Wednesday, June 15, 2022

4. Creation and the Angels

[The Baltimore Catechism] [Previous] [Next]

35. What do we mean when we say that God is the Creator of heaven and earth?
When we say that God is the Creator of heaven and earth we mean that He made all things from nothing by His almighty power.

I am the Lord God, that make all things, that alone stretch out the heavens, that establish the earth. (Isaiah 44:24)


36. Which are the chief creatures of God?
The chief creatures of God are angels and men.

Thou hast made him a little less than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and honor; and thou hast set him over the works of thy hands. (Psalm 8:6-7)


37. What are angels?
Angels are created spirits, without bodies, having understanding and free will.

Thousands and thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him. (Daniel 7:10)


38. What gifts did God bestow on the angels when He created them?
When God created the angels He bestowed on them great wisdom, power, and holiness.

O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord. (Daniel 3:58)


39. Did all the angels remain faithful to God?
Not all the angels remained faithful to God; some of them sinned.

And there was a battle in heaven; Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. And they did not prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven. (Apocalypse 12:7)


40. What happened to the angels who remained faithful to God?
The angels who remained faithful to God entered into the eternal happiness of heaven, and these are called good angels.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you, their angels in heaven always behold the face of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)


41. What do the good angels do in heaven?
In heaven the good angels see, love, and adore God.


42. How do the good angels help us?
The good angels help us by praying for us, by acting as messengers from God to us, and by serving as our guardian angels.

For to his angels he has given thee in trust, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash they foot against a stone. (Psalm 90:11-12)


43. How do our guardian angels help us?
Our guardian angels help us by praying for us, by protecting us from harm, and by inspiring us to do good.

When thou didst pray with thy tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord. (Tobias 12:12)


44. What happened to the angels who did not remain faithful to God?
The angels who did not remain faithful to God were cast into hell, and these are called bad angels, or devils.

Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)


45. What is the chief way in which the bad angels try to harm us?
The chief way in which the bad angels try to harm us is by tempting us to sin.

Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)


46. Do all temptations come from the bad angels?
Some temptations come from the bad angels; but other temptations come from ourselves and from the persons and things about us.

Do not love the world, or the things that are in the world. (I John 2:15)


47. Can we always resist temptations?
We can always resist temptations, because no temptation can force us into sin, and because God will always help us if we ask Him.

And he has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee." (I Corinthians 12:9)

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