Not all angels have wings, and not all angels are good.
Jude 6 (NIV)
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 12: The Creation of All Things
We believe that the Father
created heaven and earth and all other creatures
from nothing,
when it seemed good to him,
by his Word—
that is to say,
by his Son.
He has given all creatures
their being, form, and appearance,
and their various functions
for serving their Creator.
Even now
he also sustains and governs them all,
according to his eternal providence,
and by his infinite power,
that they may serve man,
in order that man may serve God.
He has also created the angels good,
that they might be his messengers
and serve his elect.
Some of them have fallen
from the excellence in which God created them
into eternal perdition;
and the others have persisted and remained
in their original state,
by the grace of God.
The devils and evil spirits are so corrupt
that they are enemies of God
and of everything good.
They lie in wait for the church
and every member of it
like thieves,
with all their power,
to destroy and spoil everything
by their deceptions.
So then,
by their own wickedness
they are condemned to everlasting damnation,
daily awaiting their torments.
For that reason
we detest the error of the Sadducees,
who deny that there are spirits and angels,
and also the error of the Manicheans,
who say that the devils originated by themselves,
being evil by nature,
without having been corrupted.
Summary
Yesterday we began our discussion of spiritual beings. We explored and talked about angels and what Scripture has to say about them, but what about fallen angels?
As we take a look at the short letter of Jude, Jude takes up a discussion about judgment for those who are false teachers. Not long after he begins, he writes: “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day…” (v. 6 ESV).
This connects us with the section of the Belgic Confession we are taking a look at today. After its brief discussion of angels, we read this concerning fallen angels: “Some of them have fallen from the excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition…” We see that they are “so corrupt that they are enemies of God and of everything good,” and “they lie in wait for the church and every member of it like thieves, with all their power to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions.”
Yet, in all of this, there is a consolation for believers, in that we are told that there is an eternal punishment that awaits those fallen angels. We see this clearly even in some of the interactions our Lord and Savior has with fallen angels throughout His ministry.
Dig Deeper
Even though we are told about these fallen angels being “enemies of God and of everything good,” and even seeking to “lie in wait for the church and every member of it like thieves…,” we have a great encouragement, brothers and sisters. Through it all, our God remains sovereignly in control over all things as He watches over us.
Through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, He has also defeated these enemies. Through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, He certainly defeated sin and death, but we also see that He has defeated the devil, whose head He crushed on the cross!
As John writes in 1 John 4:4, when he talks about testing spirits: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Our God is sovereignly in control over all things, and He is greater than he who is in the world and has overcome the enemy on the cross.
Martin Luther summarizes Christ's victory over these fallen angels in his well-known hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God:
And tho this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo, his doom is sure;
One little word shall fell him.”
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who created all things in heaven and on earth;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for subduing these fallen angels, and pray that you'll follow Christ and not the temptations coming from fallen angels;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: James 2
