Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Angelic Conflict. Part 2. Even angels benefit from the work of Christ.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Point 1. Definition.
The angelic conflict is the result of the fall of all angelic creatures with one third ending up in opposition to God which began with the fall of Satan and continued until all angelic creatures had made a decision for or against God.
“Did one-third of the angels fall or did they ALL fall and two-thirds came back to Christ?”
because they are said to be ELECT.
1TI 5:21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
The only reason why the angels are called “holy angels” is because “God made them holy” by providing for them some non-meritorious way to receive His righteousness, REV 15:4; REV 16:5.
We can see in the initial fall of man and the subsequent attempt at deception by Satan and then the salvation offered by God a possible parallel to angelic salvation.
Satan fell due to his own initiative and then deceived other angels. In the same way Satan as the serpent deceived the woman, GEN 3:5.
At the fall we have one who disobeyed out of his own initiative and one who was deceived, 1TI 2:11-15.
Satan disobeyed by his own initiative and the other angels were deceived.
At the fall, Satan had offered man a counterfeit salvation prior to God offering man a true salvation.
A counterfeit presupposes understanding of the real.
Satan would have had to have some prior knowledge of salvation in order to offer a counterfeit plan for covering sinfulness and disobedience.
The only sin that is unpardonable is the sin of rejecting the Gospel in the allotted time, JOH 3:18,36; 16:7-9.
If only one third of the angels fell, would not God have offered some salvation to them?
If offered, are we to suppose that not one of the angels who fell accepted it?
If we suppose only one third of the angels fell and God did not offer a plan for reconciliation, then God would be unfair if He then offered the reconciliation to man who also fell.
Satan would have had a very strong objection if God was willing to offer a means of salvation to man and had not offered a means of salvation to the one third of the angels who fell.
1. The Ark of the Covenant illustrates that angels benefit from the work of Christ.
Two cherubim are over the mercy seat of the Ark.
2. The Veil of Exodus 26:31-35 in the Temple was a reminder of the humanity of Christ.
3. The linen curtains of Exodus 26:1-6 were also of the same color scheme and looked ahead to the person and work of Christ in salvation, and they too were to have embroidered upon them figures of angels.
4. Angels also are often pictured as wearing white garments.
MAR 16:5 - the two angels at the tomb are said to be in white garments - “stole.”
Perf-pass-part = they were clothed in these garments by God at a point in past and continue to wear them in the present.
Luke uses the word esthes for these garments as he also does in Acts 1 with the angels at Christ’s final ascension into heaven.
At the transfiguration the humanity of Christ was seen in His glorified state, and He was in a white, brilliant, dazzling garment that looked ahead to glorification following the Cross.
REV 19:8 - the church, the bride of Christ, is also clothed in white linen garments.
Angels are now clothed with white garments, passive voice, clothed by God as we will be so clothed in the future and as Christ is clothed right now.
This white garment looks at God having made us +R in Christ and would be the same for the angels who accepted angelic salvation.
1. Satan counterfeited salvation to Adam and the Woman prior to God’s offer of salvation to them which would indicate a prior knowledge of salvation.
2. Any position regarding what happened in the fall of angels, their salvation, etc, is an argument from silence and with that, the only value of one over the other is its consistency with the character of God and the parallel to other known events.
3. God is a God of mercy and the greatest expression of mercy is to offer peace or reconciliation to one’s enemies.
4. God is absolutely just and fair and could not have offered salvation to man and not offered it to another creation, angels, who had fallen.
5. Only Christ is forever holy and pure and blameless. For another creature to have these characteristics inherent in them and maintained in them by freewill, would have meant that they could have died for the sins of creation.
6. Angels are very much a part of the tabernacle, the ark, the veil, and the curtains, which all look ahead to Christ and His salvation work.
7. Hebrews 2:9-10 indicates that Christ would taste death for all creation.
8. The garments of angels are the same garments given to saved mankind in eternity.
9. 1TI 5:21 - angels are called chosen or elect which would indicate that there was a time when they were not chosen and not elect.
10. COL 1:20 indicates that Christ reconciled all things to Himself, things on earth and things in heaven.
The angelic conflict refers to the two trials of Satan and the fallen angels, one in prehistoric times, the other during human history.
“Accursed ones” -
perf-mid-part - kataraomai = to be under a curse, or to cause injury or harm.
1TI 5:21 - His chosen or elect angels,
Point 1. The angelic conflict is the result of the fall of all angelic creatures with one third ending up in opposition to God which began with the fall of Satan and continued until all angelic creatures had made a decision for or against God.
The trial phase begins with the fall of man in the garden and continues until the beginning of the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.
Mankind was created and human history began in order to duplicate the conditions of the prehistoric angelic conflict.