Psalms 104:4 “Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.”
There are three categories of God’s creations; which are mankind, angels and the living creatures i.e. animals. Some have erroneously taught that there is a fourth category of God’s creatures which are the demons that are on the earth today, and they refer to them as disembodied spirits of an ancient race of people that once roamed the earth. None of that is scriptural however and is based purely on man’s imagination. Demons are in fact angelic beings that form part of Satan’s kingdom which, as the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), explains why there are so many of them on the earth. Of the three categories of God’s creations only two of them have spirits. The first category, which is the subject of discussion in this series, is mankind. The second category of God’s creation’s that have spirits are the angels, and in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit makes that particular truth crystal clear. Angels have an inward and an outward man. And so angels are primarily spirit beings that dwell within physical bodies. The bodies of men are described as terrestrial and mortal, whereas the bodies of angels are described as celestial and immortal (1 Corinthians 15:40 & Luke 20:36). Although God originally created all His angels in perfection, clearly both the bodies and spirits of Satan’s angels have transformed since their rebellion against God and look nothing like how God originally created them, which is why Satan has to transform himself into an angel of light in order to deceive men when he appears to them (2 Corinthians 11:14). The spirits of angels come directly from God just as the spirits of men do, however the spirits of men and angels are not the same. One of the major differences between the spirits of men and the spirits of angels is revealed in the different relationships that men and angels have with God. For whereas men refer to God as Father, angels never refer to Him as such, for unlike men they are not the children of God but rather they are His ministers. Because angels are spirits however, just like mankind, that also places them into the category of being eternal creations of God.
Isaiah 31:3 “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; they all will perish together.”
As I have already implied, the third category of God’s creation’s i.e. the animals, do not have spirits. In the above quoted passage of scripture God confirms that truth to us, for He declares that horses are flesh and not spirit. Although animals do not have spirits they nevertheless are created by God’s Spirit and without His Spirit giving them life and sustaining their life; they would simply die and thus cease to exist (Psalm 104:29-30). Because animals do not have spirits they are not eternal creations of God and thus only exist as long as God’s Spirit gives them life.
Michael E.B. Maher
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