Angels are the frosting on the cake, the grace upon grace that Jesus gives us by using them to assist with his work.

Why did God create the angels? Angels seem redundant, unnecessary, and superfluous.

Those words may seem harsh to describe angels. Maybe beautiful, amazing, and awesome would be more appropriate adjectives. But allow me to explain.

Blessed without the angels

God assures us that he is with us at all times. In Psalm 139:7-10, David states, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” What could be more comforting than knowing that the Lord of heaven and earth is at our side guiding and protecting us?

God tells us that he is almighty and that he controls all things. Psalm 147 tells us, “Great is our Lord and mighty in power” (v. 5). We know God uses his power not to harm us but for our good. Nothing is more reassuring than that.

God indicates that he knows each one of us intimately. Looking once again at Psalm 139, David acknowledges, “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely” (verses 1-4). God knows everything about us, yet he still loves us.

God is also the master historian. He knows the past, present, and the future—including our future. With the psalm writer we have to say, “[Our] times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:15).

We could go on and on about our amazing God. He created, redeemed, and sanctifies us. He not only loves us but also is love. He not only created light but also is light. With all of this, what can angels add to the mix? They are powerful but not all-powerful. They have great knowledge but don’t know everything. They can travel long distances quickly.

They can remain invisible and do their work behind the scenes, or they can appear in visible forms and interact with God’s people. But they are not omnipresent like our God.

Yes, without the angels we would still be blessed beyond compare and have all the love and protection that God gives us.

Understanding the purpose of angels

Then why angels?

Angels are the frosting on the cake. They are grace upon grace. God doesn’t just tell us he cares about us; he sends angels to watch over us. He doesn’t just tell us that he manages all things for the good of his saints; he sends angels to help him carry that out. He doesn’t just tell us that he is with us and lives in us; he also sends his angels to be at our side.

Beginning in the fifth century, the Christian church began observing a special day, Sept. 29, to celebrate the angels. It is called St. Michael and All Angels. It is not a day to worship angels. That would be idolatry. It is a day to give thanks to God for the frosting on the cake, the grace upon grace that he gives us in sending angels to assist with his work.

God allowed angels to play a unique role as his plan of salvation unfolded.

Note the name of this feast. It is called St. Michael and All Angels. Michael is the name given to a prominent angel in the Bible: the archangel, or chief angel. In Daniel 10:13, Michael is called “one of the chief princes.” It may be that Michael is one of several chief angels, or he could be the head of God’s angels. Scripture doesn’t tell us.

Gabriel is the only other angel that the Bible names. We are familiar with him from the Christmas account. He appeared to Zechariah when he announced the birth of John the Baptist. He appeared to Mary when he told her she would give birth to the Savior.

But just because we have the names of only two angels in the Bible doesn’t mean there are only a few of these heavenly beings. The Bible puts their number at thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand (Daniel 7:10).

Sometimes people talk about guardian angels, but the Bible never mentions them. What it does say is that God sends his angels to watch over us.

When people have a close encounter with death, the comment is made, “I guess the angels were watching over them.” But what about when the disaster happens, when the accident occurs, and the result is a tragic death? Does this mean that God’s angels were sleeping that day and failed in their task? That is not the case. God may either send his angels to protect us from a specific evil or to deliver us from all evil. That happens when God takes us out of this life to himself in heaven. As we see in the account of the poor man, Lazarus, it was the angels who carried him to Abraham’s side (Luke 16:22).

Thankful for the angels

This leads to some of the special tasks God has given angels over time. God allowed angels to play a unique role as his plan of salvation unfolded. For this, we give thanks:

We thank God that angels appeared to the shepherds the night of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8-15).

We thank God that he sent angels to attend to the needs of Jesus following his temptation by the devil (Matthew 4:11; Mark 1:13).

We thank God that he sent an angel to strengthen the suffering Savior when he prayed earnestly the night before his death (Luke 22:43). Jesus’ soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. So God sent an angel to help him through this difficult time.

We thank God that angels shared the news that “he is not here: he has risen” (Matthew 28:6) on Easter morning to confused and surprised followers of Jesus.

We thank God that angels told some sky-gazing disciples that “this same Jesus . . . will come back” (Acts 1:11) when the Savior ascended into heaven.

We thank God that when the apostles were arrested, an angel of the Lord released them (Acts 5:19).

We thank God that an angel also brought Peter out of prison (Acts 12:6-11). All of this allowed the apostles to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Note that now we get to do the work of angels in sharing the message of Christ with others. More grace upon grace.

Right now, God’s angels watch over us, but the day will come when we will join the angels in heaven.

Angels may be redundant, unnecessary, or even superfluous. But they are also amazing. They are frosting on the cake. They give us one more reason to praise our amazing God for his amazing grace.

Author: John Schuetze
Volume 113, Number 09
Issue: September 2026
Image: iStock