Did God Create Angels?

First things first

As I write this post, I find myself in the middle of a week in which I have taken a week of vacation days to help care for my mother-in-law as she recovers from an extended stay in the hospital. Admittedly, I am trying to multitask by checking off a few projects around the house that I hadn’t had the opportunity to do prior, while she is resting.

While I have improved in the areas of organization and returning things to their proper places when I’m done using them, when I have multiple projects on my mind and in progress at the same time, I still misplace tools and other items I used for a previous project that I need for my current project. If you can relate, you know that more time is spent locating the missing tools or material than completing the project itself! What I am saying is not profound, though true; you must first have the tools and materials needed for a project before you can complete the task you are setting out to do.

A Common Question and Question of First Importance

One of the most common questions concerning angels is, “When did God create angels?” However, before answering this question, we must first know if God created these heavenly beings. To answer this question, we need only one tool: the Bible. Before we rely on the Bible to answer the common question of “When did God create angels?” we need God’s Word to answer a secondary question, “Are angels created beings with a beginning or eternal beings like God, needing no Creator?”

Are angels created beings in the first place?

Read Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 4:11

Moses begins the Holy Scriptures with a powerful truth: God existed before the beginning of the world. God existed before and outside of the heavens and the earth He created. This eternal God created “the heavens and the earth.” The phrase “the heavens and the earth” is a literary device known as a merism. A merism states two opposites and includes everything from one opposite to the other. Moses says that God made everything, period.

As everything’s Creator, He is, above all, worthy of worship from all!

And Revelation 4:11 reinforces this truth!

“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
    to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
    and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

These verses tell us one simple truth: God created everything, period. Yet, does His creating work include angelic beings? Fortunately, God doesn’t leave us to speculate.

Read Psalm 148:1-14 or selected verses below.

Psalm 148:2

Praise him, all his angels!
    Praise him, all the armies of heaven!

Psalm 148:5

Let every created thing give praise to the Lord,
    for he issued his command, and they came into being.

Psalm 148 is a call for all creation to praise the Lord. It begins with an invitation for the heavens, angelic beings, and heavenly bodies—such as the sun, moon, and stars—to glorify God. The psalm then turns to the earth, urging creatures of the sea, weather phenomena, mountains, trees, animals, and even humanity to join in worship. The writer of the psalm calls all people to praise God’s name. The song highlights God’s glory as Creator. The poetic work concludes with the intimate work of the All-Powerful Creator caring for His people, specifically, here, Israel. The poem teaches us that God is sovereign over all His creation, including angels.

Life Application

Though angels are part of creation, they arouse an awe and wonder unlike other created works of God. When people in the Bible encountered angels, they often experienced fear (Luke 1:12, 30; 2:10). However, fear is not the only thing the sight of angels aroused within God’s people as they interacted with them. The aged and spiritually mature Apostle John felt an urge to worship the angel who God was using to show him aspects of the future judgment and the eternal heaven on the new earth in his vision. Revelation 22:8-9 tells us about this instance and also provides a valuable truth for us as believers.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. ⁹ But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”

John’s worship blunder of the angel and the angel’s response teaches us that as created beings, angels, like any other part of God’s creation, are not worthy of our worship; we are to worship the LORD alone (Exodus 20:1-6; Ezekiel 8:16-18; Romans 1:25; Revelation 4:11). John’s misplaced worship also teaches us that even the most mature Christ followers can quickly become guilty of worshipping something other than our Lord.

How do we know if we are worshiping something other than the LORD? Ask yourself who or what has your heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-6; John 14:15)? Who or what consumes you? Who or what do you find ultimate joy in, invest the majority of your time and resources in, and allow to direct your living? If your answer is anything but Christ, you’re worshiping something other than Christ.

Perhaps you are worshiping creation, angels, another deity, rather than the God of the Bible, or Jesus, with other religions’ gods or goddesses. If so, I ask you to forsake all others for the One Who is like no other! The God of creation, the LORD God alone, desires you to be in relationship with Him, to know Him, experience Him, and enjoy Him now and forever. Above all, He has revealed Himself and made the Way of being in a relationship with Him possible through His Son Jesus. Will you at least consider the God of the Bible today? If so, this video explains His love for you and how you can start a relationship with Him today.

If you are a believer, would you consider if anything or anyone has your heart’s supreme affection other than your Savior? Suppose the Spirit shows you that your heart is captivated by anything or anyone other than the Savior Who died to rescue you from sin and shame – would you make the necessary changes needed to dethrone those little gods so that the King of kings and Lord of lords can resume his rightful place in your life so that He can rule your heart and so that your heart can benefit from His kingship?

Was this >SM Resource helpful? If so, subscribe today and never miss out on a new post or resource! In our next post about angels, we will answer the question, “When did God create angels?”

Do you have any questions about angels or the Bible you’d like >SM to answer? If so, leave them in the comments below. I am also simply learning and following Jesus like anyone else, so I also welcome your biblical insight. Your questions also help me grow in my faith as I search the Scriptures for God’s answer.