Lesson 19 January 25, 2004
COMPARISON OF GOD, ANGELS
AND MAN:
1.
Spirituality (Absolute):
a. God is immaterial.
b. Angels are material in body, immaterial having characteristics of
personality and invisible to man.
c. Man is material in body and immaterial in soul.
2. God is
Eternal Life, while Angels and Man have Everlasting Life.
3. All three
Parties possess Self-Consciousness.
4. Infinity
(Absolute):
a. God is infinite without boundary and transcends the Universe to an
infinite degree.
b. Angels and Man are both finite creatures and have a habitat that was created
by God.
5. God is
Self-Limited by His Attributes in that one essence cannot contradict another.
6.
Man and Angels have Volition, that is the
ability to choose between various courses of action.
7.
God has no Source, always existed, while Man and Angels have their
Ultimate Source or origin from God.
8. God is
Immutable, while both Man and Angels are Changeable from day to day.
9.
God is Absolute Truth and knows all Truth (OmSc). He does not acquire knowledge. Man and Angels learn truth by choice and
observation.
10. God is
Perfect Love and needed no object but Himself:
a. Angels and Un-fallen Man were initially the recipients of God's Love.
b. But with the fall and sin, God's love had to be filtered thru His +R/J
(His holiness) so as to not compromise
His Essence.
c. His Love is the motivator to provide salvation for man, John 3:16
11. God is
transcendent and therefore not subject to time, but both Angels and Man are.
12.
God has the same intensity at all points, while Angel's and Man's intensity is
limited because they are finite beings and therefore limited to one location.
13.
God is Omnipresent while Man and Angels are both finite
creatures limited to one location.
14.
God is Omniscient, while Angels have less knowledge than God, but more
than
15.
God is Absolute Power (Omnipotence), while Angels are simply powerful,
and more so than
16.
God is Absolutely Truthful to Himself and to all Creation:
a. Angels had to choose whether or not to believe the truth or Satan's lie!
b. So does Man.
17.
God is Absolutely Faithful to His Creation in expressing His Divine
Attributes:
a. Elect Angels are Loyal to Him while Unsaved Angels are not.
b. Man has to make a choice concerning each circumstance faced. (O/A)
18.
God deals in Grace towards His Creatures with volition, both Man and
Angels are recipients.
19.
He demands +R/J from His creatures, while Man and Angels must adjust to
it.
20.
God has Motivations which are always Perfect, always consistent with the
expression of His
Essence. Angels have Emotions as does
Man and therefore their motivations are subject to change on the basis of
experience or situation faced.
21.
There is no Sin nor Evil in God, while His
volitional creatures have volition make choices in violation of the will of
God.
22.
God has always been Perfect:
a. Angels started out that way, as did Adam and Eve.
b. No one born except Jesus Christ starts out perfect, that is minus sin
nature.
SUMMARY OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANGELS AND MAN:
1. They have
a different type of Body at the present time:
a. At the Resurrection/Rapture we will have a body very similar to theirs. cf Lk 20:35-36
b. They presently behold Christ as He is.
Rev 4-5
c. We will be able to see Him as He is in the fullness of His glory in our
new bodies. 1 Jn
3:2
2.
Angels were not created condemned (Eze 28:15),
but man is born condemned in Adam. Rom
3.
All Angels and Adam and Eve initially received God's Love, whereas
mankind that is born receives His Justice with the Imputation of Adam's
Original Sin. Rom 5:12-14
4.
Angels are faster (go back and forth to the 3rd heaven), more powerful
(2 Pt
5.
Angels had a choice regarding sin concerning whether or not to fall,
whereas man is condemned from birth.
6.
Mankind was placed in a lower status than angels initially:
a. "Lower" in regards to the status of humanity refers to entry into the world in a
b. Lower also refers to initially being in a position of no glory and
honor; Jn 17:5
cf Heb
2:7 [rem: kenosis set aside the independent use of His diety]
c. Subject to man's hostile
environment; Heb 2:7-8
d. And subject to physical death. Heb
2:9