Christmas Special - The Archangel Gabriel, Who Announced Jesus' Birth, and the Roles of Other Angels
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December 30, 2012 |
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 The God of love planned 'human cultivation' to enjoy true happiness and share love with His children who resemble Him in the beautiful Heaven and He created all necessary things to carry out the plan. Among what He created in the plan are spiritual beings like angels and cherubim that help in God's work. Let's delve into what angels do in human cultivation. By doing so, let's engrave the love of God the Creator towards us.
Countless angels
The total number of angels that God created is too numerous to count. The world of angels is organized better than any government, army or organization on earth. Its order is precisely practiced and they work according to their superior's commands.
An archangel is a leader of certain groups of angels and is equivalent to the minister of a national government department on this earth. Archangels play the role of God's hands, feet, eyes, and ears, and they search and observe various fields. They receive direct orders from God, and they report to Him. Under such archangels, there are countless angels.
The representative example is the archangel Gabriel that delivers God's messages that contain very important contents such as answers to great prayers, or revelations about the future (Luke 1:19, 26; Daniel 9:21-23). Archangel Michael is the Commanding General of the Military in Heaven. Michael has been conducting a battle against the evil spirits, and sometimes he himself destroys the forces of the darkness (Revelation 12:7-8; Daniel 10:13-14).
There are many other kinds of angels, too: angels that protect men from danger (Daniel 6:22; Acts chapter 12); angels that take the aroma of our prayer to God's throne (Revelation 8:3-4); strong angels (Revelation 10:1, 18:21); angels that carry out God's judgment (2 Samuel 24:16); heavenly hosts (Psalm 103:21; Luke 2:13); angels that minister to God's children (Hebrews 1:14); and angels that record all words and deeds of men in Heaven (Matthew 18:10).
Archangel Gabriel that announced Jesus' birth
Luke 1:26-38 depicts that the archangel Gabriel was sent from God to the virgin Mary and announced Jesus' birth.
Gabriel appeared before Mary who was living in a city in Galilee called Nazareth and said, "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus." She said, "How can this be?" because she was a virgin and she had been engaged to Joseph.
Then, Gabriel said, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God." He meant that Mary would conceive a Baby with the power of God and the Holy Spirit. She obeyed the word and said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." It is in this way that the archangel Gabriel receives instructions from God and delivers important messages to people directly by appearing before them.
Angels that minister to believers and protect them
There are angels that perform their duties in the spiritual realm, and there are also angels that minister to God's children on this earth (Hebrews 1:14). These angels can protect their masters only when they dwell in God's Word. To the extent that their faith grows up and they achieve the heart of spirit, bigger and more capable angels will protect them.
These angels can also show various facial expressions and attitudes according to a given mood. If their master sings praises and dances with joy, the angel also follows the master in happiness. If the master laughs at something funny, the angel also laughs following the master. If the master becomes sad, the angel also looks sad, and sits down helplessly. If the master slanders and talks ill of others, the angel can't help but become distanced from the master according to God's justice. As a result, they can't protect the master.
Angels that deliver the incense of believers' prayer
There are angels that receive the incense of your prayers (Revelation 8:3-4). The ranking of angels who take the incense will be different according to how much incense of our hearts that God can accept is offered up. The incense of prayer is gathered in a golden censer. A higher ranked angel takes these golden censers into the air, and hands them over to an even higher ranked angel. Then, this archangel in charge brings the aroma of prayer in the huge censer to the golden altar before the throne of God.
Angels that record men's every thought, heart, word, and action
In Heaven there is an angel assigned to each man on earth. That angel records every word and action of the person. The angels are recording your every thought, your heart, and every word and action in detail. They report to a higher ranked archangel in accordance with the order in every detail. Then, they report to other archangels according to the order. The report is then put into a golden censer at God's throne (Matthew 18:10). God can search all men because of the role of the angels.
An angel's appearance that is almost the same with that of a man
An angel is almost the same in its form as that of a man except that it has wings (Mark 16:5; John 20:12; Acts 1:10-11). However, according to their roles, they may have the form and characteristics that are masculine or feminine. For example, if there is an angel who plays the role of an army general, it has the form of a male. The female form might be more suitable for singing and dancing. It doesn't mean that there are no masculine appearing angels that dance.
The characteristics of angels also vary according to their given duties. For example, the angels that sing or dance usually laugh with ease. Some angels are playful, and they are good at making funny faces. On the other hand, the angels that play the role of a security guard don't laugh. In the same way, there are angels that are given a unique duty in the spiritual realm, but there are other angels that minister the children of God on earth.
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