QUESTION: Over ten years ago there was a funeral for a little boy. The pastor said he died because God needed a new angel in heaven. Please explain why God would do that to a little boy and his family just to get another angel.
ANSWER: There are two things to address. First of all, I’m sure that pastor was sincere in trying to offer comfort to a family at a tragic time but the reality is humans do not become angels when we die. God made us “a little lower than the heavenly beings” (Psalm 8:5) because we are distinctly different from angels. God created angels as spiritual beings with great authority and power to do His will and serve as His servants.
Someday, when we are gathered around God’s throne in Heaven, we will actually be even greater than the angels in heaven! The Apostle Paul writes “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3) which indicates that after death our status will be above angels.
Secondly, God has the power to create all the angels He needs – and since humans do not become angels, God would not take the life of a child (or any person) to benefit Himself. When children die we are especially outraged because their lives are full of promise and bright futures. Death occurs – whether by accident, disease, or old age – because of the evil, sinful condition of the world in which we live; a world that is broken and doesn’t function the way God intended it to at Creation. But we should take hope in the reality that earthly death is not the end.
In 1 Corinthians 15:21-26 Paul writes, “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
Death is our enemy and one day death will come to an end.