"It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look" (1 Peter 1:12).

Once, there was a united brotherhood of angels, glorious beyond imagining. They all shined with the radiance of the omnipotent God-King, for they were all his sons, and the King loved them. The grandest of them all was Lucifer, the Bringer of Light, he was the arch-angel and chief of all his brethren. Of all the sons of God, Lucifer was the most magnificent.

But Lucifer became filled with pride, and in his foolishness, he forgot that his glory was borrowed. He shook his fist at God rebelled. In his madness, he swept many of his brothers into a prideful fury, and the heavens shook. The God-King thundered from his throne, and threw Lucifer down from heaven. He landed on Earth, a twisted an broken thing, still bent on defying the Lord of Heaven.

God also created another creature called "man". He named the first man Adam, and he gave Adam a wife named Eve. Together, they would tend the paradise that God had made for them, and they would glorify God for his mighty works. But Lucifer, that Old Serpent, told them cunning lies, and he swept the man into his rebellion against God.

Those angels that did not fall, those that remained faithful to God, heaved a collective sigh. Man, God's brilliant and glorious creation, was in ruins. Surely, God would destroy the pitiful man and his wife and utterly wipe them off the face of the Earth.

And so all of heaven held its breath as the King went to confront his man in his sin. But as they listened, they heard no thundering. They heard his judgement, which they had seen before, but this time they heard something new, and they marvelled. They heard mercy, and they heard a promise. God would give man a seed, a hope, a child who would crush the Serpent. Through this child, God would deliver man from his sins. This child would be the Son of God himself. God would become man, and he would save his beloved, rebellious creature.

And so the angels watch as God unfolds his promise to the man. Every time God delivers a man from his sin, all the angels marvel and worship God. They praise him for the mercy that their brothers will never know.

Labels: angels, Potent prooftexts, providence, salvation