Angels: Who’s Your Daddy?
Angelic Eavesdropping
One day Pojes shared: “Jesus and Father love you so much! They talk about you all the time.”
Another day Shobis encouraged me: “Don’t worry, Milady, Father’s got a plan. He always has a plan!”
Still another day they tell me: “We love being about Father’s business together with you.”
Finally, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I said, “Guys, I’m really not trying to be totally rude and prideful and mean here, but… God is MY Dad. I mean, where do you get off calling Him ‘Father’ all the time? No offense, but I thought He was my Father, not yours…”
(Note: One of the things I love best about angels is their complete unoffendability. Well, okay. Sin offends them. But just like this – honest questions from a seeking heart? They’re always fine with, and eternally patient.)
Father of All
Pojes was happy to clarify my thinking: “Uh…yeah. Actually, He’s totally our Father, too. Just because we work for Him doesn’t mean God the Father doesn’t treat us awesomely, with love and respect and even like a dad. You can be a boss and a dad at the same time. (You more than anyone know that!)
“I mean, yes. He’s the Commander of our Angelic Hosts, but at the same time, He loves and cares about us. He IS love, remember? So there is no separation between who He cares a lot about and a little about. He just cares! He just loves!
“…That’s actually why we never felt the need to rebel and leave here. What’s not to love about such an amazing arrangement? It’s like heaven… haha, oh wait, it IS heaven…”
Word of God Speak
Oh brother! Well, great. I still wasn’t totally sure about all this, but wouldn’t you know, not long after that little exchange, Holy Spirit highlighted Job 38:4-7 for me.
It’s talking about creation and who was around when God made everything. Obviously we weren’t there (nor was Job, which was God’s point), but then it says who was there – and that these “sons of God shouted for joy.”
In fact, throughout Job, that’s how angels are consistently identified. This was especially amazing to me considering how many times I’ve read that book, but it never really clicked what the verses were actually saying. I guess sometimes we don’t recognize an answer until we’ve come to a place of asking the question.
Creator-Father
Who created me? My dad and mom. Who created you? Your dad and mom. Whoever creates you, that’s who your father is. So in that sense for sure, God is easily seen as the Father of angels, since He created them. He’s their Creator-Father.
In Angels: Elect & Evil, C. Fred Dickason writes, “Each angel is a direct creation from God, for they do not procreate as do humans (Matt. 22:28-30). Perhaps this is why they are sometimes called ‘the sons of God’ (Job 1:6, 2:1). The word ‘sons’ seems to indicate a direct creation of God, as Adam is the ‘son of God’ (Lk. 3:38), and believers are recreated in Christ individually as ‘sons of God’ (Gal. 3:26).”
And that’s the other thing. God created me and knit me together in my mother’s womb, that’s true and I understand that.
Angels aren’t though. Every angel is like an Adam and Eve creation, in that every single individual angel is a direct, personal, hands-on creation of God. He put His thought and time and creative energy and love into each and every one of them.
That’s a lot of caring for a lot of angels. How could I not care about them then, too?
Cinderella’s Family
Obviously we’re not saying angels are sons of God the way Jesus is THE Son of God, and Jesus is God Himself. And we’re not even saying that angels are children of God like we are. As Christians we now have the DNA of God (1 Pet. 1:23). We’ve got the supernatural genes of the Almighty flowing through us (2 Pet. 1:4).
But God loves relationship and family and fellowship. You can’t overdo love and honor in His kingdom, so why not live as one big happy family, however “blended” that may end up looking?
Let me not be the evil stepsister. Let me put on some humility. Let me express some honor. Let me bear Father’s image that I’ve been created in and live into our family’s resemblance through love.
So Whose Daddy Is He?
More than just mine and yours. God’s a big God. Creator of everything and Father of all (Eph. 4:6).
Interestingly enough, before I’d learned all this, my niece Bekah and I were discussing our angelic guardians. As soon as I had mentioned my angels’ names, she immediately and excitedly assumed they were siblings. Well, that thought had never crossed my mind!
Now, Bekah is a spiritual dynamo, but she’s also seven. Of course I didn’t want to look down on her youth, but at the same time back then I just really didn’t know what to do with her intuitive understanding and revelation about our heavenly friends.
But now that I see what the Bible says, I think she’s actually on to something.
Not to mention that, anthropologically speaking, “a sibling is a co-member of a unilateral descent group sharing kinship through a common ancestor.”
No wonder I always get a sibling vibe from them. My Father’s sons are angels, and we all share the same Dad.
A Stretched Out Heart
Me: “God, that’s kind of a stretch to wrap my head around, almost bigger than my understanding can comprehend.”
God: “Yeah, I get that. Good thing I’m not One to limit Myself by either of those things.
“Stretching is what you’re asking for when you pray for largeness of heart (1 Kings 4:29). Wisdom like Solomon’s requires some stretching out, broadening your heart so it’s big enough and wide enough to encompass new understandings and definitions. New ways of looking and seeing things.
“So welcome to the family, Kiddo! Welcome to the family of GOD.”
“I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named…”
(Ephesians 3:14-15 KJV)
Photo credit
“Potter” image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net