Answer: Angels are personal spiritual beings who have intelligence, emotions, and will. This is true of both the good and evil angels (demons). Angels possess intelligence (Matthew 8:29; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Peter 1:12), show emotion (Luke 2:13; James 2:19; Revelation 12:17), and exercise will (Luke 8:28-31; 2 Timothy 2:26; Jude 6). Angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14) without true physical bodies. Although they do not have physical bodies, they are still personalities.

Because they are created beings, their knowledge is limited. This means they do not know all things as God does (Matthew 24:36). They do seem to have greater knowledge than humans, however, which may be due to three things. First, angels were created as an order of creatures higher than humans. Therefore, they innately possess greater knowledge. Second, angels study the Bible and the world more thoroughly than humans do and gain knowledge from it (James 2:19; Revelation 12:12). Third, angels gain knowledge through long observation of human activities. Unlike humans, angels do not have to study the past; they have experienced it. Therefore, they know how others have acted and reacted in situations and can predict with a greater degree of accuracy how we may act in similar circumstances.

Though they have wills, angels, like all creatures, are subject to the will of God. Good angels are sent by God to help believers (Hebrews 1:14). Here are some activities the Bible ascribes to angels:

They praise God (Psalm 148:1-2; Isaiah 6:3). They worship God (Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:8-13). They rejoice in what God does (Job 38:6-7). They serve God (Psalm 103:20; Revelation 22:9). They appear before God (Job 1:6; 2:1). They are instruments of God's judgments (Revelation 7:1; 8:2). They bring answers to prayer (Acts 12:5-10). They aid in winning people to Christ (Acts 8:26; 10:3). They observe Christian order, work, and suffering (1 Corinthians 4:9; 11:10; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:12). They encourage in times of danger (Acts 27:23-24). They care for the righteous at the time of death (Luke 16:22).

Angels are an entirely different order of being than humans. Human beings do not become angels after they die. Angels will never become, and never were, human beings. God created the angels, just as He created humanity. The Bible nowhere states that angels are created in the image and likeness of God, as humans are (Genesis 1:26). Angels are spiritual beings that can, to a certain degree, take on physical form. Humans are primarily physical beings, but with a spiritual aspect. The greatest thing we can learn from the holy angels is their instant, unquestioning obedience to God’s commands.
Www.gotquestion.org.con

solite3:


Answer: Angels are personal spiritual beings who have intelligence, emotions, and will. This is true of both the good and evil angels (demons). Angels possess intelligence (Matthew 8:29; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Peter 1:12), show emotion (Luke 2:13; James 2:19; Revelation 12:17), and exercise will (Luke 8:28-31; 2 Timothy 2:26; Jude 6). Angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14) without true physical bodies. Although they do not have physical bodies, they are still personalities.

Because they are created beings, their knowledge is limited. This means they do not know all things as God does (Matthew 24:36). They do seem to have greater knowledge than humans, however, which may be due to three things. First, angels were created as an order of creatures higher than humans. Therefore, they innately possess greater knowledge. Second, angels study the Bible and the world more thoroughly than humans do and gain knowledge from it (James 2:19; Revelation 12:12). Third, angels gain knowledge through long observation of human activities. Unlike humans, angels do not have to study the past; they have experienced it. Therefore, they know how others have acted and reacted in situations and can predict with a greater degree of accuracy how we may act in similar circumstances.

Though they have wills, angels, like all creatures, are subject to the will of God. Good angels are sent by God to help believers (Hebrews 1:14). Here are some activities the Bible ascribes to angels:

They praise God (Psalm 148:1-2; Isaiah 6:3). They worship God (Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:8-13). They rejoice in what God does (Job 38:6-7). They serve God (Psalm 103:20; Revelation 22:9). They appear before God (Job 1:6; 2:1). They are instruments of God's judgments (Revelation 7:1; 8:2). They bring answers to prayer (Acts 12:5-10). They aid in winning people to Christ (Acts 8:26; 10:3). They observe Christian order, work, and suffering (1 Corinthians 4:9; 11:10; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:12). They encourage in times of danger (Acts 27:23-24). They care for the righteous at the time of death (Luke 16:22).

