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Is Man Above or Below Angels – Part 1
Today we begin the first of a 2-part series regarding the position of man in comparison to angels.
The question being addressed is whether man is above or below angels. We should add: are they equal to angels? Why do we ask this? It seems the Bible says all three:
Man is lower than the angels:
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor. – Psalm 8:5
“You have made him for a little while lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And have appointed him over the works of Your hands; – Hebrews 2:7
But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. – Hebrews 2:9
Man is equal to the angels:
for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. – Luke 20:36
Man is higher than the angels:
Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? – 1 Corinthians 6:3
So how are we to decipher this seemingly contradictory set of scriptures? The quick answer is that these verses are all true based on different timeframes. Right now, we are below the angels. When we die, we will be equal to them. When we are resurrected, we will be greater than they are.
Man and Angels at the Time of Creation
At the beginning of time, God made Adam in His own image. When God completed Creation at the end of Day 6, He called it “very good”.
We are never told when the angels come into existence. However, we can infer that they had not yet fallen, otherwise God would not have called His Creation “very good.”
Some time afterwards, Adam and Eve gave in to the temptations of Satan, a now-fallen angel. Sin entered into the world. Man was no longer higher than the angels but were now below them. Angels are sinless, but we are sinful. When we speak of angels, we are speaking of those that are still in the service of God. They are above us now.
We will conclude our 2-part series regarding the position of man in comparison to angels tomorrow. Once posted, it can be found here.