Jesus Christ: As Seen Through the Eyes of Angels

 
The following post is based on a sermon I listened to years ago by Colin Smith. In this piece, I take a look at instances where the lives of angels intersect with Jesus Christ and His people.  I tell it from the point of view of these angelic beings who the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3:16 (concerning Jesus) was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

Included in this post are the original messages from whence these writings were adapted from.

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In Heaven

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."

That's your story. But I can assure you that our first experience of conscience existence was looking into the face of Jesus our Creator and beholding the glory of the One who was, is, and is to come. Worshiping Him and tending to His call is all we know.

You can get a glimpse of our activity in Heaven by reading the prophet Isaiah where he writes of our company praising Him continuously, proclaiming His holiness. His majesty and glory are far above anything any finite mind could ever begin to comprehend.

On Earth

And then in a period of time that we all knew was coming one day; Jesus Christ stood from His throne and disappeared from our entire view. Before this remarkable event occurred, however, one from our company, named Gabriel, was sent from God to a virgin named Mary. During this time of visitation, the young girl was told that she would give birth to a boy and that He would be the Savior of the world. And so He came. In a moment in the fullness of times (as your Bible says) He took upon Himself a body. The Word became flesh and dwelt among you. And as some of us recall the memory of when Heaven most met Earth, we bring to your reminder the time when as the Son of God lay in a manger in a town called Bethlehem: Multitudes of us gathered on a hillside and appeared to shepherds tending their flocks and said:

"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

In a Wilderness

And then as you read your scripture and mark the places where angels and the life of Jesus intersected, you will find that the next place we saw Him was in a desert. The person of Jesus Christ grew and lived into manhood, and the question on some peoples minds was would the Son of God live His life on earth as a man or would He resort to using His powers as Lord to make His life easier. Those answers came when out in the middle of the Judean wilderness, the tempter came to Him. This creature was none other than the one who was the instigator of the rebellion at the beginning. Lucifer was His name. And we all had seen his fall from Heaven when he tried to exalt himself above God and in turn, was exiled to Earth. Now was His chance. By the time the devil came to Him, Christ had fasted forty days and forty nights and as your Bible says was very hungry. So as it went, the first temptation the devil came against Jesus with was questioning His divinity and suggesting that He turn stones into bread. To this, we sat by and listened inquisitively.

The second temptation was suggesting that the Christ throw Himself off a pinnacle of the temple and in turn, would cause us to catch Him up with our wings and land Him safely to the ground. By now, we saw the toll that these temptations were having on Jesus. So we sat and waited.

Finally, the tempter had Jesus walk up to a very high mountain and once He was atop, showed Him all the glory of the world and said, "All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me."

But in a moment that we knew was His final temptation and our release to minister, He replied, "Get away from me Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only!"

Then as soon as the devil left, we were permitted to come and attend to Christ there.

In a Garden

Then we saw Him in a garden. It was a place where He often resorted to praying and spending time with His disciples. But on this night, the Son of God arrived, and we knew something was different about this occasion. It started when He entered the garden and told His disciples to keep watch and pray. But as He withdrew to a place by Himself, we could tell He was severely affected by what was about to happen to Him in the space of several hours. Your Bible recounts the words He spoke to the Father in John 17 during this time. During one period of intercession before the Father, He uttered those words now recorded and repeated by His followers throughout history: "If it be possible let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not as I will but as You will."

It was at this time that great drops of blood began to draw upon His forehead, and He (as well as us) knew this was just a foretaste of the blood He was to shed for humankind a little later on a tree on a hill called Golgotha. Nevertheless, it was at this time that one from our company was called down to Gethsemane to strengthen the One who was to give His life a ransom for all.

On the Cross

They nailed Him to the tree and crucified Him there. But it was at that time that I want to recall to you one of the things that the Christ said while all this was going on:

"Do you not think that I can call upon 12 legions of angels to rescue me from this?"

And as we heard Him say those words, we sat at the edge of Heaven, ready at one instant to save Him, but permission was not given. The call never came. Because as many who already know; no one was able to take His life from Him. He gave Himself freely. Because it was He, who said that no man could take His life. He laid it down willingly. And He had the power to take it up again.

At the Empty Tomb

Moreover, they took down Christ's body and laid it in a grave. Then He was seen by angels. Your Bible describes a violent earthquake and an angel of the Lord coming down from Heaven and rolling back the stone of the tomb and sitting on it. It was at that time that death lost and eternal life won the victory. Jesus Christ has risen, and it's for this reason we now proclaim the message of the resurrection to you. He's alive.

At His Ascension

It was after 40 days that the Christ spent time with His disciples and showing many infallible proofs of His resurrection that it was time for Him to ascend back up to Heaven with the Father. So as He led them as far as Bethany and lifted His hands and blessed them there, He gave them the great commission of spreading and teaching these things I'm sharing with you.

It was at this time as the Christ disappeared from their sight in the clouds, that two from our company (dressed in white) said to those men standing there gazing into the skies, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the heavens. Do you not know that this same Christ will return just as you have seen Him go?"

And it was then that they departed and told the good news of this to everyone they met.

At His Second Coming (Parenthetic)

That's the story of the past and the present. But there is coming a future where we will play a role yet again. The apostle Paul also recorded a future time where Christ would descend from Heaven with the sound of a trumpet. When Christ was on the earth, He told His followers of those times when we would go throughout the entire earth dividing His believers from the wicked and separating them from one another The time is soon. For no one knows the day or hour of His coming. So be ready!