Since God is love and angels exist to manifest and serve him, then what angels do is to reveal, prove, and display God’s love.

Our word "angel" is derived from the Greek word angelos, which means, very simply, "messenger." In the Greek world just before New Testament times, the role of the human angelos was fairly simple: "he delivered messages, answered questions, and expected payment for his services—and he was protected by the gods." These ancient human angelos could also serve as envoys, making treaties and delivering official communications. In the New Testament an angelos is a celestial being with a divine message from God. This idea generally comes from the Jewish understanding of angels.

In the Old Testament the term most frequently used for angel is malak. It, too, means messenger or representative. Malachi, one of the Old Testament prophets (and the last book in the Old Testament) is a name that literally means "my messenger." However, even though malak is translated messenger, its meaning is broader than our modern day understanding. There weren't phones and email, nor did they have mail or cars, so delivering a message was not easy. Sometimes it took weeks to deliver a message. The malak represented the concerns and desires of the one who sent him. Sometimes, because of the distances and length of time involved, the malak had to interpret the message and its meaning. Angels in the Bible often directly represented God to their intended audience.

Come back tomorrow for information about what we know about the origins of angels and their basic nature.

Membership Update - Involved in Biblical Community (August 2010)

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 1:51 PM

A couple of years ago our family was vacationing down on the western part of Galveston Island. There's a house down there that we've stayed at before (though not since Ike). One of the things I did down there was some grilling on a portable bar-b-q grille.


It was a little breezier than usual one evening as I was preparing to start up the grille. I set the charcoal in a pile and tried lighting it, but it was hard because of the wind. I finally got it started and stepped away to bring some things from the kitchen. When I got back most of the charcoal bricks were burning, but a handful had rolled off the pile and they were still dark. I got some tongs and put them into the flames, and they soon lit up like the rest of the coals.


As I watched those coals begin to heat up, I realized God was showing me a metaphor of why small groups in our church - any church - are important. Together, in a group, we can do more and accomplish what we're there for, but by ourselves we cool off and don't provide much heat or light. 


As I write this we're getting ready to take my daughter to TCU as she begins her freshman year there. One of my big hopes for her is to find a group of peers, of friends, that she can live life with, who have similar values and interests as she does. I know if she finds the right group it will make a huge difference in her college and life experience.


The truth is, all of us need smaller groups of 5-15 folks, where we are known, where we can let down our hair, where we can be real, where we can ask questions, where we can help others, etc. In our worship services of 500-800 it's easy to remain anonymous, and that can be a good thing as someone is checking out our church. They don't feel pushed, and they can take it at their own pace. But surveys have shown over and over that if a person doesn't connect with some small group of people, there's a 70-80% chance they will become inactive within a year. We were created for community, for being together, for doing life together. Whether an introvert or extrovert, we all have some level of need in this area.


God created us to go through life together. In Genesis, after creating the man, God knew He wasn't finished: "Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.'" (Genesis 2:18 NLT2 - italics added) This passage is about more than marriage between a man and a woman - it shows that God created us for community, to be with others and help others: "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part…" (1 Corinthians 12:25 Message) 


In smaller groups we know what's going on each others' lives and can help: "Share each others burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2 NLT2) Life in smaller groups is also a way God has provided for us to help each other grow in our faith: "I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you." (Romans 1:12 NCV)


The bottom line is that small groups are one of the primary places where we live and receive love. God is love, and love describes the motivation behind everything Jesus did. And love is the goal for Christ followers. Certainly a family is a small group, where love is the basis for the relationships, but the same is true for small groups in churches. We call them Life Groups here at Gateway, but we also have small groups in our Celebrate Recovery ministry, our Women's ministry, and even in our children's and student areas.


Here at Gateway we lift up what we call the GUIDE. It's an acronym that both describes what "a fully devoted follower of Christ" looks like, and it lists biblical practices and disciplines that guide us in our spiritual journey (read more about the GUIDE in my May Update). The "I" in GUIDE stands for "Involved in Biblical Community," because we know it is absolutely essential for anyone who wants to follow Christ. From Jesus' beginning in ministry he had twelve others alongside him, and if he lived this way, it says a lot about what each of us needs.


Biblical community comes as we try to live out the love of Christ with others. It happens in Life Groups and Celebrate Recovery. We have an event coming up in September called Group Connection on Sunday, September 19 at noon. Last year we placed over one hundred folks in small groups through this event. If you aren't in a Life Group, you can sign up this Sunday at the Ministry Booth or by contacting the church office. Yet, it's important to realize that biblical community is also available through our serving teams. When we serve alongside others, we experience community with those folks, too. 


What I want to do is encourage you to be intentional in your biblical community. Find a place(s) to experience it, and then help others do the same. We all need it, and the cool thing is that we can all give it.
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