A Little Lower Than…

by Mac Hammond | Articles, Christian Living

God created angels for us. As Christians, all of us need a greater revelation of the ministry of angels if we are to be used in the way God wants to use us. It is important that we have this understanding. How important?

Well, let me put it this way. After studying what the Bible says about the subject, I’m firmly convinced that if you don’t understand and draw upon the ministry of angels, it is unlikely that you will ever realize God’s highest purpose for your life. Without the ministry of angels, you will probably never experience the fullness of His blessing or the magnitude of the destiny He has planned for you. It is that important.

However, if we are to relate properly to the ministry of angels, the first thing we must understand is where they fit in God’s order of things and what position they hold. This is important because their place in the kingdom of God helps identify our place in His kingdom as well. We need to know where they stand in order to know where we stand.

Now here is some potentially startling news in that regard.

In God’s hierarchy of created beings, angels hold a lower position than that of man. I realize that this may be difficult to accept, but the fact is that your role in God’s scheme of things is actually elevated above that of angels.

The Word of God is clear on this. Hebrews 2:5 AMP says: “For it was not to angels that God subjected the habitable world of the future, of which we are speaking.”

That is a very definite statement, isn’t it? It declares that God hasn’t put the world to come in subjection to angels. Rather, it has been placed in subjection to someone else. To whom then? Read part of Hebrews chapter two and you will see:

It has been solemnly and earnestly said in a certain place, What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You graciously and helpfully care for and visit and look after him? For some little time You have ranked him lower than and inferior to the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of Your hands, for You have put everything in subjection under his feet.
(Heb. 2:6-8 AMP)

God hasn’t put the world to come in subjection to angels but to mankind – to you and me. He has put all things under our feet. We are the ones who have been set over the works of God’s hand. That is our created destiny.

At first glance, that seems to contradict what we read in verse seven: Thou madest him a little lower than the angels…. Why would we be lower than the angels if we are the ones who are going to exercise authority over God’s creation?

Conceptually, it doesn’t seem possible, but a deeper look into the text solves this problem.

A Different Word for Angel
This dilemma is resolved when you read the passage in the Old Testament that the writer of Hebrews is quoting in verse seven. The passage is Psalm 8:5. If you want to fully understand this New Testament reference, it would be beneficial to have a clearer understanding of what the psalmist meant in that passage since it is being quoted here almost directly.

In Psalm 8:5, the English word “angel” has been given as the translation for the Hebrew word Elohim. Interestingly enough, this is the only place in the Bible that this word is translated angel.

There is a different Hebrew word for angel that is used more than one hundred times in Old Testament writings. Elohim, on the other hand, is the word that is normally translated God. It is the Hebrew plural word for God, and it is always used in reference to the Godhead.

For example, Elohim is used repeatedly in the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis: And God said and thus God made (vv. 3,7). Later on in the chapter it reads, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (v. 26).

The expression our image indicates the plurality of the Godhead, and the Hebrew word for God in that verse is Elohim. It refers to the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.

It is this same word that is used in Psalm 8:5. It literally says that man has been made a little lower than Elohim, and it is referring to the Godhead, not an angel.

Temporarily Inferior but Eternally Superior
In all fairness to the original translators, however, I do acknowledge that while we are on this earth, we are in a corruptible body, and our physical and intellectual capacities are comparatively less than those of angels.

As a matter of fact, that may well be the intended meaning behind Hebrews 2:7 as some translations read: a little inferior to angels (Darby, for example). In other words, we are considerably limited in our capabilities while in this present condition.

As a matter of fact, I remember reading somewhere that the average human being uses only about 20 percent or less of the capacity of his brain. What the other 80 percent of the human brain is supposed to do or why it isn’t being used is a mystery.

Personally, I believe the fact that such a low percentage of the human brain is utilized relates to the fall of man. Man could no longer be entrusted with supernatural capabilities after he sinned and was separated from God. As a result, he lost many of his original abilities and giftings.

On the other hand, angels have access to the complete realm of the spirit. They are unhindered by sin. They aren’t bound by space and time, and they are stronger and more intelligent than we are. Obviously, we are inferior to the angelic hosts in these areas.

But don’t confuse that with God’s creative purposes or your divinely appointed destiny. You are the creation made a little lower than God, in His image and His likeness, and He has given you dominion over this creation. God has put all things under your feet.

As long as you are in a mortal body, you will be temporarily below angels in supernatural abilities. But never forget that you are eternally superior. Through Jesus, you are a son of God!

The appointed day will come when we, as believers, will exchange our mortality for immortality. We will trade our present, corruptible bodies for our new, glorified bodies. We will no longer be bound by the limitations of this temporal earth.

At that time, according to 2 Corinthians 5:4, our mortality will be swallowed up of life. We will reign with Jesus as kings and even be called upon to judge the angels (1 Cor. 6:3). Thus, we see the divine order as follows: God, man and angels.

When you read about God’s creative order and purpose, always remember: You are second behind God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. You have been created to rule with Him for an eternity over the vastness of this universe. That is your divinely appointed destiny – not the destiny of angels.

Source: Angels At Your Service by Mac Hammond
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers

Mac Hammond is the senior pastor of Living Word, a large and growing church in Brooklyn Park (a suburb of Minneapolis), Minnesota. He is the host of the Winner's Minute, which is seen locally in the Minneapolis area on KMSP Channel 9 at 6:44 a.m. and 11:11 a.m. He is also the host of the Winner's Way broadcast and author of several internationally distributed books. Mac is broadly acclaimed for his ability to apply the principles of the Bible to practical situations and the challenges of daily living.

Between 1970 and 1980, Mac was involved in varying capacities in the general aviation industry, including ownership of a successful air cargo business serving the Midwestern United States. A business acquisition brought the Hammonds to Minneapolis, where they ultimately founded Living Word in 1980 with 12 people in attendance. Today, after 40 years, that group of twelve people has grown into a church body of more than 10,000 members.