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You're no angel
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Q: Do we become angels when we die? Tiffany J.
A: Dear Tiffany,
Unfortunately, we do not pull up a cloud and float happily away! Here is where TV and movies have taken truths of the Bible and mish-mashed them into bizarre Hollywood fantasies.
Angels are created creatures just as we are. Angels exist in the spiritual realm, and we exist in the physical realm. But angels have a special mission in that they are God’s messengers. They are able to crossover into the physical realm to deliver specific messages from God.
Angels are extremely fascinating and mysterious. But as for us, no angelic transformation occurs. Instead, we go straight to judgment. The Bible, both Old and New Testament is filled with warnings about God’s judgment, not to scare us, but to inform us so that we can make the best decisions in our lives, and beyond. Remember that we are, in our natural state, spiritual creatures, and it is to that state that we will return after death. Death is not the end; we continue to exist. The question of judgment, then, becomes vitally important. Here are a few examples: In the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 2 verse 35 God, says, “You say, ‘I am innocent; He (God) is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’” Again, in Matthew Chapter 12 verse 36, Jesus says, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” In 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 10 it reads, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
God’s judgment is well illustrated in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 13. Jesus is teaching a huge crowd from a boat just offshore. As was His custom, Jesus taught life lessons in the form of parables, or simple stories that people could understand and apply to their lives. One such story was the Parable of the Tares which explains how God’s judgment will work. In the story, a farmer goes out and sows (plants) good seed in the field. But during the night while he slept, his enemy came and sowed tares (weeds.) When the good seed began to grow, so did the weeds. The farmer noted that an enemy sowed the bad seeds, and when the servants asked whether or not they should pull up all the weeds, the farmer stopped them saying, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.” (Matthew Chapter 13 verse 29). The farmer instructs his servants to wait for the harvest at which time he will instruct the reapers to gather the tares, bind them together in bundles to burn them while the wheat will be gathered into the barn.
When Jesus had finished and the crowd dispersed, His disciples came up to Him and wanted to know what this particular parable meant. Jesus explained that the field represented the world and that the good seeds are sons of the kingdom, meaning those who love and obey God. The tares or weeds are sons of the enemy, or Satan. “The enemy who sowed them (the tares) is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.” (Matthew Chapter 13 verse 39) Jesus tells His disciples that the end of the age WILL come at which time the weeds will be separated from the wheat. He warns that those who have rejected God will be like the weeds, gathered together and burned in the furnace. And what becomes of the wheat? “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear!” (Matthew Chapter 13 verse 43).
Reactions to Biblical judgment are varied. Some rail against it, others take these warnings seriously. The question most ask is, “What can we do?” The answer is, when we go to judgment, we’ll all need a really good lawyer!! We will all stand guilty before God, because every one of us has SINNED. We may not want to admit it, we may deny it, and we may shake our fists at the sky and say it’s a lie. No matter how we react, the truth is we will still need a good lawyer and here’s where Jesus comes in. Because He died for all sins, past, present and future, He alone is qualified to be our “attorney” when we face God. When we accept Christ as our Savior, He will do just that, SAVE us from the judgment of our own sins. This, by far, is the greatest act of love of all time.
They call me Bible Girl because when it comes to all things spiritual, God’s got answers!
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