There’s a fascinating truth hidden in Scripture that most believers never discover: while religious tradition teaches us that we need angels to help and protect us, the Bible reveals something radically different. The reality is that angels don’t minister to us today—we minister to them.
This isn’t just theological trivia. Understanding this truth fundamentally changes how we view our purpose, our position in Christ, and our eternal destiny.
Complete in Christ
The writer of Hebrews describes angels as “ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Throughout the Old Testament, angels played a vital role in God’s dealings with Israel—delivering the law, protecting the nation, and executing God’s judgments. But here’s the critical question: Is that same angelic ministry operating today for the Church, the Body of Christ?
Consider what Paul writes in Colossians 2:10: “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” If we are complete in Christ, lacking nothing, then what could angels possibly add to our standing before God? The answer is nothing.
Paul warns the Colossians: “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18). The religious system trys to convince believers they need intermediaries—whether angels, saints, or other mediators—to approach God. But Scripture declares there is “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
When you trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross, you are placed into Him, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and seated with Him in the heavenly places. You don’t need anything or anyone else standing between you and God. You are complete.
Angels Are Watching Us
While we don’t need angels ministering to us, here’s the stunning reversal: they need our ministry to them.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:9, “For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” Angels are watching the Body of Christ. They’re observing how God’s Word impacts our daily lives. Daniel speaks of angelic “watchers” (Daniel 4:13, 17, 23), and Paul mentions that women should have power on their heads “because of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10)—because the angels are watching to see God’s Word lived out in practical ways.
But they’re not just passive observers. They’re students.
Teaching Angels the Manifold Wisdom of God
The prophets of old searched diligently to understand how the suffering of Christ and His future glory fit together. They couldn’t figure out the timing (I Peter 1:11). And here’s what’s remarkable: “which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:12). The angels wanted to understand these mysteries too.
Then we come to Ephesians 3:9-10, one of the most profound passages in Scripture: God’s will is “to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”
Read that again slowly. The mystery—the truth about the Body of Christ and the dispensation of grace—was hidden in God from the beginning of the world. Why? So that NOW, through the Church, the principalities and powers (angels) in heavenly places might learn about God’s manifold wisdom.
We teach angels. Our lives, our understanding of grace, our position in Christ—these things instruct the angelic realm about truths they couldn’t learn any other way.
The Embarrassment of Satan
This hidden wisdom was the key to Satan’s defeat. Paul writes that “none of the princes of this world knew” this wisdom, “for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8).
Satan, the being who was “full of wisdom” in his original state (Ezekiel 28:12), became so corrupted by pride that he declared, “I am a God…thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee” (Ezekiel 28:2-3). Satan believed he knew everything, that no secret could be hidden from him.
God’s response? Keep a secret. By hiding the mystery of Christ and the Church, God ensured that Satan would do the very thing that sealed his own doom—crucify the Lord of glory. Colossians 2:15 declares that on the cross, Christ “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
The cross is the focal point of God’s wisdom, and by keeping its full meaning secret, God took the wise in their own craftiness. And now, we proclaim that wisdom, putting Satan to open shame every time we rightly divide the Word of truth and preach the wisdom of God in a mystery.
Our Future: Judging Angels
Our ministry to angels isn’t just for now. Paul asks the Corinthians, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). The future destiny of the Body of Christ isn’t on earth in Israel’s kingdom—it’s in God’s heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18).
We will reign with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12), seated with Him far above all principality and power (Ephesians 1:20-23, 2:6). Our eternal purpose involves administering God’s government throughout the heavenly places, including judging the angelic realm.
Living with Eternal Perspective
Understanding these truths should radically transform how we live. Every time you study God’s Word, every time you live by grace in the details of your life, every time you share the gospel, you’re participating in something with immediate and eternal impact in the heavenly places.
The angels are watching. They’re learning about God’s manifold wisdom through you. What you do in life truly echoes in eternity.
So don’t let religion reverse the roles. You don’t need angels—you’re complete in Christ. But the angelic realm needs you to faithfully live out and proclaim the truth of God’s grace. That’s the great reversal, and it’s a far better position than anything the religious system could ever offer.
Pastor Bryan Ross
Grace Life Bible Church
Grand Rapids, MI
Friday, January 23, 2026
Resources For Further Study
The Great Religious Role Reversal: Understanding Our Ministry to Angels (MP3 audio)