Angels are an entirely different order of being than humans. Human beings do not become angels after they die. Angels will never become, and never were, human beings. God created the angels, just as He created humanity. The Bible nowhere states that angels are created in the image and likeness of God, as humans are (Genesis 1:26). Angels are spiritual beings that can, to a certain degree, take on physical form. Humans are primarily physical beings, but with a spiritual aspect. The greatest thing we can learn from the holy angels is their instant, unquestioning obedience to God’s commands.
Www.gotquestion.org.con

Hello solite3.

This is a good, concise answer. The Bible does say a bit more, but this is a good start for anyone really interested in what the Bible says in the matter.

I don't completely agree with it though. The most important thing in which I disagree is the bit about the image of God. Considering that the same answer says that angels have wills, I am thinking that perhaps the author does not quite think of the "image of God" as free will, and that is not strange to me, since I also grew up thinking that "image of God" has to do with our appearance. But this is not so.

"Image of God" refers to a free will. That is, of all of God's Creatures, those which are able to consciously exercise authority in God's behalf and respond to God's Authority are those which have a free will. A free will is the creature parallel to God's Own Sovereign Will. The "likeness of God" is somewhat similar but different: it refers to creature possession of individuality, similar but considerably inferior to the Persons of God Which while truly separate are in such perfect unity as to truly be incomparable.

So, although unlike in Genesis 1:26-28 where the Bible states very clearly that man was created in the image of God and according to His likeness, Scripture does teach that angels were created the same. If they weren't, they would neither have been able to rebel nor been called "sons of God," an epithet that refers to delegated authority (see Psalm 82, for example).

For further information on this, you could peruse this link: https://ichthys.com/Image-and-likeness-of-God.htm

The importance of this point of disagreement is that the purpose of Man's existence is tied to the nature of the angels. Man was created to provide the stock for replacing the angels that rebelled. But if angels were not created in the image of God, then how could they ever have rebelled and therefore how and why does man exist?

Other important things that I don't quite completely agree with are that angels appear in physical form and that man is primarily physical. Both things are actually true, but the manner in which they are stated might be a bit misleading. Angels are able to make themselves visible to us, but I am not sure that I could describe that as "[taking] on physical form." The problem with seeing angels is more to do with our bodies than it is to do with angels. Consider, for example, 2 Kings 6:17 and Luke 24:16, 31. Our bodies are designed for our testing in this world. They are not designed for spiritual existence (which is why I say that the statement that man is primarily physical is true), so they prevent us from fully experiencing spiritual reality. We cannot go to the Third Heaven in these bodies. We cannot see spirits and spiritual phenomena in this body. We cannot even understand spiritual truths in this body. We have to depend on special help, for example, the opening of our eyes and the opening of our understanding, in order to access spiritual reality. So, it is not absolutely necessarily that angels need to take on physical form for us to see or interact with them. It is that we are enabled to see them and interact with them.

One reason that I can allow that angels take on a quasi-physical appearance is the example of Abraham's three visitors, two of whom went on to Sodom. It is not impossible that God granted special agency for all the people involved to see both the Lord Himself and His angelic attendants, but I think it is more reasonable to grant that they may somehow have made themselves physically discernible to even the unbelieving men of Sodom.

As for the nature of man, as I just said, I don't disagree entirely, but I would also point out that man is by nature a spirit that lives in a body. That is, rather than merely possessing a spiritual aspect, man is a spirit, except that he is one with a body. For now, during our testing, it is true that our existence is necessarily physical, because our bodies are designed to shield us from spiritual reality so that our choices can be made without undue spiritual influence. But that does not mean that we merely have a spiritual aspect.


Edited.

solite3:


They do seem to have greater knowledge than humans, however, which may be due to three things. First, angels were created as an order of creatures higher than humans. Therefore, they innately possess 'acquire, or become endowed with' greater knowledge. Second, angels study the Bible and the world more thoroughly than humans do and gain knowledge from it (James 2:19; Revelation 12:12). Third, angels gain knowledge through long observation of human activities.

The "believe" in the verse below means all of the above.