Of angels and devils, or…

…why am I here?

God, in the Bible, records much history to help both form and inform us. A lot of what is found in the Old Testament prefigures, through types and shadows, the realities of which we learn in the New Testament. Sometimes these realities and their archetypes are unambiguously explained, other times not. One precept that is unclear enough to incite a good bit of speculation is the reason God created humanity. As this concept is not explicitly fleshed out in Scripture, preachers often proffer their own ideas about God’s purpose in creation. Some of the more commonly propounded postulates are those such as:

• God wanted fellowship, so He created man to fellowship with Him

• God wanted someone to love (or to be loved), so He created us to love Him

• God created us to worship Him

While there are elements of truth in each of these, it is difficult to find categorical biblical support for any of them as the purpose for which we were created. Of course we are called to worship Him. We are called to love Him. We are called to have fellowship with Him. The question is, are any of these, from a Scriptural perspective, God’s purpose in creating us? I’m not saying that what I am about to present is God’s revealed truth as to why He created, but I am offering another perspective of which some is specifically Scriptural and some is personal presumption. My thoughts on this have been taking shape over the past few months while reading and writing about several passages and as they have amalgamated in my mind. I do think this is an important topic, as I believe it has the potential to impact one’s overall theology, how one reads, interprets, and even applies Scripture. If you’ll bear with me, I think at the very least you will find what I propose interesting if nothing else.

I’m going to start with creation - not the creation which likely first came to mind when you just read that word, but another: the creation of the angels. The Bible does not divulge much about God creating the angels, but it does provide enough detail to piece together at least some events. For instance, we know the angels were created before the world was created. This fact is, at the very least, revealed in the book of Job when God says:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4-7

It stands to reason that the “sons of God” who were present and “shouted for joy” when God “laid the foundation of the earth” are the angels, thus, we can deduce that the angels were created before the earth and all of its inhabitants.

Next comes the fall of Satan and the angels who followed him. Many interpret Isaiah 14:4-21 and Ezek. 28:11-19 as speaking of Satan, though Scripture clearly addresses the former to the king of Babylon in verse 4 and the latter to the king of Tyre (v. 11). There may be a second, underlying meaning of these passages that apply to Satan, and applying it thusly is understandable, but I do not see such as a straightforward reading of the text. Job speaks of Satan going to and fro in the earth, mirroring the New Testament verses saying that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Job also teaches us that Satan accuses us before God, as we also learn in Zechariah 3:1 and Revelation 12:10, among others. We also know, from Revelation 12, that Satan (in those particular verses referred to as “a great red dragon”) cast “a third of the stars” (presumably, a third of the angels) from heaven to earth. A little further on, the dragon himself is cast down as well, and because his time is “short,” he has come with great wrath.

It is a bit difficult to discern from these specifics the order of events, and I do not want to dive into a deep theological discussion about Satan’s nature, whether he was created evil or, as is often propounded, pride welled up within him to want to take the place of God which led to his fall. The understanding on which I would like us to agree is the generally-accepted idea that Satan fell before the earth was created, and that he took a third of the angels with him. We know for sure that angels were cast out, as Jude tells us that “angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6). We also know that, at “the judgment of the great day,” Satan and the angels who followed him will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10) which was created specifically for them (Mt. 25:41).

Overall, these details provide enough to infer at least a rough general timeline - God created sentient spiritual beings, angels, of whom Satan was one. This creation took place before God created the earth (prior to Genesis 1:1). Satan, whether created evil or fallen through sin, tempted Eve in the garden to sin (perhaps this, itself, was Satan’s downfall). That the serpent is Satan can be seen in the previously referenced Revelation passages (chapters 12 and 20) in which the dragon, Satan, is referred to as “the serpent of old,” hearkening back to Eden and affirming his presence at the outset of this creation. This also is acknowledged when Jesus says of Satan that “he was a murderer from the beginning” (Jn. 8:44), again mirroring the language of creation from Gen. 1:1 and John 1:1. Satan caused the expulsion of one third of the angels from heaven, and these are usually accepted to be the “evil” or “unclean” spirits, or demons, to which Scripture refers. Satan and those spirits following him will, at the day of final judgement, be cast into the lake of fire. This is a very rough and high-level outline. You are likely at this point wondering, “ok, but what does this have to do with God’s purpose in creation?” Patience. We’re getting there.

It is interesting to note somewhat of a parallel here between the story of the angels and the story of humanity. The angels are created, one leads others into sin, and for that sin, they bear condemnation. Our story is eerily similar. Adam and Eve are created, they bring sin into the world, as a result, all of creation is cursed, all men are under sin, and for that sin, men bear condemnation. The departure between the two is in the point of judgement. We are offered salvation through Jesus Christ; the fallen angels are not. Men have opportunity to avoid that final condemnation; the angels who followed Satan do not. This brings us to the main point.

What, then, is God’s purpose in creating humanity? To put it simply, God’s glory. God, in creating us, did so to show forth His glory. What does that have to do with all of the above rambling?

To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

Eph. 3:8-12

Our lives here, our salvation in Christ, “in accordance with the eternal purpose” of God, is to show forth God’s wisdom to “the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” - the angels. Our lives do not just declare God’s glory back to God or to other humans. We are here as an expression of God’s wisdom for the angels to see. From Paul’s writing in Colossians, we could assume these “rulers and authorities” are specifically Satan and the fallen angels:

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

(some translations render the Greek αὐτῷ at the end of verse 15 as ‘Him’, though others use ‘it’ (literal), or ‘the cross’ (implied), which more logically follows from verse 14.)

Col. 2:13-15

This understanding of our reason for being follows from Paul’s writing in Romans as well:

What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

Rom. 9:22-24

In a way, we are playing out the same story that we saw with the angels (Satan even tempted Eve, and thereby Adam, with a ploy that mimics the temptation that allegedly caused Satan himself to fall - pride and a desire to be a “god”). God, by this creation, is showing them what they lost, and in so doing He is also showing forth His glory by us and to us.

Why is this important? Understanding that we are here to display God’s glory not only to other humans but to the angels should have a profound impact on our lives. Of course, salvation itself should have that impact, but this can help keep it front of mind. We are not here for ourselves; we are here for Him. We were created by Him for His glory. All of humanity was - even those vessels made for ignoble use:

Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

Rom. 9:21

This is why God is able to say of Pharaoh, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth” (Rom. 9:17, Ex. 9:16). We are to do all things to the glory of God: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Eventually all, even the angels, will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God:

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Phil. 2:9-11

God’s glory is of the utmost importance to Him, and He will not share it with another: “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8). He wants us to reflect that glory, and when we sin, we fall short (Rom. 3:23). This is why He rails at those who exchange His glory for that of created beings or for idols (Rom. 1:23). Even Christ receiving us is for God’s glory:

Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy.

Rom. 15:5-9a

Regardless whether the parallel I drew makes perfect sense, regardless what others propose as God’s reason for creating, one thing is sure: God wants to be glorified and has at least created us for that purpose.