The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has come to my house for thirty-five years. I prefer the printed page because I do not hear as well as I used to, and TV news for me is lost in the sound effects. Over the years I have read most of the obituary notices and get alarmed when I read about the death of an infant as I did this morning. My consternation is not only because I know the grief of losing a child, but also the way many of the notices contain a reference to the infant as an angel or getting its angel wings.
Perhaps the grieving parents are not thinking clearly at such a time, or they are just speaking figuratively, but I must say, this is totally contrary to Biblical teaching. No human being will ever become an angel. No human being will ever receive wings. The Scriptures tell us how man was created in the spiritual image of God, how man disobeyed God and became a condemned sinner. Scriptures also tell us of man's total inability to cure the problem and how God sent His beloved Son into the world to redeem God's elect to Himself. They reveal God's purpose to bring His children into His presence through the blood of Christ. These are the basic beliefs of Christianity. But nowhere in the Bible nor Christian theology is the teaching that God has provided salvation for an angel or that man will ever become an angel. If any fallen human did become an angel, he could not go to heaven because Christ did not die for angels. He died for God's children, His church.
I do not expect that my lamentations will ever correct this error. My newspaper will go on incorrectly refering to children receiving angel wings especially at Christmas time. More people watch the movies than read the Bible. But you and I know better.
Perhaps the grieving parents are not thinking clearly at such a time, or they are just speaking figuratively, but I must say, this is totally contrary to Biblical teaching. No human being will ever become an angel. No human being will ever receive wings. The Scriptures tell us how man was created in the spiritual image of God, how man disobeyed God and became a condemned sinner. Scriptures also tell us of man's total inability to cure the problem and how God sent His beloved Son into the world to redeem God's elect to Himself. They reveal God's purpose to bring His children into His presence through the blood of Christ. These are the basic beliefs of Christianity. But nowhere in the Bible nor Christian theology is the teaching that God has provided salvation for an angel or that man will ever become an angel. If any fallen human did become an angel, he could not go to heaven because Christ did not die for angels. He died for God's children, His church.
I do not expect that my lamentations will ever correct this error. My newspaper will go on incorrectly refering to children receiving angel wings especially at Christmas time. More people watch the movies than read the Bible. But you and I know better.
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