The Father's View of the Son #6 ANGELS ARE MINISTERING SPIRITS

Our text summarizes the entire ministry of angels in a few words. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:13, NASB). This is the primary ministry of the angelic order! They were used to curse the wicked in the flood, judge the Egyptians, and to destroy Sodom. However, that was not their primary work! They gave the Law, announced the Savior, and warned the wise men from the East. But that was not their primary ministry or service. God has made them to serve those "appointed to obtain salvation" (1 Thess 5:9). This is not their ONLY work, but it is their fundamental activity. An angel struck king Herod when he wickedly took too much honor to himself (Acts 12:23). However that is not the primary work of angels. Their main activity is ministering to the saints of God. In Christ, this service is brought to its highest and most notable level.

Angels are servants--servants to those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. That is a noble ministry! It is not to be despised--particularly by those that benefit from it. We might note how this conflicts with much of the emphasis of the contemporary church. While the saints languish on minuscule spiritual diets, and humanly-devised programs are initiated to purportedly "reach the lost," the Head of the church has marshaled the heavenly host to serve the heirs of salvation. This is, indeed, an arresting consideration.

However, what is their work compared to that of the Son of God? That is the point of our text! The Spirit takes the most imperial of all created beings, and places them beside the Son of God--in capacity of "the Son." He does not compare them to God, but to the "Son of God." He does not compare them to the Father, but to the One the Father commissioned to save the world. And how does the comparison appear? The Son shines like the noon day sun amidst twinkling stars. The angels in all of their greatness are but dimly lit lamps next to the Son of God! They are servants, He is the Head of the house. They serve, He reigns! They come to the throne, He sits in the throne!

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